Personal | Stanislav Valasek

How I Survived an Avalanche on Grosser Priel

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Despite hiking in the mountains for the past 20 years — from rock climbing and ski touring to multi-pitch climbing — the avalanche I recently experienced caught me off guard and reminded me that in the mountains you must stay alert at all times.

It all happened in spring 2026 below Grosser Priel in the Totes Gebirge mountains in Austria.

There were four of us. Two adult fathers, each with his son. Apart from a torn ligament in one knee and a strained groin, we all came out alive, unharmed, and with a lesson learned.

Brief summary

The avalanche hit us around 10:00 AM, roughly 1.5 hours into the climb above the Priel-Schutzhaus hut. It carried us down about 90 vertical metres, where we ended up on its surface. People at the hut were watching; I immediately received a phone call, and we were airlifted first to the hut and, after a police interview, down to the car park.

In this article I want to capture the lessons and facts for my own future reference. At the end I include coverage from the media.

Video I filmed right after the avalanche ended

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What actually happened

We slept at the Priel-Schutzhaus hut. Avalanche risk level 2 in the evening, and 2/3 in the morning at an altitude of 1,500 m above sea level.

In the evening we got talking with the locals — I said the experience had to be intense, and they replied that what matters is that it leaves a mark on you. A lesson in listening carefully and paying attention to what kind of wishes you put out into the world — yourself and others.

We set off in the morning around 8:30. Clear blue sky. We moved slowly. Every now and then we heard a rumble — small avalanches, far from us, sliding down. First warning sign.

We were still on a slope clear of slide paths.

Gradually we moved further and further under the left ridge. I know now — yes, I wanted to follow the winter route, yes, I wanted to keep more to the right. I said so repeatedly. The key point is that I did nothing about it and went along with the group.

I’m not saying it’s certain the avalanche would have missed us, but we wouldn’t have been directly below the slope and right in its path. Maybe.

Suddenly there was a loud rumble directly on the left slope above us. The avalanche stopped several hundred metres above us.

We barely had time to catch our breath before the next one came — and this time it reached us.

My first words were — well, I’ve cocked this up. And I already felt it knock me to the ground. I felt the heavy mass of snow pressing down on me. I was afraid my crampons would pierce my legs. Once I saw light, but like in a tunnel it went dark again just as suddenly.

When I saw light a second time, I made a swimming motion and suddenly had half my body on the surface. I immediately shouted my son’s name at the top of my lungs. He answered.

Great, he’s alive. I started sorting myself out. I was on moving snow. My second sensation was that the snow beside me was stationary. And the third was that the snow in front of me was dropping away somewhere below. And then it was just instinct and action — I rolled over about twice and I was on snow that wasn’t moving.

When I stood up, the first thing I saw was the other father. He was standing on a strap, telling me his boot had been ripped off and his knee was in a bad way.

The kids were above us.

I got them down to us. Just then I got a call from the hut keeper’s girlfriend. She said they had seen everything, asking how we were and whether to send a helicopter.

I said: wait, I’ll give them a moment and something sweet, find out what injuries we have and get back to you.

After a few minutes and some sweets (that was the only sugar I could find in that state) we confirmed we wanted the helicopter. We had Alpenverein membership, so that was fine.

She asked me — do you know how to guide a helicopter in? I said no. You stand in a Y shape with your arms and until you get a different instruction from the pilot or crew, you just stand and wait.

And what should the others do, I asked. They should crouch down and hold onto their backpacks.

The helicopter arrives. I think to myself — well, if we haven’t been killed so far, now we’ve got a second chance to be — it’ll trigger a new avalanche or those rotor blades will chop me to pieces.

Fortunately they got us to the hut in two runs. The father with the injured knee went straight to hospital. I stayed at the hut with the two kids and waited for the police. The hut keeper gave us schnapps and moral support. Tourists who had been planning to head for the summit that day, seeing what happened, stopped, had a Radler, and turned back down.

The last difficult moment was when the police officer interviewed me — why did you go there. Did you have avalanche equipment? Did you know what could happen?

And at the end he told me to appreciate how incredibly lucky we were, and that we should learn from it. Seeing my shattered expression, he leaned towards me and added: I go into the mountains too, and I know you can’t do it without risk.

He arranged a helicopter lift down to the car park for us. I asked him whether we would have to pay. Since the avalanche had come from above us — no. From the car park we drove to the hospital. I saw my son embrace his father, who was standing in the hospital lobby on crutches.

On the way home my son said — I know now what matters and what matters less. And at the same time he noticed how different people reacted when we told our closest ones what had happened.

I know I’ve been given a second chance.

Thank you, God. I will do something good with it.

A few days later, when we called each other, we all agreed that on the second and third day we had felt as though we’d been run over by a steamroller — which fortunately has left none of us with any lasting effects.

Media coverage

What really surprised me was that barely an hour after the police interview, after we had been airlifted back down, the hut keeper’s girlfriend sent me a link to the Austrian news site nachrichten.at (PDF version in English and German).

The author is Judith Pointner. It contains almost the exact wording of what the officer was writing down in pen on paper during the interview. The police actually sent it to the journalists.

About 30 minutes later the story, already containing an error (who had snowshoes and who had crampons), appeared on the Czech site IDNES.cz and then spread further — sometimes correctly, sometimes with the error intact.

17:32 Obrovské štěstí českých a slovenských turistů v Rakousku: lavina je „vyplavila" – Idnes.cz, PDF export

17:34 Česko-slovenskou skupinu v Rakousku strhla lavina, jeden lehce zraněný – DenikN.cz, PDF export

20:21 Lavina v Rakousku strhla čtveřici českých a slovenských turistů. Sami se z ní zvládli vyprostit – iRozhlas.cz, PDF export

20:27 Obrovské šťastie: Lavína v Rakúsku strhla česko-slovenskú skupinu, po 90 výškových metroch ju „vyplavila" – Pravda.sk

6. 4. 2026, 10:21 V Rakousku smetla lavina skupinu z Česka a Slovenska. Měli obrovské štěstí – TN.cz, PDF export

A few photos

The first avalanche — that one didn’t reach us.

This is our avalanche.

And us in it. I’m calling the hut and arranging the rescue helicopter.

Recording from my Coros Vertix watch — so I know exactly how many vertical metres it took us.

And this photo is already from the hut.

Lessons learned

Always carry avalanche equipment into snow terrain (beacon, shovel, probe).
Don’t let the group override your judgment. Explain why you want a different route, and if there’s no agreement and you can’t continue safely, turn back.
If there are small avalanches around you, turn back — especially when you are with people you are responsible for.
Check the avalanche forecast and if the risk has gone up even one level, be on high alert.

The lesson about group pressure applies far beyond the mountains. Managers and teams face it every day – when to speak up, when to change course, when to turn back. If that’s a topic for you, let’s talk.

Europe Road Trip 2020

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Summer 2020 we decided to take our holidays on the road. We rented a Bürstner Ixeo time 726g Summer Edition from a friend on mine and despite COVID19 global pandemic situation we decided to travel via Europe.

TL / DR

My family (my wife, 2 kids 10, and 7 years old, and me) traveled 3 400 km around 7 countries over 14 days. We spent 50 hours in the car, 6 nights were spent overnight with our friends in their houses and 7 nights in camps. In this article I sum up the route, visited attractions and camps where we stayed, and share the budget details in a hopes to help fellow travelers as well as keep track of the trip.

The Planning

Based on the type of car that we had, we decided to stay mostly in camps. 2 of us would sleep in a tent and 2 in the car, as 2 people, or one adult and 2 kids under 10, can sleep there conveniently. The car could also carry water and had a small fridge using 12/220V, but had no cooking equipment.

When the decision was made, I roughly planned out the route and started looking for interesting sights. Here are the information sources I used:

Map of Unesco sites - I checked the main attractions along the route
Lonely Planet - I looked for interesting places where to go and stay
Our intuition - as we had no fixed bookings , we were open to discovering local areas which interested us. This is how we ended up in the Mercury mine in Idrija or in Cinque Terre.

The Route

As the plan met reality, we end up with the following route:

Trip route ~ 14 days, 3 400 km, 50 hrs in car

Camps

We stayed a total of 7 night in camps, and at some of them for more than one night. The rest of our nights we spent with our friends. We originally planned to overnight at least one night outside of any camp on any place recommended by the app Park4Night but we did not use this option. Open this public Google map to see all places on the map. Here is where we stayed:

Camping Sobec - a pricey but highly recommended camp which is focused on families. Surrounded by mountains, its scenery is fascinating. I can imagine spending a week there with family.
Belvedere camping - a budget option focused on young people. Too crowded with no privacy.
Belvedere Pineta Camping Village - the biggest letdown on our road. While the camp is amazing, large with all the required facilities, the sea is stinky, shallow, and I would not let my kids to go into the water.
Camping Alberto D’Oro - an amazing small camping site in Levanto, Italy. Alternatively, there are two other camping sites and at least Pian di Piche made a good impression on us, but unfortunately was full.
Camping Serenella - a nice but mainstream camp. Next time I would prefer Camping Arco, which is full of climbers and has nice facilities for kids, and is a more personal place where to stay.

I usually called ahead to check if the camp was free the day before or the same day in the morning. Some camps we just visited directly and asked for a free place. Our success rate was more than 60%.

Attractions

The list of attractions is influenced by the fact that we traveled with 2 kids. Below is the list with a short review. Open this public Google map to see the places on the map.

Triglav National Park - a highly recommended to visit. The park is huge, not crowded, the water is crystal clear, and the food is amazing. What else could you with for :-)
Vintgar Gorge (Triglav park) - a 1,6 km long gorge with a hiking tour suitable for kids, which follows the wide Radovna river
Vršič Pass (Triglav park) - a nice curved road leading up to the pass with a lot of places where to stop and rest
Lake Bled (Triglav park) - a picturesque lake surrounded by mountains. Nearby is a Lake Bohinj, which we did not visit, but plan to next time.
Mercury mine in Idrija - the 2nd largest and now closed mercury mine in the world. I recommend visiting not only the mine, but the factory as well. Due to Minamata convention, mercury mining is prohibited within the EU. Idrija is a part of a UNESCO world heritage site.
Piran - a medieval city with nice architecture. I recommend visiting the church, from which you can see the whole city.
Cinque Terre - Italian coast-line, part of a UNESCO world heritage site. An amazing place where I would like to return. We stayed in Levanto and enjoyed local people, nice meals, and beautiful architecture. Took a train and traveled via Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza and Manarola and enjoyed crystal clear water and picturesque cities.
Lake Garda - the largest lake in Italy. The place is surrounded by many climbing and via ferrata routes.
Neuschwanstein Castle - a Castle in Germany which is relatively new, build in 1869. I recommend you park on Colomanstrasse, cross the field and follows the Pöllat river up to the castle. You will avoid tourists and experience beautiful nature as well.
Wendelstein - we took a cable car up to the top and a trip around the mountain, which is well marked and took us around 1 hour with the kids.
Thiersee - on the way back we stopped to swim in this nice lake in the middle of the mountains.
Eisriesenwelt - the largest ice cave in the world. It is accessible via cable car which takes around 30 minutes to climb the steep pathway. As a reward you will have amazing mountain scenery. Nice and rough experience, recommended.

Budget

I decided to keep track of all our spending so we could easily compare it with other vacation options. Here are the costs broken down into major categories:

As such, you can use these total costs for comparison with your own expenses. These costs cover everything described in this article.

My personal conclusions are:

we almost doubled the original estimated budget,
a last-minute package trip to an average Italian see resort with accommodation and half-pension would have been cheaper, but we would have been limited to one place,
if the budget could allow, I would like do a similar road trip but using a camper car and spending most of the nights outside of the camps.

Closing Notes

What Would I Keep?

The freedom to decide where to go, where to stay and plan the trip as we feel it. Mapping out the main point of interests before leaving and then adjusting the plan on the road.

What Would I Change?

Next time I would love to use a camper car where we could all sleep as well as cook.

I welcome your recommendations on where go in Europe and how to travel, especially with a family.