In the last week, a record 13 skiers, climbers and tourists died in the Italian mountainsthe local rescuers announced on Monday. Ten of the poor people died as a result of avalanches caused by extremely unstable snow cover. The AP agency drew attention to it, writes TASR. The fresh snow that fell during the recent blizzards, along with the wind, created extremely dangerous conditions across the Italian Alps, local mountain rescuers said.
“Under such conditions, even the passage of a single skier or the natural overload of the weight of the snow can be enough to trigger an avalanche,” explained Federico Catania, a spokesman for the Italian mountain rescue service. Avalanche deaths have occurred on ungroomed slopes, far from the well-maintained and monitored Olympic sites in Lombardy and in Cortina d’Ampezzo in Venice, as well as in Val di Fiemme in the autonomous province of Trento.
“There is no danger or risk for people skiing in managed ski resorts and especially in the Olympic areas,Catania confirmed. “All these areas are constantly monitored and are generally safe regardless of the Olympic events,” he added. Rescuers are advising people who want to visit mountain areas to monitor avalanche reports and postpone their trips until the snowpack stabilizes.
