One Dead After Four Skiers Caught In Avalanche On Monte Pianard In Cuneo, Italy
Mount Pianard, Cuneo, Italy – On December 24, 2016 four ski tourers were caught in an off piste avalanche on Monte Pianard in the Palanfre Valley in the province of Cuneo, Italy. There was one fatality in this incident and it was the second avalanche fatality in the Maritime Alps of Cuneo in 24 hours.
According to LaStampa.it, the avalanche was 300 meters wide and hit the group while they were mid slope. All four skiers were caught in the slide. Two of the skiers escaped relatively unharmed. They managed to self rescue a third skier who was buried. That individual suffered from fractures of the lower limbs.
The final member of the party was swept into a gully terrain trap down the slope. Due to the size of the avalanche and the distance, he was buried for over 2 hours. He was wearing an avalanche transceiver. LaStampa.it identified the victim as “AP, 41, Cuneo.”
A group of nearby ski tourers alerted authorities about the avalanche. Rescuers and search dogs responded to the accident site by helicopter. The injured party was taken to the hospital.
Arpa Piemonte rated the avalanche risk on 24 December 2016 as 3 out of 5 (Considerable).
CuneoCraonaca.it writes that “The president of the Mountain Rescue and speleologioco Piedmont Luca Giaj Arcota warns: “The consolidated layer of snow on which are laid recent snowfall creates an extremely insidious slide plane. In addition, the rise in temperatures makes further exposed unstable slopes. Because of a point of view these meteorological conditions are expected to remain such until towards the end of the year, we recommend extreme caution to all those wishing to tackle off-piste routes in these days of celebration” (via Google Translate).
This is the second avalanche fatality in less than 24 hours in Cuneo, Italy. Learn more about the avalanche that killed a heli-skier on Monte Ciamoussé on 23 December 2016.
We will try to update this post when more information is available.
UPDATE 12/27: Targatocn.it identified the avalanche victim as Alberto Pelizzetti, 41.
Read more about the avalanche on Monte Pianard in Cuneo, Italy on 24 December 2016 from the following sources:
- LaStampa.it
- MeteoWeb.eu
- IlMessaggero.it
- Corrierequatidiano.it
- Quotidianopiemontese.it
- CuneoCraonaca.it
- AINEVA.it
All information in this post was found using Google Translate. There may be errors in this information. If you contact us we will correct and update this post accordingly. Please use the sources listed above to verify all facts.
