But you don't know that immediately after a slide, and you have to assume (hope) that's not the case and do everything your training has taught you to save those buried.

Making calls on your cell phone to report dead bodies is not included in that.

> But you don't know that immediately after a slide

Sure, but that still makes your disagreement with the assertion that:

> anything they did after the avalanche hit wouldn't have made a difference.

wrong, especially when it was followed (and clarified) by:

> At least that is the impression I got from the description of the injuries.

No, two reports were likely death by suffocation from not being able to expand their chest to breathe in.