Three British holidaymakers, including an eight-year-old boy, had to be airlifted to hospital following separate skiing accidents at the same resort in Austria.
Heavy early snowfalls have meant there is plenty of snow but deeper snow is often challenging, especially for beginner skiers which may have contributed to the spate of accidents involving the British holidaymakers.
In the first incident, a 19-year-old male Brit collided with a man from Germany on the slopes in the Tyrolean ski resort of Obergurgl on Sunday, 17th December.
The teenager was taken from the piste to the University Clinic of Innsbruck by helicopter due to the severity of his injuries.
The 59-year-old German tourist whom he collided with was also injured but less seriously and was taken to the valley with a rescue sledge.
Austrian authorities did not reveal the Briton’s identity. Due to the country’s strict privacy regulations, they did not provide information on what kind of injuries he had suffered in the accident either.
The following day (18th December), an eight-year-old British boy crashed with a 21-year-old male compatriot on a piste in the same winter sports resort.
While the young man received medical care in Obergurgl, the child was airlifted to the University Clinic of Innsbruck.
The boy was presumably injured worse. The police did not reveal the involved skiers’ identities.
In a statement from 18th December obtained by Newsflash, the Police of the State of Tyrol said: “Around 10.50am on 18th December 2023, an accident occurred on the red piste number seven in the ski resort of Obergurgl. The reason has not yet been determined. A 21-year-old male skier from Great Britain collided with an eight-year-old British boy. The child sustained unspecified injuries. He was taken to the University Clinic of Innsbruck with an emergency helicopter.”
Obergurgl is a small town in the Tyrolean district of Imst, western Austria.
Situated at an altitude of 1,900 metres (6,234 feet), it is one of the most ‘snowsure’ regions in the Austrian Alps.
Nicknamed the ‘Diamond of the Alps’, Obergurgl features several four- and five-star hotels, 25 lifts and 112 kilometres (70 miles) of skiing slopes.
The colour red, where the accident on Monday happened, indicates a medium difficulty level. Comparably even pistes are labelled blue while black is used to determine tricky slopes only advanced skiers should opt for.
There has been no information on what kind of slope Sunday’s crash occurred.
The Austrian Committee for Alpine Security said 111 people had lost their lives in incidents while skiing, snowboarding and climbing in the Austrian mountains in the 2021/2022 winter sports season.
Overall, 6,716 individuals were involved in accidents in that period.
Winter tourism is of enormous importance for the Austrian economy, especially in the western states of Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg.
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Story By: Thomas Hochwarter, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
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