Climbing
[UPDATE: updated March 4 with recovery of body]
A 61-year-old Italian mountaineer is presumed dead after falling roughly 30 meters (about 100 feet) into a glacier crevasse while attempting to rescue another climber on Monte Rosa, one of the highest mountain massifs in the Alps along the Italian–Swiss border.
The accident occurred Saturday, February 28, shortly after 1:30 p.m., near Colle Vincent at an elevation of approximately 4,000 meters (13,123 feet). A group was ascending toward the Vincent Pyramid, a 4,215-meter (13,829-foot) peak popular with experienced ski mountaineers and climbers, when they encountered a second group in distress.
According to Italian news, Rodolfo Franguelli, 61, was climbing roped together with two companions when they heard a group ahead of them call for help. A group of three French ski mountaineers encountered trouble when one of their party, 40-year-old Théo Jules Louis Mancini, fell into a crevasse. Franguelli and fellow climber Daniele Pietro, 38, rushed to assist in the rescue. As they attempted to help, a snow bridge beneath them collapsed. Both men plunged into the crevasse, falling approximately 30 meters (100 feet) into the glacier.
Emergency responders, including the Soccorso Alpino Valdostano (CNSAS Aosta Valley), the alpine unit of Italy’s Guardia di Finanza (a national law enforcement agency with mountain rescue teams), and helicopter crews from Cervinia and Alagna, were dispatched to the scene. Two climbers—Pietro and Mancini—were successfully extracted from the crevasse and airlifted to Parini Hospital in Aosta, where they were treated for hypothermia and trauma. Both are reported to be out of danger.
Franguelli, however, remains trapped deep within the ice. Rescuers said he is lodged between vertical ice walls roughly 30 meters (100 feet) below the surface. Officials indicated he showed no response following the fall. Efforts to recover him were suspended Saturday evening due to extreme weather and technical danger. High-altitude glacier rescues are especially hazardous, involving unstable snow bridges, vertical ice shafts, sub-zero temperatures, and rapidly changing conditions.
Rescue authorities stated that a stable weather window of at least five to six hours would be required to safely complete recovery operations. As of Monday, March 2—more than 48 hours after the fall—poor weather continued to prevent teams from resuming efforts. Given the time elapsed at 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) in freezing alpine conditions, officials said there is no longer hope of finding Franguelli alive.
On Tuesday, March 3, Alpine Rescue and Guardia di Finanza staff managed to return to the glacier by helicopter. It took five hours of work to reach Franguelli‘s body. The rescue workers spent hours moving snow to secure the area and widen the entrance to safely lower crew 100 feet down to his body and extricate him. His body has been transferred to the Aosta mortuary for identification by his family. Our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family during this difficult time.
Monte Rosa rises above Italy’s Aosta Valley and the Piedmont region near the Swiss border and is a major destination for late-winter alpine expeditions. Switzerland’s highest mountain, the Dufourspitze, which rises to 4,634 meters (15,203 feet), is the highest summit of the Monte Rosa massif. The area’s vast glaciers, however, are riddled with deep crevasses—vertical cracks in the ice that can be hidden beneath fragile snow bridges. Monte Rosa is the second-highest mountain massif in the Alps after Mont Blanc and contains some of the range’s largest glaciers. In late winter, ski mountaineers frequently attempt peaks such as the Vincent Pyramid, but crevasse falls remain one of the most serious objective hazards in glaciated terrain.
