6th March 2011 - The number of deaths at ski resorts is on the rise across Europe, with overcrowding and a booze culture to blame, according to new research.
This season may have not been a vintage year for snow, but skiers have been indulging in plenty of Après-ski and that is the reason for the increase in fatalities, experts say.
Because the snow has not been as plentiful as it usually is, the pistes have been been overcrowded - and that, too, has been a major factor.
Thirty skiers and snowboarders have lost their lives on slopes across Austria so far this winter.
The Austrian Committee for Alpine Safety said the 30 people were killed in the country’s mountains since November 2010.
The province of Salzburg recorded the most fatalities (13) ahead of Tyrol (12) which is Austria’s largest winter sport area.
The current death toll is more than twice as high as last season’s number of skiing fatalities (14).
The same number of deaths was recorded in the 2008/2009 season and there were 11 fatalities in the winter of 2007/2008 and 18 in the 2006/2007 season.
Further, between 56,000 and 60,000 people have to be hospitalised after skiing and snowboarding injuries in the Austrian Alps every year.
Experts say that excessive speed and skiing under the influence of alcohol were the dominating cause of crashes.
These figures were mirrored in Italy, where in 2008/2009 there were 22 deaths and last year there were 49.
This information will come as little surprise as the MailOnline has reported a number of British deaths in the Alps this winter.
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Only last week trainee ski instructor Edward De Nunzio, 18, died instantly after dropping 16ft from an icy roof in Courchevel - he had been trying to jump from one chalet roof to another after a night out.
Earlier in February a 14-year-old boy was left in a coma when he suffered a horrific accident on a ski lift in a resort near Chatel.
