Record 13 skiers, climbers, hikers died in Italian mountains over last week

Milan: A record 13 backcountry skiers, climbers and hikers have died in the Italian mountains over the last week, rescuers said

Monday, including 10 in avalanches triggered by an exceptionally unstable snowpack, as Winter Olympic competitions got underway. Fresh snowfall during recent storms

and wind-swept snowcaps on weak internal layers have created especially risky conditions along the entire Alpine crescent along the French, Swiss and Austrian borders, Italy’s alpine rescuers said.

‘Under such conditions, the passage of a single skier, or natural overloading from the weight of snow, can be sufficient to trigger an avalanche,’ said Federico Catania, Italy’s Alpine Rescue Corps spokesman.

The avalanche deaths occurred on ungroomed slopes.