Alpine glacier chunk detaches, killing at least 6 hikers

[dalton99a]

https://apnews.com/article/italy-glaciers-climate-and-environment-e131827437311de5e1de5b6cfad4761c

Alpine glacier chunk detaches, killing at least 6 hikers
By FRANCES D'EMILIO

ROME (AP) — A large chunk of Alpine glacier broke loose Sunday afternoon and roared down a mountainside in Italy, sending ice, snow and rock slamming into hikers on a popular trail on the peak and killing at least six and injuring eight, authorities said.

It couldn’t immediately be determined how many hikers were in the area or whether any were missing, said Walter Milan, a spokesperson for the national Alpine rescue corps who provided the death and injury toll.

Rescuers were checking license plates in the parking lot as part of checks to determine how many people might be unaccounted for, a process that could take hours, Milan said by telephone.

“We saw dead (people) and enormous chunks of ice, rock,″ exhausted-looking rescuer Luigi Felicetti told Italian state TV.

Nationalities or ages of the dead weren’t immediately available, Milan said. Of the eight hospitalized survivors, two were in grave condition, emergency dispatch services said.

The fast-moving avalanche “came down with a roar the could be heard at great distance,″ local online media site ildolomiti.it said.


This image released on Sunday, July 3, 2022, by the Italian National Alpine and Cave Rescue Corps shows the glacier in Italy's Alps near Trento a large chunk of which has broken loose, killing at least six hikers and injuring eight others. Alpine rescue service officials, which provided that toll Sunday evening, said it could take hours to determine if any hikers might be missing. The National Alpine and Cave Rescue Corps tweeted that the search of the involved area of Marmolada peak involved at least five helicopters and rescue dogs. (Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico via AP)

[malaise]

1. Horrific

[Demovictory9]

2. Agreed

[alphafemale]

3. You pretty much have to seek a specific space to die by avalanche

Probably no insurance pay out but your family can know you died spending thousands of dollars being an adventure tourist.

[Model35mech]

4. Well, yes you have to be on the downhill side of material that 'could' fall.

Some people enjoy being in the back-country and in the presence of its dangers. It's thrilling I suppose, when it isn't terrifying.

The problem of course is that hikers beneath the face of a glacier, or skiers below a snow that fell on an iced snow cover don't and likely can't know of when things will let loose.

This is the reason why as a Midwesterner I can't see adopting a passing appearance of a seal and swimming with Great White Sharks. I don't get it. But I know people do get it, and they wouldn't want to stop because of 'danger'.

My condolences to all the relatives, and best wishes to the recovery teams for a safe retrieval of the bodies.

[alphafemale]

5. I really don't know why anyone should be obligated to recover the bodies of morons.

Maybe for $100K or something like that.

[Model35mech]

6. The same could be said for people killed by icicles falling from skyscrapers

You've got to be in a place where there are skyscrapers with icicles... why on earth would ANYONE be in such a place?

[alphafemale]

7. Wow

And I bet you think yourself clever?

[BlackSkimmer]

13. Do you?

Wasn't it you who made fun of a disabled woman who died in a freak accident in her living room because of a metal straw?

Pretty sure it was you who found that hilarious. I'll never forget reading that. I was gobsmacked at the insensitivity.

Hey, at least she wasn't hiking, right?

[Model35mech]

8. Clever? Not at all. Facetious? Yes.

And clearly so.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. The people recovering the bodies probably enjoy the same activities as the "morons"

as you so lovingly put it. This is not some remote region - see, for instance, this, filmed from a mountain restaurant:

Link to tweet

[Model35mech]

10. True, and the nearby communities undoubtedly benefit from tourism $$$

and buy equipment and train people to do mountain rescues

Europeans love their mountains, and visting them and taking recreation among them is normal, not moron-ish.

[BlackSkimmer]

15. Exactly. I trained on a cave rescue team way back in my college days. We enjoyed the training.

We enjoyed caving, and every single one of us was a caver, a skier, a climber, a hiker, or many or a lover of any of those activities.

I hike almost everyday. The other day I had a close encounter with a copperhead, and this was very close to civilization. I'm currently recovering from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (tick bite, no doubt while hiking).

Perhaps my doctor should have refused to treat me for the tick disease? How dare I venture 5 miles out of town into the woods???

[BlackSkimmer]

12. Morons?

For walking on a hiking trail? Wow.

There's even a parking lot for crying out loud. Hardly "adventure" sport.

Do you sit on a couch all day?

[alphafemale]

20. How long ago was the parking lot built?

Plenty of areas perfectly stable decades ago are very dangerous now.

There is an ice cave of some type near my daughter in Seattle.

It is at serious risk of collapse, but fools still go inside.

She stays a reasonable distance from the entrance.

[Mysterian]

11. We should all stay inside where it's nice and safe

[Ilsa]

14. But stay away from those slippery floors in the bathroom. nt

[kcr]

22. Why would anyone even go into a bathroom?

What are they thinking?

[Lancero]

21. Up until a meteorite goes through your roof...

At which point, you're now a moron because you sought out that specific house to live in.

[Ilsa]

16. It was a glacier, not merely accumulated snowfall that detached.

Unless a park ranger or specialist in that field had been up to evaluate it recently, it was likely viewed as a stable, permanent glacier. These people are innocent victims undeserving of criticism and snark.

Nature hikes, even on rocky mountains, is great exercise and good for the psyche. I've hiked multiple ranges in the US, both trails and wilderness. There are a couple I wouldn't repeat at my age, but I regret none of those trips. They were bonding experiences for my friends, husband, and I.

If you're looking for something to read, try Wild by Cheryl Strayed.

[BlackSkimmer]

17. Thank you!

And "Wild" is a great book.

So is "Awol on the Appalachian Trail", and "A Walk in the Woods."

[Victor_c3]

18. I would hardly call hiking in the presence of a glacier "adventure tourism"

The key is these were hikers hiking, not mountaineering. Mountaineering means that they were using specialized climbing equipment to scale extremely steep/vertical cliffs. Hiking requires no specialized equipment.

Hiking is hardly a high risky past time. It’s about as dangerous and walking around the corner to your neighborhood grocery store.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. Not quite 'no specialized equipment'- crossing a glacier, crampons and a walking axe are recommended

and many parties were roped up, in case one slipped. It's the "normal route" to the top of Marmolada - graded PD ('peu difficile' - a little difficult), which, for something not long, nor at altitude, like this, would be a suitable introduction to crampon and rope use - walking on ice slopes. But I'd agree "adventure tourism" is not the way to describe it.

https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/marmolada-2645/marmolada_normal_route-145794

That's the same standard of difficulty as the normal route up Mont Blanc, but that description notes the 'objective danger' of crossing the Grand Couloir, which is infamous for rockfall (since I climbed in, in the 1980s, they have limited the number of the people on the route each day, because the problem was people dislodging rocks further up). The Marmolada description says nothing about worries about seracs falling, and I think it was entirely unexpected.

[Kid Berwyn]

19. Photographing glacier melt over a century and more

From Deutsche Welle:





https://www.dw.com/en/fabiano-ventura-photography-glaciers-climate-change/a-55422556