Three Croatian climbers died on Sunday, October 5, when an avalanche swept them about 350 metres down the slope beneath Mount Tosc in Slovenia’s Julian Alps. Four others in their party stayed on the trail and were not hurt, Slovenia’s Mountain Rescue Service said.
The snow let go at around 10 a.m. Rescuers working with ropes found the first victim that afternoon, buried roughly 1.5 metres deep. Then the weather closed in and the search stopped for the night. On Monday, teams located the other two men at depths of around one and one-and-a-half metres, officials said.
“This was an extremely demanding operation in a steep and rocky gully,” said Miha Arh, who heads the Bohinj Mountain Rescue Association and led the mission. By his account, one of the climbers was dragged about 150 metres, and the other two roughly 200 metres beyond that. “Sadly, all three had lost their lives. I extend my sincere condolences to their families.”
More than 60 mountain rescuers, police officers and army personnel worked the site. A Slovenian army helicopter joined once the weather allowed. Arh put the snow on the ground at more than 60 centimetres, and said wind and unstable layers added to the danger.
Phones helped. Relatives sent mobile data overnight, and signals from one victim’s handset let the teams narrow their search. “We were able to focus the search thanks to signals sent from one of the victims’ phones,” Arh said.
Who the climbers were
The men were reported to come from Split and nearby towns including Solin, Kaštel Sućurac and Žrnovnica. A day earlier they had climbed Triglav, Slovenia’s highest peak, and then returned to the Vodnikov dom mountain hut. The Mirror reported that they belonged to a group of seven friends sheltering near the summit, and that the three reportedly set off down the mountain despite the bad weather.
Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović travelled to Bohinj on Monday and stood beside his Slovenian counterpart, Boštjan Poklukar, as the deaths were confirmed. “This is a great tragedy – three young lives lost in one day,” Božinović said. “We had hoped for better news, but sadly it did not come. I thank the Slovenian rescue services for their extraordinary effort.”
He said Zagreb had stayed in constant contact with Slovenian officials from the moment the slope gave way, with ministers and the prime minister following events closely.
Conditions on the mountain
A wave of cold air had pushed into Slovenia with early snow and strong winds, and weather on Tosc was described as particularly unstable. A moderate avalanche warning stood at Level 3 on the five-level European scale. Figures from the national mountain rescue association show about twenty people die in such conditions every year.
Klemen Belhar, vice-president of the Slovenian Mountain Rescue Service, called the situation in the area “complicated and dangerous,” with other groups still out in the mountains. “Half a metre of snow might not sound like much, but in these conditions it is enough to trigger an avalanche – and unfortunately that is exactly what happened,” he said.
Slovenian authorities have asked climbers to follow safety instructions and hold off on ascents while the avalanche risk stays high. Identification of the victims was under way on Monday, and one body still had to be brought down from the mountain.
Sources
- Bodies found in ravine as deadly avalanche kills climbers trying to conquer peak
- Avalanche in Slovenia kills three Croatian climbers
