Planning a skiing jaunt this winter? You could really regret leaving this behind ...

Finding an avalanche victim that is completely buried is a race against time. If found in the first five minutes, there is a 90% chance of survival. But this quickly drops to just 30% after 30 minutes and only 5% after two hours. Only 50% of avalanche victims that are completely buried are recovered alive.

More than 33 million years in the making, the European Alps have become the avalanche capital of the world. Yet every year, 120 million holidaymakers flock to the area to enjoy the mountains and winter sports.

In Austria alone, avalanches kill 30 people every year. But in 1999 the people of Galtür believed they were safe. Having not had an avalanche for more than 200 years, Galtür had a reputation for being a relatively safe resort. Because of its track record, the town had not invested in avalanche protection fences and perimeter walls.

But on 20 January, a storm in the Atlantic Ocean began a chain of weather events that would ultimately lead to tragedy. It kicked off a relentless series of snowstorms – the worst weather conditions the Alps had seen in 400 years.

By the first week of February, unprecedented snowfalls had left Galtür buried up to the 3-metre mark. Because of the worsening conditions, town officials decided to close the roads in and out of the resort. They reasoned that the risk of being caught in an avalanche was greater on the roads than in the town. With no way out of Galtür, the 3000 tourists and 700 residents were effectively trapped. They had no choice but to wait for the weather conditions to pass.

But unbeknownst to them, thousands of tonnes of snow had built up on the mountains, and it was sitting precariously poised above them ... read on.

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The vast majority of avalanches take place on slopes with a 30-45° incline. They can be triggered by many different events, but they all occur when the stress of gravity trying to pull the mass of snow downhill exceeds the strength of the snow.

The greatest danger to people buried in avalanches is suffocation. Usually there is plenty of air surrounding the victim but the carbon dioxide they exhale tends to build up around their mouths, which eventually suffocates them.

By depositing different types of snow, varying weather can set up the ideal conditions for an avalanche. When dense heavy snow settles on lighter weaker snow, the weight of the top layer or a disturbance to its surface can cause the weaker layer to give way, allowing the top layer to slide over it.