At 50 m (160 ft) high and traveling at 290 km/h (180 mph), the powder avalanche overturned cars, destroyed buildings and buried 57 people.

[1] Like most populated regions of the Alps, Galtür was hazard-zoned according to the perceived risk of avalanches into red, yellow, and green areas.

Yellow zones pose a moderate risk; development is allowed but structures must be reinforced to resist avalanches.

Combined with cold Arctic air coming from the north, there was a very dry and light type of snowfall exceeding 4 m (13 ft).

At Galtür, the snow initially bonded with the underlying ice of the melt crust and it was able to stay in place for longer than usual.

Several countries contributed aircraft: to support the Austrian Bell 212, Bell 204 and Alouette III helicopters, Germany sent UH-1D and CH-53G, the German Federal Border Guard (Bundesgrenzschutz) Super Pumas, the U.S. Army 10 UH-60 Black Hawks, and the Swiss and French air forces together six Super Puma/Cougar helicopters.

The Austrian helicopters transported the evacuated to the army barracks at Landeck, while the other air crews flew the evacuees to a section of the Inn valley highway.

[citation needed] The families of the victims demanded to know why the avalanche penetrated the supposedly safe zone and devastated Galtür.

The response has included the extension of the hazard zones, with steel fences constructed on all mountainsides above the village to break up the areas where unstable snow packs can form, creating smaller shelves overall that reduce the size and scale of any future avalanches.