An avalanche swept across a high mountain slope in northern Italy on Saturday, killing two ski tourers and injuring five others near the Austrian border as helicopters and rescue teams rushed to a crowded backcountry area above Val Ridanna.
The slide quickly became one of the deadliest mountain accidents in Italy this month and added to a winter season that has already brought an unusually high number of avalanche deaths across the Alps. Officials in South Tyrol said 25 people were caught in the incident in some way, though most were only brushed by the snow rather than buried. The immediate focus by late Saturday was on treating the injured, identifying the dead and reconstructing what set the avalanche in motion on a slope that was busy with multiple groups.
Authorities said the avalanche broke loose at 11:40 a.m. on a steep section of mountain above Racines at about 2,445 meters, or roughly 8,020 feet. Italian and local reports placed the slide near Hohe Ferse, also known as Monte Tallone Grande, in the Val Ridanna area of South Tyrol. The snow began near the summit area and tore across much of the face below, according to local reporting, catching ski tourers from several parties who were on the slope at the time. ANSA reported the avalanche front stretched about 150 meters and ran for several hundred meters, turning what had been a late-morning climb and descent route into a search scene within moments. The regional avalanche bulletin had listed the danger for Saturday as “2 – moderate,” a rating that can still mean unstable conditions at higher elevations and on wind-loaded slopes.
The first official numbers were confused, as often happens in the opening minutes of a large mountain rescue. Initial reports said about 10 people may have been directly swept up, but the Bolzano emergency center later said 25 ski tourers had been involved overall because numerous groups were on the mountainside when the slide released. South Tyrol officials said two people died, three were seriously hurt and two others suffered minor injuries. RaiNews said most of the 25 were only grazed by the moving snow and remained able to assist. That mattered in the first phase of the response. Several uninjured tourers began probing and searching right away, then rescue crews joined them from the air and from nearby valleys. By afternoon, six helicopters and about 80 rescuers had been deployed, including teams from Italy’s mountain rescue service, the Alpine Association, police, firefighters and dog units. Hospitals in Bolzano, Merano, Bressanone and Innsbruck were alerted in case more critical beds were needed.
By evening, the dead had been identified in local coverage as Martin Parigger, 62, of Ridanna, and Alexander Froetscher, 56, originally from Ridanna and later living in Austria. ANSA reported that Parigger had been serving as an alpine guide for a group of Austrian ski tourers. The most seriously injured patient was identified as a 26-year-old woman from Brescia who was flown to the university clinic in Innsbruck, Austria. ANSA also reported that the other two critically injured people were a German tourist and an Austrian, while the two people with lighter injuries were German citizens. Officials did not immediately release a fuller account of how long each person was buried, how quickly each victim was reached or which group the injured belonged to. RaiNews reported that the tourers were carrying avalanche transceivers, known in Italy as ARTVA devices, which helped speed the search but did not prevent the slide from becoming fatal.
The place where the avalanche struck helps explain both the speed of the response and the shock it caused in the valley below. Racines, also known by its German name Ratschings, sits in South Tyrol near the Austrian border, a bilingual alpine region where late-winter ski touring remains common on high routes above villages and former mining valleys. Val Ridanna is one of the best-known high mountain areas in the municipality, and clear March weather can draw experienced tourers onto slopes that still hold winter snow high above the valley floor. The mountain itself rises on a ridge between Val Ridanna and Val Racines, giving touring parties several approach lines and broad open faces. That terrain can feel spacious and manageable in calm weather, but it also gives avalanches room to travel widely once a slab breaks free. By Saturday afternoon, local coverage said the news had caused deep concern across the valley, where the two dead were known as local men rather than distant visitors.
The disaster also landed in the middle of a hard winter for avalanche safety in Europe. Associated Press, citing European Avalanche Warning Services, reported that avalanches in Europe average “100 per season,” yet the count had already reached 127 by March 16, including 33 deaths in Italy, 31 in France and 29 in Austria. Italy had already seen a deadly cluster of slope accidents in February, during the same period the country was hosting the Winter Olympics. Experts cited by AP linked the rise in deaths to an unusually unstable snowpack, recent storms, stronger winds and a rush to backcountry terrain after fresh snowfall. Local reporting in South Tyrol added another layer of context. RaiNews noted that the region had just marked the 10th anniversary of the Monte Nevoso avalanche of March 12, 2016, a disaster that killed six people and remains one of the worst mountain tragedies in the province in recent decades. Saturday’s avalanche did not approach that death toll, but it reopened a familiar fear in a region where mountain conditions can change quickly even when the posted danger is not at the top end of the scale.
By Saturday night, some of the most important questions were still unanswered. Officials had not publicly said what exactly triggered the break, whether it was released by a skier, a weak snow layer, a wind-loaded slab or a combination of factors. They also had not laid out a full technical sequence showing where each group was moving when the avalanche started. That matters because several reports made clear the slide affected multiple parties at once, and the difference between being caught on the edge of the flow and being buried near its center can shape both injuries and rescue times. What authorities had said with confidence was narrower but important: the alarm came at 11:40 a.m., the slope was crowded, six helicopters were sent, and by the end of the rescue there were two dead and five injured, three of them seriously. The next official steps are likely to center on continued medical treatment for the injured and any technical reconstruction released by rescue or avalanche services.
The scene itself carried the usual contrast of alpine rescues. A mountain route used for sport and clear views became a field of probes, rotor wash and hurried radio calls. Uninjured tourers searched first with their own equipment before professional crews expanded the effort across the debris. The emergency center later issued what RaiNews called the “final” toll, confirming that no one else remained missing. Even after the search phase ended, the accident continued to ripple through the valley because both men who died were from the area and because one had been guiding an Austrian group on ground that many local skiers know well. In a mountain community, that kind of familiarity can make a disaster feel closer and harder to explain.
As of Saturday night, the rescue was over, the death toll stood at two, and hospitals in Italy and Austria were treating the injured. The next public milestone is expected to be a fuller technical account from rescue or avalanche officials and further updates on the condition of the three people who remained seriously hurt.
Author note: Last updated March 21, 2026.