British Ski Instructor's Frozen Body Found In Austrian Mountain Hut

The frozen body of a British ski instructor has been found in a mountain hut in Austria.

The 36-year-old - who has not been named - was found at the hut in Bürs by two Austrian Alpine Association volunteers on 12 January.

Police said the man broke into the hut 1,600 metres up the mountain, though they have not yet determined how long he had been dead.

Newsflash

He died of monoxide poisoning after lighting a fire, seemingly unaware the chimney had been removed and replaced with a plate to keep snow out when it was last visited on 15 November 2020.

After the fire died down, the temperature of the hut dropped and the man's body froze.

In a statement, Vorarlberg Police said: "On January 12, 2021, in the morning, two volunteers went to the Sarotla hut in Bürs to carry out an upcoming repair. The hut was made winter-proof on November 15, 2020 and has not been used since then.

"In the hut, the two men found a frozen male body and called the police. The investigations by the police revealed that the man broke into the hut after November 15, 2020 in order to eat and/or spend the night there.

"Unaware that the stove will be made winterproof when leaving the hut on November 15, 2020 (i.e. the stove pipe above the roof is removed and the opening closed with a plate), the man lit the stove. As a result, the man died - as the autopsy revealed - of carbon monoxide poisoning. There are no indications of third-party negligence.

"The dead person is a 36-year-old man, United Kingdom national, resident on Fire. The 36-year-old worked as a ski instructor in Brand in winter and as an employee of a leisure facility in summer."

A police spokesperson added that it was unclear how long the man had lived in the hut.

They said: "We believe he forced his way into the hut in order to spend the night there. We know that the body was there for some time, but the exact amount of time is part of the investigation.

"It's also unclear whether he was squatting there or had been seeking shelter overnight. We found some evidence that he had used a gas heater for a while, before then using the fire when that ran out."

Topics: World News, UK News, Austria

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey