Updated 17:47 September 5, 2024

A Scottish ski instructor has died and two Argentine men suffered hypothermia on Wednesday after they were hit by an avalanche while skiing on Cerro López in Bariloche. 

One of the survivors was rescued and the body of the Scottish instructor recovered in the hours after the disaster. The missing man was found in the early hours of Thursday morning after clawing through the snow to make an emergency call.

The trio were mountain skiing together, according to Nahuel Campitelli, head of the Rescue Commission. “At around 5 p.m. they entered a very risky, very dangerous area, given the quantity of snow,” he said.

The avalanche hit at 5:15 p.m., according to the Bariloche Andean Club’s Rescue Commission. Three guides from the Argentine Mountain Guides Association witnessed the event and rushed to the area. They arrived half an hour later, finding the Scottish woman dead and one of the men experiencing symptoms of hypothermia but not seriously injured, and raised the alert.

A full search was launched, using dogs and avalanche search devices, but rescuers couldn’t find the missing man. They called off the search at 8 p.m. because conditions for the rescue party were unsafe.

The third man, from Córdoba, was stuck buried under the snow, immobilized because his feet were stuck in his skis. He managed to stick his arm out through the snow to call the emergency services from his cellphone, and was found at around 7 a.m. Thursday morning. 

The Scottish woman, whose first name was Andrea, was an instructor who was at the Cerro Catedral ski center as part of an exchange program, Campitelli said. News reports initially stated that she was an Irish tourist, but the Herald has verified that she was actually a Scottish ski instructor.

Andrea and the first survivor were carried down the mountainside by the avalanche. The third man remained in the area where the avalanche started, which was why the rescue team did not find him immediately, Campitelli said.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in 35 years,” Campitelli told La Nación. “When you have a buried victim that has been isolated, the survival expectancy drops to around 10%.” The man was found conscious, with symptoms of hypothermia, frostbite, as well as bruising. 

The British Embassy in Buenos Aires told the Herald: “We are supporting the family of a British National who died in Argentina and are in contact with the local authorities.”

According to the Bariloche Andean Club’s Rescue Commission, the avalanche risk on Wednesday was three out of five on the Avalanche Information Center scale, which is classified as “considerable.” Wednesday’s event was reported as a D3 in the American Avalanche Association classification. This means it was an avalanche powerful enough to “bury and destroy a car, damage a truck, or destroy a wooden house.”

Video footage of the rescue operation provided by Campitelli showed the survivor being evacuated by helicopter this morning. Rescue operations themselves are free, but the helicopter must be paid for, he added.

Cerro López is found at the Circuito Chico, the road that encircles the Perito Moreno lake, and is one of the most popular hiking and camping spots in the area. With a height of 2,075 meters, the walk to the top takes around three hours. 

Cover image: The rescue mission by the Bariloche Andean Club’s Rescue Commission. Photos: Rescue Commission social media