Australian mountains claim three lives
Updated
Police have released details of three men who have died in separate accidents in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains.
A 22-year-old man died in an avalanche at Blue Lake in the state's Kosciuszko National Park.
Two men have also died in separate skiing accidents at the Perisher Blue ski resort.
A 59-year-old man died when he hit a tree in the Blue Cow area on Sunday.
A 48-year-old man was killed when he hit a tree while skiing in the sun valley area of Perisher.
Perisher Blue spokesman, Gary Grant, says there's no indication at this stage what caused the skiing accidents.
"It's upset a lot of people here because it was such an incredibly beautiful day and people are at a loss to understand the two accidents within the resort, because of the weather, and the fact that they were in uncrowded areas when it occurred," he said.
"It's just people out enjoying themselves with a group of friends.
"A lot of people were involved in the incident and of course, anything like this - because they are certainly a rarity in ski resorts - affects everyone deeply because they are places where people come to enjoy themselves and you certainly don't expect this to happen."
