A SCOTS skier killed in a horror avalanche in Argentina has been named locally.
Andrea Marshall, 27, was out skiing with two friends in the Andes mountains near the Patagonian city of Bariloche when she was buried under snow and rocks.
Andrea Marshall was tragically killed in a horror avalanche
The Scots skier has been named locally as a probe is launched
GettyThe 27-year-old was on the Andes mountains near the Patagonian city of Bariloche[/caption]
Her body was found around 11pm local time on Wednesday after a search and rescue operation lasting several hours which continued into Thursday morning.
Andrea was originally from Scotland but is understood to have been based in the Aran Valley in the Spanish Pyrenees, although unconfirmed local reports said she was temporarily teaching at a large ski centre in Bariloche as part of an exchange programme.
She was named in Argentina as the victim of Wednesday’s tragedy following initial erroneous reports identifying her as an Irish national.
The two survivors have been named locally as Augusto Gruttadauria, from the city of Cordoba nearly 1,000 miles north-east of Bariloche, and local man Christian Erauskin.
They are both said to have been suffering from hypothermia when they were found and brought down to safety from the iconic 7,178ft Cerro Lopez mountain following the avalanche just after 5pm local time on Wednesday.
Augusto was the last of the three people rescuers reached early on Thursday morning, after he had been buried under snow for 15 hours.
Andrea described herself online as a keen mountaineer and ski instructor based in Spain but originally from Scotland.
She posted regularly on Instagram video and photos of her skiing and rock climbing.
The avalanche risk when Andrea and her colleagues went out on Wednesday is said to have been “considerable”.
The Bariloche Alpine Club Rescue Commission has said the main hypothesis is that the skiers themselves caused the avalanche.
An investigation into the tragedy has been launched.
Andrea moved to Spain shortly after graduating with a First Class Business with Marketing degree from Glasgow Caledonian University.
The former Dunoon Grammar School deputy head girl was an active member of the university’s mountaineering club, equestrian club and snow sports club while at uni.
The well-travelled adventure enthusiast, who has also lived in New Zealand and France, learnt Spanish while teaching English in schools after moving to Madrid in September 2019.
She went on to work as a ski instructor at a school called Cota1700 in the Pyrenees resort of Baqueira.
Although she lived in Baqueira, she also worked remotely doing admin for a Majorcan outdoor sports and adventure activities firm called Rock & Water Mallorca.
Andrea had said in an online write-up before her tragic death: “My next objective is to travel more and then focus in on a masters to continue on a career path, possibly in the wine industry.”
As well as Spanish, she also spoke some Italian.
A FCDO spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British woman who died in Argentina and are in contact with the local authorities.”
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