Five skiers found dead near Switzerland’s luxury Zermatt resort; climber’s body found

Six people, including five skiers and an alpinist, died in Switzerland over the weekend in accidents in the Alps, officials said Sunday.

Rescuers found the bodies of five skiers near Switzerland’s luxury Zermatt resort a day after emergency services were alerted by a group of climbers ascending the Rimpfischhorn—a 4,199-metre peak in the Valais Alps—about several pairs of skis left unattended near the summit.

After aerial and ground searches, rescuers recovered the bodies below the summit on the Adler Glacier, Valais local police said in a statement on Sunday.

The five victims were found at varying altitudes on avalanche debris near the Swiss-Italian border.

Three bodies were found in one area, and two others were located higher up on a narrow patch of snow, rescue service Air Zermatt said.

A fifth pair of skis was later found during the search, confirming that the group had travelled as a party of five. The authorities have not yet formally shared the identities of the five victims.

An investigation has been launched to look into the circumstances of the accident.

Zermatt is one of the premium Alpine resorts in Switzerland that is visited by affluent British and other European skiers. But the climb to Rimpfischhorn is considered a more advanced expedition.

Further north, a 29-year-old alpinist was killed in an avalanche on the Morgenhorn in the Bern canton, while two other climbers caught in the avalanche were rescued and hospitalised with light injuries, police said.

The Rimpfischhorn is a 4,199-metre (13,776-foot) mountain that lies east of Zermatt, near the Italian border, and is popular with backcountry skiers.

Air Zermatt rescued four alpinists in a daunting operation

In a separate incident on Friday night, Air Zermatt undertook a challenging mountain rescue on the Fiescherhörner, where four alpinists were stranded amid fog and high winds.

The initial evacuation attempt had to be aborted due to adverse weather, but a second attempt just after midnight brought all four to safety.

Outdoor sports are a popular pastime in mountainous Switzerland, and accidents are a regular feature of winter.

As many as 15 people have been killed in avalanches in the country in the current winter season, between October 1, 2024, and May 17, 2025, according to the Institute for the Study of Snow and Avalanches.

In March 2024, six skiers died, including five of the same family, after being caught in a violent storm in the peaks near Zermatt.