Lawyers crushed to death after skiing on slope with avalanche risk

Two Barclays Bank lawyers were crushed to death under tons of snow in the Italian Alps after skiing on a slope that had a ‘considerable’ avalanche risk, inquest hears

• Matt Ziegler, 43, and Katherine Clarke, 39, died while skiing on February 3, 2019
• Pair went out after slopes reopened on the Canale degli Spagnoli Val Veniy run
• Heard conflicting reports about if area where they died was off-piste or marked
• Coroner at St Pancras Coroner’s Court ruled the lawyers deaths as an accident

Two lawyers were crushed to death under tons of snow in the Italian Alps after skiing on a slope which had a ‘considerable’ avalanche risk, an inquest heard.

Matt Ziegler, 43, and Katherine Clarke, 39, were on an annual trip in the resort of Courmayeur with colleagues from Barclays Bank in February when the pair went missing.

On February 3 – scheduled to be the last day of the trip – the pair went out after the slopes re-opened following heavy snow the day before on the Canale degli Spagnoli Val Veniy run.

St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard they were both experienced skiers and would sometimes split from the other 16 colleagues.

Lift pass records showed they had departed shortly after 11am and were expected to back by 2pm before heading to the airport but went missing.

Katherine Clarke, 39, and Matt Ziegler, 43, were crushed to death under tons of snow in the Italian Alps after skiing on a slope which had a ‘considerable’ avalanche risk

On February 3 – scheduled to be the last day of the trip – the pair went out after the slopes re-opened following heavy snow the day before on the Canale degli Spagnoli Val Veniy run in Courmayeur (pictured)

Sarah Barker, one of the Barclays colleagues on the trip, told the court: ‘As Matt and Katherine often went off skiing alone we were not worried.

‘At 2.05 Katherine and Matt had not arrived but they were used to skiing and arriving late. During the journey to Geneva as we heard nothing we began to worry. At 2.45 we called the Alpine rescue.

‘We were told they would not send out the helicopter. We asked Barclays if they were able to reach them using the work phones and we were able to get the co-ordinates which we passed on.’

An Alpine rescue search began and carried on until nightfall.

The bodies were not found until the next morning after rescuers used the phone co-ordinates, helicopters and mountain rescue dogs.

In a statement Officer Tagliari of the Italian police said the avalanche snow swept down the slope for 800 metres.

‘At 9.03 Katherine Clarke and at 9.49 Matt Ziegler were both a depth of around three metres of compact heavy snow which had crushed them.’

The bodies of two other snowboarders were also found in the avalanche.

The court was shown photographs of the destruction caused by the avalanche, which was triggered after nearly a metre of snow detached higher up the mountain.

Early reports from the Italian authorities said the pair were skiing ‘off-piste’ where the ski runs are not marked or maintained by the ski resort.

Early reports from the Italian authorities said the pair were skiing ‘off-piste’ where the ski runs are not marked or maintained by the ski resort, but the family disputed this. Pictured:  emergency services in the area after the avalanche 

But this was disputed by the relatives of the deceased, who said they were on marked run.

The two widowed spouses also told the court there was a risk of avalanche risk due the heavy snow, but the resort was re-opened regardless.

In a joint statement Victoria Ziegler and James Clarke-Sullivan said: ‘The avalanche risk level in the ski resort had been lowered from four, high, to three, considerable, on the morning of the 3rd.

‘The cable car accessing the itinerary run had been closed on 2 February and re-opened on the 3rd despite the heavy snow that had fallen.

‘No ski or snowboard tracks entered the avalanche area therefore it was not triggered by the entry of the skiers or snowboarders.’

Senior Coroner Mary Hassell said: ‘In terms of where the two were skiing, I can see there was a conflict of evidence between the description I was given from the authorities and the description that was given by the two spouses of this being a marked ski run.’

Mr Clarke-Sullivan replied: ‘It was an itinerary run but it was off-piste. It is not groomed but it was marked on the map, you would not have piste marks but it was not back country.’

Ms Hassell recorded Mr Ziegler had died as a result of contusive polytrauma and mechanical asphyxiation, or severe crush injuries.

Mrs Clarke died as a result of mechanical asphyxiation with deep freezing.

The coroner said: ‘Having heard all the evidence it seems to me that there is only one possible determination, previously called a verdict, and that is an accident.’

Source: Read Full Article