Reading tip | KURASI: Alpine accidents in Austria in 2017

In 2017, the number of alpine fatalities was 283, slightly below the 10-year average of 295, although there were 11 more fatal accidents than in 2016. The number of injuries was also a good 600 higher than in the previous year at 7807.

The highest number of alpine accidents occurred in Tyrol, followed by Salzburg. In Vorarlberg, the number of fatalities is relatively low, but the number of injuries is quite high, which can be attributed to "the winter sports disciplines and the large number of accidents on the slopes" in this federal state.

53% of fatalities in 2017 came from Austria, 30% from Germany and almost all of the remaining victims came from other European countries or Austria's neighboring countries. 86% of the fatalities in 2017 were male.

The Board of Trustees for Alpine Safety primarily conducts root cause research and method development with the aim of accident prevention in mountain sports. All of Austria's Alpine institutions are members of KURASI. Research results, statistical evaluations and specialist articles on topics ranging from avalanche prevention and tobogganing accidents to the analysis of related legal issues and corresponding summer topics are published twice a year in magazine form in analyse:berg. The current issue (winter 2017/18) can be purchased here for €15.

Here you can download further key data on the accident statistics for 2017.