On February 17, 1930, an avalanche in the Catalan Pyrenees claimed the life of Heinz Baldauf, a 21-year-old Italian skier. Baldauf was in La Molina to participate in a race of the Catalan Ski Championship, a competition in which he finished in eighth place. The following day, accompanied by Englishman Herbert Glaeser, he decided to climb Mount Alp. But 1930 was unlike any other year. The people of Cerdanya still remember it as "the year of the snow," as it snowed relentlessly for days, blocking roads and tearing off roofs. On that February 17, the two young men became lost in the Set Fonts valley area, and an avalanche struck. which would end the life of the South Tyrolean"It's an important date. For the first time, a person lost their life in a documented avalanche in the Pyrenees due to a recreational activity, in this case, a sport," explains Montse Bacardit, a technician at the Lauegi d'Aran Center, the public avalanche prediction service of the Conselh Generau d'Aran. The tragedy that ended Baldauf's life was most likely caused by the skiers themselves, overloading the slope and triggering the avalanche.

One person died on Sunday, buried by an avalanche while off-piste skiing in the Pyrenees. On Sunday night, a skier died after being rescued by the Pompièrs d'Aran (Aran Fire Brigade) at the Baqueira Beret ski resort, as confirmed to ARA by sources from the Aran General Council. The man was caught in an avalanche and was initially rescued alive by emergency services, but ultimately succumbed to his injuries. In Catalonia, Civil Protection has activated the Allaucat plan for this weekend, in the pre-alert phase. The avalanche risk has been set at 4 out of 5 in the Ribagorçana-Vall Fosca area. The emergency services also warned that the danger in the rest of the mountain areas is at 3 out of 5. Second victim

However, the Aran Fire Brigade (Pompièrs de Aran) has ruled out the possibility that the ski found in the off-piste area of the Baqueira Beret resort belongs to a second skier trapped in the avalanche. Jordi López, head of the Aran Fire Brigade operation, explained that thanks to a tag on the ski, they were able to determine that it had been rented last year from a ski rental shop and subsequently reported lost. The Aran Fire Brigade, the Catalan Police (Mossos d'Esquadra), and firefighters from Aragon with dogs continue working in the area to ensure that no one is trapped under the avalanche, given the presence of recent ski tracks. The Catalan Police have not received any reports or notifications of missing persons, and the victim's car, the only one left in the resort's parking lot, contained only ski equipment and footwear belonging to one person. Therefore, they rule out the possibility that the ski found belonged to a second person and that the victim was accompanied at the time of the avalanche.

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Rescue teams found the body of the Catalan hiker who went missing yesterday due to the snow avalanche that occurred on Armenia's highest mountain, Mount Aragats, which is over 4,000 meters high. "Armenian search and rescue teams found the body of the missing Spanish mountaineer on Mount Aragats," the Armenian Rescue Service reported in a statement, specifying that the discovery took place at 10:15 a.m. local time.

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