Massive avalanche triggered by snowmobilers near Ammarnäs

A 1,000-metre-wide avalanche was set off by snowmobilers on Good Friday near Ammarnäs in northern Sweden, according to public broadcaster SVT Nyheter. Four riders were descending a slope on Guvertfjället mountain in Sorsele municipality when the snow gave way, creating a wall of snow up to 500 metres high.

Witness Sebastian Koski, 38, who was waiting nearby for family members, described the moment the avalanche struck: “It rumbled like thunder. Then I stopped filming and called 112. The snow clouds rolling down were as big as houses.”

A mountain rescue operation involving helicopters, snowmobiles, and avalanche dogs was launched but concluded around 5:30 pm with no serious injuries reported. One of the four riders was temporarily unaccounted for, though it remains unclear whether they were caught in the snow cloud or buried. The rider later descended the mountain unharmed but was left shaken, according to Marcus Eriksson, a mountain rescuer with nearly 20 years of experience.

“When I spoke to him last night, he was physically fine but terrified,” Eriksson said. “This could have been a truly tragic Good Friday.”

Eriksson warned that while snowmobiling in the mountains carries risks, the greater danger lies in ignoring avalanche warnings. “This winter, we’ve had an unusually high number of alerts. If the slope is steep and the snowpack unstable, you simply shouldn’t go out there,” he said.

The incident comes amid record avalanche activity in Sweden’s mountains—the highest in a decade—due to weak snow layers formed by early-season cold followed by heavy March snowfall. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency publishes daily avalanche forecasts at lavinprognoser.se.