He seemed to have managed to get away with it, but as the hours passed, the dramatic epilogue arrived. A young mountaineer of only 24 years, Matteo Gadaldi, died after falling for at least ten meters while with a group of friends, on a rope, he was facing the climb along the Madonnina icefall, near the lakes of Avio, above Vezza d’Oglio in the municipality of Edolo in the upper Valcamonica.
According to initial information, the 24-year-old had reached altitude along the path after starting from the Garibaldi refuge when at one point, due to causes still under consideration, he crashed while climbing. It was his friends who immediately called for help after seeing him helplessly fall into the void.
The operators of the Alpine Rescue of the Guardia di Finanza arrived on the spot, departing from the Edolo station aboard the Trento helicopter rescue. The recovery operations of the mountaineer were difficult and prolonged, and his conditions immediately appeared serious: secured by the ropes, the young man seems to have managed to cling on in some way, thus cushioning the blow and the impact against the wall. Which, however, proved fatal nonetheless.
