They have been suspended the searches Of two ski mountaineers from Turin not returned from an excursion in Valle d’Aosta. There is concern because their cell phone was ringing empty. The searches, which will resume on Sunday morning, were concentrated in the area of the Chateau des Dames, in Valtournenche: by land they were carried out by the Aosta Valley Alpine Rescue and by the Finance Police Alpine Rescue, with dog units. The upper part was hit by the Swiss helicopter of Air Zermatt. A Avalanche of vast proportions was identified by rescuers.
The darkness and the danger of other detachments complicated the searches: the accumulation of snow is located at about 2,400 meters and it was difficult to identify the point of the detachment. At first the Artva, a search device for those missing in the avalanche, gave some signals, without then providing other useful information.
The rescuers searched the perimeter of the great avalanche on foot, which broke off without finding any useful signals with the Artva, a device for searching for buried people. The avalanche branches out in some points and is also formed by large blocks of snow. Continuing further in the dark would also expose the operators to high risks, given the danger of 4-strong avalanches. The Air Zermatt Swiss helicopter, requested because it was enabled for night flights, then brought back the Alpine Rescue men of the Cervinia financial police and the Valle d’Aosta Alpine Rescue. With the first light of day, search operations can be conducted more effectively, even with the help of dog units.
On Saturday, two avalanches overwhelmed three groups of ski mountaineers, also in the Aosta Valley, without causing any injuries.