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Last year there were more mountain rescues than ever before. Reason: Lots of snowfall in the first few months.
In the Swiss mountains, 3,680 mountaineers got into distress, had an accident or had to be rescued last year. That’s more than ever before, especially in snow sports. A total of 201 people died.
Despite or precisely because of the corona pandemic, many people stayed in the mountains last year, the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) said. Because there was also a lot of snow in the first few months, many people indulged in snow sports.
This was also reflected in the accidents and emergencies: More people got into an emergency or had an accident than ever before when touring skiing, off-piste skiing and snowshoeing. There were also more avalanche accidents than in the previous year.
In the case of summer mountaineering activities, on the other hand, the number of emergencies and accidents remained within the range of the multi-year average. 131 classic mountaineers had fatal accidents. The proportion of foreign victims was around 20 percent, 10 percentage points lower than in other years.