On the Marmolada, arriving at Pian dei Fiacconi, time seems to have stopped when an avalanche broke off from the slope of the mountain and obliterated the Pian dei Fiacconi refuge in a few moments. It was December 14, 2020, and, less than two years later, exactly on July 3, 2022, a huge serac collapsed not far from the Capanna Ghiappello refuge, causing the death of 11 people. The refuge has been closed since that day, and the reclamation of the area, exactly four years after the collapse of the glacier, has not yet been completed.
Between skills to be clarified, properties to be identified and the long bureaucracy, the signs of the two tragedies remain on the ground, clearly visible to anyone who travels those paths.
In the meantime, science has made a step forward: a new study has reconstructed in detail the dynamics of the 2022 collapse, identifying the anomalous temperatures recorded that summer — up to 10 degrees even at altitude — and the infiltration of melt water between ice and rock were the causes that brought the glacier to a critical equilibrium point, which then collapsed.
