Canadian woman died of hypothermia in snowstorm in South Tyrol

A tragic mountain accident occurred late Thursday evening and Friday night in Val Gardena in South Tyrol. Two hikers from Canada – a 57-year-old and a 56-year-old – were exhausted and hypothermic and got caught in a snowstorm at an altitude of 2,300 meters, reported South Tyrolean media. They then made an emergency call. But help came too late for the woman: they died of hypothermia.

Helicopter could not fly further

The Canadians had tackled the stage from the Schlüter Hut to the 2400-meter-high Puez Hut. Two kilometers from the Puez Hut, they were finally unable to continue. After the alarm was raised, a team from the Val Gardena mountain rescue service and the Puez Hut's hut warden, accompanied by a mountain guide candidate with blanket equipment, set out to search for the alpinists. The emergency helicopter “Pelikan 2” was also called in to rescue the two, but had to turn away due to poor visibility and snow, reported the Internet portal “stol.it”.

When the rescue team finally arrived, the woman's condition was already extremely critical. “She was no longer responsive shortly after the first rescuers arrived on site,” the Val Gardena mountain rescue team said in a press release. A tent with thermal blankets was set up for the man, who was also suffering from severe hypothermia. Two mountain rescuers spent the night with him to wait for the weather to improve. The Canadian was finally rescued by a rescue helicopter on Friday morning.