Avalanche Ötztaler Alpen

"After the 2nd turn in the untracked slope, a snow slab tore in a radius of about 10 meters around me. After I saw no way to get out of the avalanche and I had already broken through to a lower layer, I triggered the ABS®, which ignited in seconds.

The masses of snow swept me over a rock face about 20 meters high, and I lost both skis. Then I was dragged along on my belly by the avalanche. When the avalanche came to a stop and I was surrounded by snow, I tried to box in front of my face with both hands as best I could and was thus able to clear an air hole. My colleague then came to me as he spotted the two red wings and was able to shovel me free. Within the first quarter of an hour, a ski instructor also arrived and the mountain rescue was informed.

The clinical findings indicated a muscle tear in the chest area or a rib contusion. In the meantime I have recovered.

Without ABS® this situation would certainly have been different! I'm not sure I would have survived this incident."

D. E.