Overview
- The avalanche struck late Saturday during an off-piste descent on the Hoher Marchkopf above Hochfügen in the Zillertal.
- Rescuers arriving with two helicopters found 41-year-old Federico Giubilato about 30 minutes later under roughly 1.6 meters of snow, but he could not be revived.
- A 36-year-old companion was only partly buried, freed himself, called for help, and was treated for a hand injury at a hospital in Schwaz.
- Police report a slab released on a northwest-facing slope near 40 degrees about 100 meters below the summit, with the regional danger rated “marked” at level 3.
- Authorities opened an inquiry into the slide’s dynamics and any accountability, underscoring that chances of survival drop fast after minutes of burial in large slab avalanches.