Industry News
Concerns are mounting for two missing hikers in the Italian Apennine Mountains. Luca Perazzini and Cristian Gualdi, both experienced mountaineers from Santarcangelo di Romagna in Rimini, have been left stranded on the Gran Sasso peak since Sunday, December 22, after being swept away by an avalanche while descending the Directissima route. The pair managed to set of a distress call around 7 p.m. after they slid toward the Inferno Valley, leaving one of the climbers with unspecified injuries. This enabled rescuers to locate them. However, the situation rapidly deteriorated, with winds exceeding 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph), heavy snowfall, and sub-zero temperatures forcing search teams to retreat.
More than 30 rescuers, including volunteers from Italy’s Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps (CNSAS) and specialized soldiers from the Guardia di Finanza Alpine unit, are involved in the rescue effort. 11 rescue operators were stranded for two nights in a shelter near Campo Imperatore at 2,100 meters (6,890 feet) but managed to descend to the valley on Wednesday morning, December 25, after a brief lull in the wind allowed the cable car to temporarily resume operations.
The climbers’ families have traveled to Abruzzo to follow the unfolding operations. “We are holding on to hope, but we understand the conditions are dire,” said a family member at the rescue base in Fonte Cerreto, the starting point of the Gran Sasso cable car.
An improvement in weather is expected tomorrow, December 26, raising hopes that search teams can resume their ascent. “We are prepared to mobilize immediately once conditions allow,” said a rescue coordinator. However, experts acknowledge that the climbers’ chances of survival after more than three nights exposed to freezing temperatures and deep snow are slim.
Gran Sasso, standing at 2,912 meters (9,554 feet), is a storied destination for mountaineers but notorious for its volatile winter conditions. Known for challenging routes like the Directissima, the peak is particularly perilous during sudden storms, with high avalanche risks and near-impenetrable terrain.
For now, rescuers and loved ones wait anxiously for a break in the weather, clinging to the hope that Perazzini and Gualdi might somehow still be found alive.
