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RONNIE BERLACK

1994–2015

BRYCE ASTLE

1995–2015

Sölden Avalanche

Accident Report

Austria — Sölden Ski Area

5 January 2015

Produced by the BRASS Foundation

www.brassfoundation.org

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Sölden Avalanche Accident Report 2

PART I

General Summary

On 5 January 2015, at 9:40 am, six male ski racers, on a day off from gate-training, skied

off-piste (off the groomed trail into an uncontrolled area) in Sölden, Austria. Two of them,

Ronnie Berlack and Bryce Astle, lost their lives.

Of the six skiers involved in the tragedy, five were members of the U.S. Ski D (Development)

Team, with the sixth a Great Britain skier who was a training and traveling with them. Sölden

was the initial stop for the ‘D’ Team on a multi-week European race and training trip. They

had planned to recover from jet-lag and train in Sölden, before traveling to their initial races.

Sölden is a U.S. Ski Team training base, located two hours southwest of Innsbruck. It is

traditionally used in the autumn, but the lack of snow in late December in Europe led U.S.

Ski Team coaches to return to Sölden, where there are high altitude and glacier options for

training. While the team traveled to Europe, heavy snowfall created soft surfaces in Sölden,

diminishing its value as an initial training site.

The six athletes took their first run of the day from the top of the 3058 meter high (10,000 ft)

Gaislachkogl peak. They skied down a groomed and marked trail until they decided to leave

the piste. Making a skier’s left turn, they entered an ungroomed, uncontrolled, steep open

slope that led to another marked, groomed trail more than 350 meters below. None of the

skiers were carrying avalanche safety gear (transceivers, shovels, or probes). They most likely

triggered an avalanche as a group. It engulfed two of the six skiers and buried them.

The two avalanche victims were found almost an hour afterwards via probing and digging.

Rescue procedures were performed by the surviving four athletes, a few European skiers, the

ski patrol, and mountain rescue personnel. The two victims were found 3-4 meters deep and

were pronounced dead on the scene.

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Sölden Avalanche Accident Report 3

PART II

Detailed Accident Report

The avalanche fracture line was 30-40 cm tall. The avalanche was 30-40 meters wide and ran

350 vertical meters. It was a size 2 avalanche on a scale of 1-5.

The avalanche failed on a layer of facets on an ice crust: HS-AS-D2-R3-O (meaning it was a

hard slab, human triggered, destructive size 2, relative size 3, sliding on a layer of old snow).

Avalanche Details

• Location: Sölden Ski Area, Austria

• Date: 5 January 2015

• Time: 9:40 am CEST (Central European Standard Time)

• Summary Description: 6 off-piste skiers in group, 2 off-piste skiers caught,

both fully buried and killed

• Primary Activity: Off-piste skiing

• Primary Mode of Travel: Free-ride skis (used in skiing powder snow)

Numbers

Group Size: 6

Caught: 2

Fully Buried: 2

Injured: 0

Killed: 2

Avalanche Info

Type: Soft slab

Trigger: Skier

Size: 3 (Medium)

Sliding Surface: Old snow

Site Data

Slope Aspect: N

Starting Zone: 2500m

Slope Angle: 40 degrees

Slope Characteristic: Open