A single skier can trigger an avalanche.
The Italian Alps are not the place to be this season.
A severe winter has been punishing the Northern Hemisphere with heavy snow and record-low temperatures.
And in the Italian mountains, no less than 13 backcountry skiers, climbers, and hikers have died in the last week.
Italian rescuers – Social Media/X
This includes 10 dead in avalanches triggered by ‘an exceptionally unstable snowpack’.
At least five people have died after three separate avalanches swept away 11 mountaineers and skiers in the Italian Alps over the weekend. #avalanche #alps #italianalps #mountaineer #skier pic.twitter.com/Ig1E8LoATC
— 7NEWS Australia (@7NewsAustralia) February 8, 2026
Associated Press reported:
“Fresh snowfall during recent storms and wind-swept snowcaps on weak internal layers have created especially risky conditions along the entire Alpine crescent bordering France, Switzerland and Austria, Italy’s alpine rescuers said.
‘Under such conditions, the passage of a single skier, or natural overloading from the weight of snow, can be sufficient to trigger an avalanche,’ said Federico Catania, Italy’s Alpine Rescue Corps spokesman.”
SKIING TRAGEDY : Two people killed after devastating avalanche in region near site of the Winter Olympics. #skiing #WinterOlympics #Italy #foxweather pic.twitter.com/giI6EnQH4S
— FOX Weather (@foxweather) February 8, 2026
“The avalanche deaths occurred on ungroomed slopes, away from well-maintained and monitored Olympic sites in Lombardy on the Swiss border and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Veneto, as well as cross-country skiing in Val di Fiemme in the autonomous province of Trentino.
‘There is no danger for people skiing within managed ski resorts, and in particular no risks to the Olympic sites’, Catania said. ‘All of these areas are constantly monitored and are generally safe regardless of Olympic events’.”
Three people have died due to avalanches in northern Italy.
Reuters, citing Italian officials, reported that conditions in the Alps remain unstable and the number of victims could rise.#TOLOnews_English pic.twitter.com/vFMMlS0wWj
— TOLOnews English (@TOLONewsEnglish) February 7, 2026
Read more:
DEATH AT THE TOP: Climber Charged With Manslaughter After Allegedly Leaving His Girlfriend To Freeze to Death in Austria’s Highest Peak
The post DEADLY PEAKS: 13 Skiers, Climbers and Hikers Died in Italian Mountains Just in The Last Week appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.