Tragedy in the Swiss Alps: how once-in-a-lifetime skiing trip ended with five dead

The distinctive rocky pyramid of the Matterhorn dominates the landscape of Zermatt, a ski resort town on the border of Italy and Switzerland.

It’s the most famous peak of the Swiss Alps, known as the “mountain of mountains”, and it was probably the last thing a family of five saw before a brutal storm, then an avalanche, descended on them.

The group of six Swiss skiers, between the ages of 21 to 58, had left Zermatt on the morning of Saturday, 9 March on a ski tour, and had planned to ski to Arolla, a town near the Matterhorn.