A 56-year-old Richmond Hill woman died after being caught in a sudden snowstorm in Italy’s Dolomite mountains and her companion was being treated for severe hypothermia, Italy’s Alpine Rescue Corps said Friday.
The two climbers, exhausted and suffering hypothermia, called for help Thursday evening after being hit by the snowstorm about two kilometers (more than a mile) from a mountain refuge. The hikers were not identified by name.
“At 8:44 p.m., we received the emergency call,” Adam Holzknect of the Aiut Alpin Dolomites tells OMNI TV. “They were on the Alta Via delle Dolomiti, also known as Route 2, which is quite famous, between the Genoa Refuge and the Puez Refuge.”
“It was understood that they were about an hour away from the Puez Refuge. The manager of the refuge was also called, as it was known that two people were missing, and together with a local Alpine guide, they went to see if they could find them,” explained Holzknect.
“Instead of descending, [the couple] decided to ascend to a higher altitude to reach this refuge, a decision that proved fatal for them.”
Holzknect says they attempted a helicopter rescue but it was deemed too risky due to bad weather.
He says when the rescue team finally managed to reach them the woman had already been unconscious for some time and she was pronounced dead.
Rescuers put up a tent and sheltered the 56-year-old male hiker overnight until the storm cleared and a helicopter could rescue him early Friday. He was being treated at a hospital in the northern Italian city of Bolzano.
Silvia Pontecorvi contributed to this report
