<p>Sion: Helicopters were combing an area near the Matterhorn mountain in Switzerland on Monday to find a missing skier after five other members of the party were found dead after "catastrophic" conditions.</p><p>The cross-country skiers, five of them members of the same family from the Valais canton, went missing around Tête Blanche mountain on Saturday on the Zermatt-Arolla path.</p><p>Authorities have not given the cause of death for the five found late on Sunday but described "catastrophic" conditions with avalanches, snow storms and extreme temperatures.</p>.US military helicopter with five Marines goes missing; search underway.<p>"Our priority is to find that sixth person," Christian Varone, cantonal police chief, told journalists at a press conference on Monday.</p><p>"As long as there is hope we will do all we can, but we have to be realistic about the conditions that person has lived through over the past 48 hours."</p><p>The incident is one of the most deadly in the Swiss Alps in recent years.</p><p>Eleven helicopters were part of a search and rescue operation over the weekend as well as a five-person team that left Zermatt on foot to reach the area near the Matterhorn, which straddles the border between Switzerland and Italy, after one of the skiers raised the alarm.</p><p>But the search party had to turn back late on Saturday within 500 metres (yards) of the missing group's last reported altitude due to storms and heavy snowfall.</p><p>"Everything was done in terms of personnel and means and all the bodies worked 24 hours a day to try to achieve the impossible. But we are at the mercy of nature," said Varone.</p><p>Swiss President Viola Amherd expressed her condolences to the families and thanks to rescue teams.</p><p>Police said the group of skiers included people between the ages of 21 and 58 but did not say which had died. A formal investigation is under way.</p><p>Authorities urged extreme caution given ongoing risks of avalanches which also killed another off-piste skier in a separate incident in the same canton at the weekend.</p><p>The road to Zermatt, a popular mountain resort for skiers from around the world, is also shut after being partially buried by an avalanche, police said</p>
<p>Sion: Helicopters were combing an area near the Matterhorn mountain in Switzerland on Monday to find a missing skier after five other members of the party were found dead after "catastrophic" conditions.</p><p>The cross-country skiers, five of them members of the same family from the Valais canton, went missing around Tête Blanche mountain on Saturday on the Zermatt-Arolla path.</p><p>Authorities have not given the cause of death for the five found late on Sunday but described "catastrophic" conditions with avalanches, snow storms and extreme temperatures.</p>.US military helicopter with five Marines goes missing; search underway.<p>"Our priority is to find that sixth person," Christian Varone, cantonal police chief, told journalists at a press conference on Monday.</p><p>"As long as there is hope we will do all we can, but we have to be realistic about the conditions that person has lived through over the past 48 hours."</p><p>The incident is one of the most deadly in the Swiss Alps in recent years.</p><p>Eleven helicopters were part of a search and rescue operation over the weekend as well as a five-person team that left Zermatt on foot to reach the area near the Matterhorn, which straddles the border between Switzerland and Italy, after one of the skiers raised the alarm.</p><p>But the search party had to turn back late on Saturday within 500 metres (yards) of the missing group's last reported altitude due to storms and heavy snowfall.</p><p>"Everything was done in terms of personnel and means and all the bodies worked 24 hours a day to try to achieve the impossible. But we are at the mercy of nature," said Varone.</p><p>Swiss President Viola Amherd expressed her condolences to the families and thanks to rescue teams.</p><p>Police said the group of skiers included people between the ages of 21 and 58 but did not say which had died. A formal investigation is under way.</p><p>Authorities urged extreme caution given ongoing risks of avalanches which also killed another off-piste skier in a separate incident in the same canton at the weekend.</p><p>The road to Zermatt, a popular mountain resort for skiers from around the world, is also shut after being partially buried by an avalanche, police said</p>