As the world watches top athletes chase medals on the meticulously groomed slopes of Italy’s Winter Olympic Games, tragedy is unfolding on the backcountry mountains next door. At least 13 people have died in the Italian Alps in a single week, more than any other one-week period on record.
The Associated Press reported on February 9 that heavy snowfall and an unstable snowpack were the cause of most of the deaths. Ten out of 13 people died in avalanche-related accidents.
“Under such conditions, the passage of a single skier, or natural overloading from the weight of snow, can be sufficient to trigger an avalanche,’’ Federico Catania, a spokesman for Italy’s Alpine Rescue Corps, told the AP.
Most of the victims were skiers, as well as two hikers and an ice climber, who were killed in at least a half-dozen separate slides. Two of the skiers died in two avalanches near the Marmolada Glacier, which partially collapsed in 2022, killing 11 hikers at the time.
Across the border in the French Alps, a similar situation is surfacing. The Independent reported on February 10 that four skiers were killed in three different avalanches over as many days.
According to European Avalanche Warning Services, an avalanche forecasting service that also tracks fatalities, an average of 100 people die in European avalanches each year. In the first six weeks of 2026, at least 77 people have died, and experts note that avalanche threats typically continue well into May.
This deadly winter comes just six months after one of the Alps’ deadliest summers on record. In 2025, roughly three hikers died every single day in the range. More than 100 were dead between June and mid-August, when Outside spoke with local guides and rescuers. Experts say the high death toll was due to the sheer quantity of people recreating in the region following the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s a combination of more and more people who have little experience all visiting the mountains at the same time,” Simon Geitl, an Italian alpinist, told Outside at the time.
Roberto Bolza, the vice president of Italy’s national rescue organization, added that this was part of a growing trend. His organization carried out more rescues in the past decade than in its first 60 years.
Although heavy snowfall triggered some avalanches in early 2026, experts warn that crowding may be another catalyst. More people are heading into the mountains to recreate after recent snowstorms.
“As a result, the number of accidents, and therefore fatalities, has increased proportionally,’’ Catania told the AP. He warned backcountry skiers, hikers, and others to listen to avalanche warnings and to postpone any trips into the mountains until the snowpack has settled.
The post Six Months After the Alps’ Deadly Summer, People Keep Dying appeared first on Outside Online.
