Seven alpinists dead in 24 hours across Gran Paradiso, Mont Blanc and Matterhorn

A deadly 24 hours on the roof of Europe

Seven alpinists lost their lives in a succession of accidents on the northwestern Alps between Friday 12 and Saturday 13 June 2026. The incidents struck some of the most iconic 4,000-metre peaks straddling the Aosta Valley and the French side of the Mont Blanc massif. Four of the fatalities occurred on Saturday alone, compounding an already heavy toll.

The Gran Paradiso cordata

The first tragedy unfolded on Friday on the north face of Gran Paradiso (4,061 m), the only 4,000-metre peak entirely within Italy. Antonio Sardano (49), Sergio Martinelli (29) and Michael Zenatti (39), all residents of the Adige valley in Trentino, had set off from the Chabod hut at around 3 a.m. They were attempting the classic but demanding North Face route, graded AD+/D-. According to rescue officials, the accident probably occurred in the late morning, just below the summit. One climber may have slipped, dragging the other two roped companions with him in a fall of several hundred metres. The alarm was raised shortly after 7.30 p.m. when the three failed to return. Alpine rescue helicopters located the bodies at about 3,600 metres thanks to a GPS device activated by one of the victims. The bodies were transferred to the mortuary in Aosta.

Saturday's chain of accidents

Despite the alarm raised by the Gran Paradiso deaths, Saturday morning brought a new series of tragedies. On the French side of the Mont Blanc massif, two alpinists were found dead on the Kuffner ridge of Mont Maudit (4,465 m). The Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne from Chamonix handled the recovery. Almost simultaneously, a foreign climber died on the Pic Tyndall, along the Italian normal route of Cervino (Matterhorn, 4,478 m). Swiss rescuers from Air Zermatt recovered the body and transported it to Aosta, while the victim's climbing partner escaped unharmed. In the early afternoon, a seventh body was found on the Brenva glacier, on the Italian side of Mont Blanc, bringing the total to seven. The recovery was coordinated by the Valle d'Aosta Alpine Rescue in constant contact with French and Swiss teams.

"The mountain is never a definitive conquest"

The climbing community reacted with deep shock, especially in Trentino, which lost three of its members. Cristian Ferrari, president of the Società Alpinistica Tridentina (SAT), the oldest alpine club in Italy, issued a statement:

“It is a tragedy that deeply affects the entire mountain community. We wish to express our most sincere closeness to the families, friends, section members and all those who shared with them the passion for the mountains and alpinism. In the face of a tragedy like this, words are difficult. We are talking about people who knew the mountain, who frequented it with experience, preparation and respect. And it is perhaps this that makes what happened even more painful. The mountain is never a definitive conquest: it requires competence, prudence and humility, and always retains a dimension that escapes our control. In moments like these we feel all the fragility of the human condition in the face of the environment we love and frequent. There remains the pain for a loss that involves not only those closest to them, but the entire Trentino alpinism community.”

Rescue coordination across borders

The response involved multiple agencies: the Valle d'Aosta Alpine Rescue, the financial guard’s mountain rescue (Sagf) from Entrèves and Breuil-Cervinia, the French PGHM from Chamonix, and the Swiss Air Zermatt. Investigations into the dynamics of each fall are ongoing, with the Sagf leading the identification of the Gran Paradiso victims and the Cervino accident.