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Avalanches kill about 100 people in Europe each year, with vast masses of ice, snow and rock regularly crashing down on hikers and skiers who have been caught unawares.
The structure of the snow, angle of the slope and variation of the weather can dictate whether a gentle disturbance – like a gust of wind or the glide of a snowboard – can trigger a deadly shift in the mountain.
How dangerous are avalanches?
Experts say the risks of an avalanche should be thought of like a flood: you have to consider both the chance of the hazard and the damage it will do.
“Avalanche risk in the European Alps is nowadays mostly for mountain practitioners who trigger avalanches themselves,” said Nicolas Eckert, a climatologist specialising in mountain risk at Université Grenoble Alpes. “However, such accidental avalanches are only a small portion of the total number of avalanches.”
Avalanche hazard levels are particularly high after heavy snowfall, and weather conditions earlier in the winter can prove decisive to the strength of the snow.
“Limited early‑season snowfall can lead to the formation of persistent weak layers within the snowpack,” said Giacomo Strapazzon, a medical doctor and director of the Mountain Clinic at the Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine. “Once these weak layers become buried under subsequent snowfalls, they can create highly unstable conditions that favour human‑triggered avalanches.”
Experts say the danger is compounded because many people engaging in winter sports recreationally are unfamiliar with warning bulletins and fail to adjust their behaviour accordingly.
Are avalanches getting more deadly?
Each year, about 100 people die in avalanches in Europe – a trend that scientists have found to have stayed broadly steady over the last four decades. Fatalities fell slightly in 2023-24, when 87 people died, and again in 2024-25, when 70 people died. European Avalanche Warning Services (EAWS) had already recorded 99 deaths by the middle of February 2026.
Experts say exposure to avalanches has been rising with an increase in the number of off-track skiers, who are exposed to greater danger than those on controlled tracks. But this shift has not resulted in a rise in deaths because it has been compensated by better warnings, safety equipment and – in recent years – stable snow conditions.
“Overall, we have seen a slight decline in the annual number of fatalities, despite a massive increase in the number of ski touring days undertaken in Switzerland,” said Kurt Winkler, a scientist at the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Switzerland. “This massive decrease in risk cannot be explained by climate change. Other factors, such as faster rescue operations and better avalanche forecasts, appear to be far more important.”
Is climate change making avalanches worse?
Ski resorts across the continent have begun to close due to a lack of snow, with half of Europe’s 2,200 ski resorts projected to suffer “very high risk” to snow supply if global warming hits 2C above pre-industrial levels. Studies suggest climate change will make avalanches smaller and less common, as rising temperatures melt snow and shorten the season.
“However, due to the higher water-holding capacity of warmer air, heavy snowfall events might increase in magnitude – especially at high elevations,” said Elias Zubler from Switzerland’s Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology. “The model projections show a general decrease in the frequency of heavy snowfall events, but an intensification of events is possible, especially at high elevations and in the core winter season.”
Such a rise in high-elevation avalanches could pose a serious risk to skiers, who make up most of the deaths, and mountaineers. Climate change is also likely to result in a higher share of avalanches with snow that is wet and dense, allowing them to pack more punch.
