Two off-piste skiers were killed and a third seriously injured when an avalanche struck a mountainside near Courmayeur on Sunday morning, Italy’s central Alpine Rescue service (CNSAS) said.
The avalanche hit the Canale dei Vesses, also known as the Couloir Vesses, a steep and well-known freeride route in the upper Val Veny area at the foot of the Mont Blanc massif, near the French-Swiss border.
A video circulating online shows the moment the avalanche struck the resort, with skiers seen being caught in the rushing snow.
At least three skiers were caught in the slide on the Italian side of Mont Blanc, west of the town of Courmayeur, which has about 2,900 residents and lies roughly 200 kilometres northwest of Milan. Courmayeur is also near Milan, one of the venues set to host events during the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and is a well-known base for winter sports, as per AP reports.
According to CNSAS, the victims were a woman and two men who were “probably” French nationals. One skier died at the scene, while another was transported to the hospital in serious condition but later succumbed to injuries.
The third skier was taken to a hospital in Turin and remains in serious condition.
A search-and-rescue operation involving 15 rescuers, three canine units and two helicopters was launched shortly after the avalanche. Rescue teams located and recovered the victims from the steep off-trail slope, which is popular among experienced backcountry skiers.
The incident comes amid heightened avalanche risk across the Alpine region.
Alpine rescue has warned that fresh snowfall from recent storms, combined with wind-blown snow accumulating over weak underlying layers, has created particularly unstable conditions along the Alpine crescent bordering France, Switzerland and Austria.
In a separate incident on Sunday, another person was partially buried by an avalanche in the Trentino region but was rescued by companions.
The latest tragedy follows a record week in the Italian mountains, where 13 backcountry skiers, climbers and hikers died in the week ending Feb 8, including 10 in avalanches linked to an exceptionally unstable snowpack.
