The Swiss Air Rescue Service (Rega) attended 13,726 rescue missions in Switzerland and neighbouring countries in 2010, down from more than 14,000 in 2009.
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Rega said rescue missions resulting from winter sports activities continued to rise last year, with avalanches contributing to the causes of such rescues.
The organisation registered 83,000 new donors in 2010, a 3.8 per cent increase overall. In French-speaking Switzerland, new registered donors rose by 6.8 per cent.
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Skiing goes ahead as usual despite deaths
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On average, 14 ski mountaineers die in the Swiss Alps every year making last week’s single-day toll all the more shocking. Ski mountaineers, also known as backcountry skiers or ski tourers, are aware of the dangers they face each morning when they head into the mountains to walk up a virgin slope, and ski back…
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For Bruno Jelk, head of the rescue service of Zermatt in canton Valais, the tragedy is also a reminder of the respect that people should have for the Alps. The worst such accident since 1999 involved two avalanches that came down shortly after each other in the Diemtig Valley. Among those killed was a doctor…
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Muffled voices follow and then there is the sweet sound of scraping snow as a four-legged rescuer breaks through the hole cover and announces his discovery to his human trainer. The smell of a sausage treat inside is too much for the Labrador to resist and he jumps into the hole, already snug with two…
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