BOLZANO. The two Canadians, aged 57 and 56, who were surprised by a snowstorm in Val Gardena, were following the Alta Via delle Dolomiti, also known as ‘High way 2‘. It is a high-altitude walk in stages for expert hikers, from refuge to refuge, which – if done in its entirety – leads from Bressanone to Feltre. The tragedy occurred during the third stage, from the Genova refuge to the Puez refuge. In good weather conditions the 15 kilometers and 850 meters of altitude differencewith a short equipped section, can be covered in about six hours. Yesterday, however, something went wrong. At eight in the evening they had not yet reached the Puez refuge at 2,475 meters.
There were about two kilometers of fairly flat walking left, but the two were exhausted and, due to the darkness and the snow, they had difficulty finding the path. The mountain rescue men set off on foot from Vallunga. The intervention in the snowstorm was very difficult due to the darkness and the wind gusts over 50 km/h. When the Alpine rescue team arrived on site, the woman was already dead, despite the resuscitation attempts made by the manager of the Puez refuge and her companion. At this point she was a small expedition tent was set upwhere the man and two rescuers found shelter during the night.
This morning the Canadian was admitted to hospital suffering from hypothermia, but his life is not in danger.
2024-09-14 20:51:32