We skied alongside, but heeded the avalanche warnings posted at the trail head and kept our distance from the rock face.

Risks can be reduced through education, proper training, appropriate gear and attention to published avalanche warnings.

"There was no weather bulletin giving any avalanche warning," he claimed.

The three founders of the World Cup reportedly dreamed up the idea late one night over a bottle of wine while waiting for avalanche warnings to end and blizzards to clear.

A revamped Internet site now provides up-to-date information on avalanche warnings, traffic blocks and detours, and safe ski areas.

With such a wet base skiers must heed local avalanche warnings about off-piste skiing until the new snow stabilises.

But in the back country, avalanche warnings are a person's only safety net.

The storm brought heavy snow and avalanche warnings to western Austria.

Unusually heavy snows also buried towns and blocked roads in Austria's western Tyrol and Vorarlberg federal-states leading to avalanche warnings.

There was an avalanche warning from Scotland yesterday.