Avalanche above Courmayeur, two dead and one injured. One missing in Madesimo

A large avalanche broke loose this morning in the Canali dei Vesses, in Val Veny, above Courmayeur. The death toll was two French ski mountaineers and a third, also French, aged 35, who was hospitalised in desperate condition at the Giovanni Bosco hospital in Turin. The area where the avalanche broke off is well known and popular with freeriders, but the avalanche danger was very high today.

A mudslide also hit the mountains above Valchiavenna (Lombardy): four people were swept away, two pairs of friends on snowmobiles. Rescue services were immediately called to the scene. According to initial information, three were rescued while the search continues for a fourth missing person.

In Val d'Aosta, the distress call to the single central unit arrived at around 11 a.m.: a large avalanche was reported and, at the same time, the presence of a group of off-piste skiers. Within a few minutes, the guides of the Aosta Valley Alpine Rescue Service arrived on the scene, as well as soldiers from the Entrèves financial police with their canine units. About fifteen technicians went into action without knowing how many people to look for and where. Right from the start, there was talk of at least three people being swept away by the snow mass. Then the bodies were identified thanks to the Artva signal they were carrying and the digging operations began. The skiers were buried under more than a metre and a half of snow. The first one extracted was still breathing, his condition immediately appeared very serious. He was under the avalanche for at least 40 minutes. The 118 doctor immediately started resuscitation manoeuvres, before transporting him to the Entrèves hangar (Courmayeur) and finally to the Parini hospital in Aosta.

After a visit to the emergency room, the doctors decided to helicopter him to Turin. The medical team of cardiac surgeons led by Matteo Attisani and resuscitators led by Roberto Balagna started resuscitation manoeuvres with an extracorporeal support and heating technique. The man is between life and death.

The other two ski mountaineers were extracted a few minutes later: their condition immediately appeared very serious. One 31-year-old from Chamonix died almost immediately, the other died as soon as he arrived at the hospital in Aosta. The latter, about 30 years old, has not yet been identified as he had no documents with him. The police are now working to trace his identity. All he had in his pockets was a four-hour French ski pass, which is not named.