Swiss Alps and accidents

[lisa]

Good Weather Conditions Draw Many People to The Mountains - Eleven Deaths in the Swiss Alps This Week: According to the rescue experts of the Swiss alpine club (SAC)the good climbing weather is to blame for the recent number of fatalities in the Alps. Since last Saturday, 11 climbers have died in the Alps and the worst accident were the four members of a rope team who died Wednesday on the Lauteraarhorn. According to Ernst Mauer, the SAC rescue leader in Oberhasli, the accident was not caused by anything careless on the part of the climbers.

The main climbing season in the alps is from mid June through the end of August. When the weather is bad like in previous summers, less people are in the mountains and therefore there are fewer accidents. The AP reports that 47 people have died in the Swiss Alps since June (that's 48 with the latest death on the Matterhorn); last year there were only 28 deaths in the same period. Still, the accident rates continue to decline with an average of between 100 and 120 a year, compared with 195 in 1985.

Its interesting that about 50 percent of all accident victims in the mountains, including skiers and hikers, are native Swiss. However, 85 percent of the victims of climbing accidents are foreigners. Also, about one third of the climbers are women, but they account only for 10 to 15 percent of the accident victims, which Ueli Mosimann of the SAC attributes to women being more careful climbers. Mosimann notes that climbers these days are much better equipped and one hardly ever sees people in the mountains with tennis shoes anymore.