BOLZANO. A hiker lost his life in an avalanche at Passo Stalle, in Alto Adige. The man had climbed on foot along the easy path that leads to the Italian-Austrian pass, at 2,052 meters above sea level, above the Pusteria valley. The small group had practically reached altitude when, crossing a gully, the small avalanche broke out and swept away and buried the man. His hiking companions immediately raised the alarm to 112 and he took off the Aiut Alpin Dolomites helicopter who brought the mountain rescue men to the scene of the accident.
The hiker, probably because the trip was not particularly difficult, was not equipped with the ARVA, the electronic device for locating buried people, so the rescuers began the search with probes. When they finally found and freed the man, they immediately began resuscitation efforts. The Pelikan 1 helicopter also arrived on site with the emergency doctor who continued with resuscitation attempts, which however remained unsuccessful. Due to the strong winds, the avalanche danger along the border ridge is currently considerable (level 3 of 5).
The wind has in fact moved large quantities of snow and the accumulations in the event of detachment represent a great risk for hikers and ski mountaineers. At the Punta di Dan weather station, at 2808 meters above sea level, in Val di Fundres, near Brennero, 146 km/h were in fact measured. The wind also blows downstream, for example with 80 km/at Molini di Tures. The wind and cold made helicopter intervention and rescue operations very difficult. The Financial Police also intervened on site to carry out legal investigations.