Three skiers died in avalanches in the Italian Alps, in areas where trials are held at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics
Panorama of the Passo Giau pass in the Dolomites. Photo: © Lukas Gojda | Dreamstime.com
Avalanches on Saturday killed three off-piste skiers in the mountains of the Trentino-Alto Adige and Lombardy regions, home to some of the venues for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, the mountain rescue service said, according to Reuters.
Two avalanches hit the Marmolada area of the Dolomites, not far from Cortina d'Ampezzo, where the women's alpine skiing events take place.
The mountain rescue service said it recovered the body of a man who was skiing off-piste with three other skiers at Punta Rocca, a 3,300-meter peak in the Marmolada massif, the highest in the Dolomites.
The mountain rescue service said the man died buried in the snow after triggering the avalanche, despite the fact that his three companions immediately began search operations with the support of other skiers until emergency teams arrived.
Two other off-piste skiers died in Albosaggia, a village in the lower Valtellina valley, about 65 kilometers east of Bormio, where all the men's alpine skiing events take place.
The mountain rescue service also said it had no confirmation of a possible fourth victim in Trentino-Alto Adige, where local media reported that a man injured in an earlier avalanche had died in hospital.
The heavy snowfall of the past few days in the Alps has caused several avalanches.
Earlier this week, another avalanche in the Trentino-Alto Adige region killed two Finnish skiers.
AINEVA, the Italian association for snow and avalanche risks, part of the European Avalanche Warning Services network, has signaled a high risk of avalanches for Sunday.
The fresh snow and moderate winds have formed slabs of blizzard snow that can break away with the passage of even a single winter sports practitioner, AINEVA warned on its website.
Photo: © Lukas Gojda | Dreamstime.com
