{"id":22854,"date":"2026-03-02T10:34:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T10:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/22854\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T10:34:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T10:34:00","slug":"more-than-100-hikers-have-died-in-the-italian-alps-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/22854\/","title":{"rendered":"More Than 100 Hikers Have Died in the Italian Alps This Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\\\/div><\\\/div>”],”filter”:{“nextExceptions”:”img, blockquote, div”,”nextContainsExceptions”:”img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”},”renderIntial”:true,”wordCount”:350}”><\/p>\n

Italy\u2019s picturesque<\/a> mountains have experienced an upturn in tourism this year, and with it, a staggering increase in fatal accidents.<\/p>\n

Roberto Bolza, the vice president of Italy\u2019s national rescue organization, Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico (CNSAS), told Outside that more than 100 people have died in the country\u2019s peaks since June 1\u2014a shocking average of three deaths per-day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a dramatic figure,\u201d Bolza said.<\/p>\n

Bolza said that the uptick in deadly falls and accidents is part of a growing trend that the CNSAS\u2014which was founded in 1954\u2014has experienced over the past decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past ten years, the Soccorso Alpino has carried out as many rescue operations as in the first 60 years of its history,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Deaths and Rescues Across the Alps<\/p>\n

Most of the incidents have involved hikers, he said, and are similar to others CNSAS sees during a typical year: slips and falls on challenging terrain, sudden illness or cardiac arrest, rock climbing accidents, and situations caused by rapidly changing weather or a lack of proper clothing.<\/p>\n

In some of the deaths, overconfident tourists have ventured off-trail, or gotten lost in steep, technical terrain, without proper experience or equipment.<\/p>\n

\"\"CNSAS performs a rescue exercise (Photo: Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico)<\/p>\n

\u201cToo many are treating serious alpine trails with the same casual mindset they\u2019d bring to a stroll in the park,\u201d Maurizio Dellantonio, the head of CNSAS, told the Italian newspaper\u00a0Corriere della Sera<\/a> in July.<\/p>\n

Lifesaving missions are up 20 percent compared to 2024, Dellantonio said. One CNSAS rescue involved a 30-year-old hiker who attempted to ascend a 12,000-foot peak wearing tennis shoes. He called for aid after becoming stuck on the peak during the night. In another incident, two Korean hikers in their sixties embarked on a via ferrata\u2014a climbing route with fixed cables and iron steps that requires users to don climbing gear\u2014without harnesses or helmets. All three lived.<\/p>\n

But others have not been so lucky. On July 24, a 15-year-old French boy, Liam Rezac, died after he became lost on a hiking trail and then slipped and fell in the Val D\u2019Aosta region. Also in July, a 21-year-old hiker named Gioele Fortina died after slipping and falling from a trail in Piedmont.<\/p>\n

In late July, A 60-year-old hiker died after losing his balance and falling off a trail in the Fassa Valley, deep in the Dolomites. A few days later, an 80-year-old died in a similar accident on the same trail.<\/p>\n

Holistic statistics for 2025 are not yet available, but per CNSAS statistics<\/a> from 2024, the most common deaths in the mountains involve Italian men between the ages of 50 and 60. This demographic is also responsible for 16 percent of all rescue calls.<\/p>\n

Why the Uptick?<\/p>\n

Some experts point the uptick in disasters to climate change\u2014melting ice and permafrost increases rockfall on the peaks, and leads to the occasional collapse of glaciers. In 2022, 11 people died<\/a> when a massive serac on the Marmolada Glacier disintegrated, showering a group of hikers with ice and rock.<\/p>\n

But Bolza believes the warming conditions are contributing in a different manner.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s so hot in Italy\u2019s lowlands, he said, that \u201cmore and more people are going to the mountains.\u201d According to <\/a>The Guardian, Italian newspapers have throughout the summer repeatedly run images of overcrowding at popular hiking destinations and at cable cars in the Alps.<\/p>\n

\"\"More than 100 people have died in the Italian mountains this summer (Photo: Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico)<\/p>\n

Bolza said that other societal dynamics are enticing people to the peaks. \u201cIt is driven in part by the influence of social media and the growing promotion of outdoor activities,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Mountain guides and rescuers who spoke with Outside\u00a0also blamed the post-COVID popularity of outdoor recreation in the country. The surge, they said, has resulted in jam-packed trails, and inexperienced hikers venturing into dangerous terrain.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the coronavirus pandemic, we had a really big increase of people visiting,\u201d said Italian IMFGA mountain guide Luca Vallata. \u201cMany people without the necessary experience have started to enter the mountains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guides told Outside that rock climbing has exploded in popularity in the last decade, aided by an influx of commercial climbing gyms, the exposure of the Olympics, and the success of documentary films. Vallata said that these new climbers have experience in indoor gyms but don\u2019t have the experience to tackle challenging routes on peaks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a combination of more and more people who have little experience all visiting the mountains at the same time,\u201d said Simon Geitl, an Italian alpinist.<\/p>\n

A Reliance on Tech<\/p>\n

Overcrowding and a lack of preparedness in the wilderness isn\u2019t a new issue. Guides told\u00a0Outside that hikers\u2019 reliance on technology for route finding and adventure advice is also getting people into trouble. Vallata said he\u2019s heard of incidents in which hikers use artificial intelligence to help them discover a route, only to discover that the trail is not safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince about one year ago, many people have begun to think everything on ChatGPT is correct,\u201d Vallata said. \u201cIt is not a tool for mountain advice, for routes, or for planning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Experts blame the uptick on the surge of visitors to the Alps (Photo: Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico)<\/p>\n

Geitl said that the reliance on technology can distract people from the dangers along the trail. \u201cMany people on hiking trails are too often distracted by their cell phones, and are not aware of the danger that a misstep can have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is of course a lot of good and accurate information on the Internet,\u201d Geitl said, \u201cbut unfortunately there are also many false or inaccurate sources that people trust, and suddenly find themselves in an awkward situation where they don\u2019t know what to do next, and often all they can do is call rescue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Importance of Good Intel<\/p>\n

Both Geitl and Vallata recommended that visitors to the peaks hire a guide.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go with a guide, you are more safe,\u201d Vallata said. \u201cI am a guide, so maybe I am biased, but even if you don\u2019t use a guide, the most important thing is to not trust only information you find online.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"CNSAS trains extensively for their lifesaving missions (Photo: Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico)<\/p>\n

Vallata said that his international clients often arrive underprepared for conditions in the Alps, where rain, sleet, and snow can fall during all months of the year. He emphasized that it\u2019s important to recognize that weather in the mountains can change dramatically.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we meet in the morning, and my clients have only a t-shirt and shorts, and a pair of trainers,\u201d he said. \u201cThey see that at the moment, the weather is super nice, and it is warm, but they don\u2019t realize conditions can change super quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Negligence Has Consequences<\/p>\n

The CNSAS does charge for rescues, based on a tiered payment structure that takes into account location and severity of the operation. Dellantino said that half of all those rescued refuse to pay. Some American search and rescue organizations, many of which are also seeing a dramatic surge in distress calls this summer, have also asked for similar fines to be levied on negligent hikers.<\/p>\n

On July 31, a British hiker called for rescue from a closed trail in the Dolomites. CNSAS crews were able to locate the man and pluck him from a mountainside with a helicopter.<\/p>\n

Authorities later determined that the hiker had ignored repeated signs warning of dangers and then ventured onto a closed trail. Local health authorities issued the man $16,000 in fines<\/a>. The incident generated global headlines.<\/p>\n

Bolza, the CNSAS vice president, said that his organization \u201ccontinues to recommend the utmost caution, careful planning of outings, the use of appropriate equipment, and the constant monitoring of weather forecasts before undertaking any high-altitude activity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\\\/div><\\\/div>”],”filter”:{“nextExceptions”:”img, blockquote, div”,”nextContainsExceptions”:”img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”},”renderIntial”:true,”wordCount”:350}”> Italy\u2019s picturesque mountains have experienced an upturn in tourism this year, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[16],"tags":[50,14691,309,14692],"class_list":["post-22854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alps","tag-alps","tag-climbing","tag-italy","tag-search-and-rescue"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}