Val Veny, Italy: Two dead, one fighting for life after being crushed by huge avalanche at ski resort
An avalanche at a ski resort in Italy has claimed the lives of two skiers, and left one other in critical condition.
An avalanche at Val Veny, part of the Courmayeur ski resort in north-west Italy, has claimed the lives of two skiers and left one in critical condition.
Three men were skiing off piste in the Couloir Vesses, a popular freeride route in Courmayeur, on Sunday morning, when they were caught in the avalanche at around 11am local time.
One man died at the scene while another died on the way to the hospital. The third man was seriously injured and has been transferred to Le Molinette Hospital in Turin.
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The identities and nationalities of the victims have not yet been released.
Courmayeur is around 200 km northwest of Milan, one of the venues hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The Aosta Valley, where Val Veny is located, is currently a three out of five on the avalanche warning scale.
It comes after a record number of skiers, climbers, and hikers have died in the Italian mountains over the last week. Thirteen have died, with ten of those being killed by avalanches
Italy’s alpine rescuers said that fresh snowfall during recent storms and wind-swept snowcaps have created especially risky conditions along the entire Alpine crescent bordering France, Switzerland, and Austria.
According to AP News, Italy’s Alpine Rescue Corps spokesman Federico Catania said: ‘’Under such conditions, the passage of a single skier, or natural overloading from the weight of snow, can be sufficient to trigger an avalanche.”
Just over a month ago, three skiers were killed in separate avalanches in the French Alps.
A British man died after being buried under snow at the La Plagne ski resort in France. An extensive search team found the man after 50 minutes; he could not be revived.
In nearby Courcheval, another person was buried by an avalanche and found dead.
Near the Swiss border, a 32-year-old man was also killed after an avalanche threw him against a tree in Vallocrine.
So far, Europe’s ski season has claimed over 60 lives.
