The fatal victim of the avalanche, which occurred off-piste at the Baqueira resort last Sunday, was a young architect, 29 years old, who had been residing for years in Les, in the Baish Aran region. Although it was initially feared that a second person might be trapped, this possibility was ruled out yesterday afternoon, allowing the search operation to be lifted.
The fear of a second victim arose due to the discovery of a ski that did not belong to the young man. However, a tag allowed authorities to determine that the ski came from a rental shop and had been reported lost two years ago. Furthermore, the victim's car, the only one remaining in the station's parking lot, only contained gear and footwear for one person, and the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) received no reports of missing persons.
The Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia warned of a 'marked' risk of avalanches in Aran and the northern Pallaresa basin, with a 'high' risk in the Ribagorçana basin.
The search operation, formed by Pompièrs d’Aran, the autonomous police, and firefighters from Aragón, was maintained until early afternoon as a precaution. The avalanche, which measured 200 meters in length, occurred in a context of high risk, facilitated by the accumulation of wet snow layers over frozen, solidified snow.
Simultaneously, snowfall and rain continued to complicate traffic in the Pyrenees. A rock slide cut the L-504 road in Tírvia (Pallars Sobirà), and chains were required on four roads, including the C-28 (Bonaigua) and the access to Pla de Beret. The mayor of La Coma i la Pedra, Gerard Bajona, expressed the difficulty of clearing the road with “half a meter of snow” accumulated.
