Terrifying Avalanches Kill at Least 13 People in Italy’s Mountains

A deadly stretch in Italy’s mountains has claimed a record number of lives, with rescuers reporting that 13 backcountry skiers, climbers, and hikers have died in just the past week — most of them in avalanches triggered by dangerously unstable snow.

Italian alpine rescuers said Monday that 10 of the deaths were caused by avalanches set off by an unusually fragile snowpack, even as Winter Olympic competitions were getting underway elsewhere in the country.

Recent storms dumped fresh snow across the Alps, while strong winds piled snow onto weak underlying layers — a combination that experts say has created extreme avalanche risk along the entire Alpine arc bordering France, Switzerland, and Austria.

“Under these conditions, the passage of a single skier — or even the natural weight of accumulated snow — can be enough to trigger an avalanche,” said Federico Catania, a spokesperson for Italy’s Alpine Rescue Corps.

Rescuers emphasized that the fatal avalanches happened far from Olympic venues and managed ski areas. The deaths occurred on ungroomed, off-piste slopes, not on the carefully monitored Olympic sites in Lombardy near the Swiss border or in Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Veneto region, nor on cross-country courses in Val di Fiemme in Trentino.

“There is no danger for people skiing within managed ski resorts,” Catania said. “These areas are constantly monitored and are generally safe, regardless of Olympic events.”

Officials say the surge in fatalities is partly tied to timing. After multiple snowstorms, outdoor enthusiasts rushed into the mountains during brief stretches of good weather — often before the snowpack had time to stabilize.

“As a result, the number of accidents — and therefore fatalities — has increased proportionally,” Catania said.

Over the weekend alone, avalanches killed two skiers in Lombardy, three in Trentino, and one in South Tyrol. Two of the victims died in separate avalanches near the Marmolada glacier, a notoriously dangerous area in unstable conditions.

The death toll also included two hikers — one on Monte Grappa in Veneto and another in the Marche region along the Apennine range — as well as an ice climber in Valle d’Aosta.

Rescue officials are urging anyone planning backcountry trips to closely follow avalanche forecasts and delay outings until the snowpack has had time to consolidate.

The same rescue teams were also involved in a high-profile incident over the weekend, carrying out a helicopter rescue of American downhill skier Lindsey Vonn after she crashed during competition in Cortina d’Ampezzo.