At 11.30 pm on 27 August, the Cave del Predil mountain rescue station was alerted by a call received from the manager of the Pellarini Refuge who warned of the non-return of a consortium of Slovenian mountaineers (from Ljubljana): a man from 1971 and a woman in 1987, who had left at 5 in the morning from the same refuge to go and climb the Cima del Vallone from the Riofreddo valley.
Having made the appropriate assessments and considering the bad weather in progress, the rescuers decided to start their searches on Sunday morning. Ten men from the Cave del Predil Alpine Rescue station, together with the rescuers of the Tarvisio Financial Police and the firefighters were ready from 5.30 at the base camp waiting for the Civil Protection helicopter that embarked the first three technicians for a first rotation of patrols at the bivouacs located in Carnizza di Riofreddo, at the Cai Gorizia bivouac in the Upper Riobianco valley and at the winter bivouac of the Corsi Refuge.
And it was in the winter bivouac of the Corsi Refuge that the two mountaineers were found. Here they took refuge due to the onset of bad weather and reported that they tried in every way to warn the manager – by sending messages and trying to call – but without success.
The two mountaineers were doing well and chose to return independently to the Pellarini Refuge, where they still have to go back to get the material and personal effects deposited there.