Less snow, or more risk? What you need to know about avalanches and climate change

"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."

"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 Universite 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 earlyseason 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 humantriggered avalanches."

Avalanches cause roughly 100 deaths in Europe each year as masses of snow, ice and rock sweep down slopes. Snow structure, slope angle and weather variations determine whether small disturbances can trigger slides. Risks should be assessed by both probability and potential damage. In the European Alps, most avalanche risk arises from mountain practitioners who trigger slides, though accidental avalanches remain part of the total. Heavy snowfall elevates hazard levels, and limited early-season snow can form persistent weak layers that, once buried, create unstable conditions favouring human-triggered avalanches. Recreational users often lack familiarity with warnings and fail to adjust behaviour. Fatalities have remained broadly steady over decades, with slight drops in 2023-24 and 2024-25, and 99 deaths recorded by mid-February 2026.

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