The woman was climbing with a 56-year-old male companion. The two climbers called the Italian Alpine Rescue Corps for help after being hit by the snowstorm about two kilometres from a mountain refuge, the Associated Press is reporting.

The rescuers reached the climbers, however the bad weather made evacuation of the woman by helicopter impossible. She subsequently died. Her companion was treated for severe hypothermia. Rescuers put up a tent to shelter her companion until the storm cleared. He was taken off the mountain by helicopter early Friday and is being treated at a hospital in northern Italy, according to AP.

Neither hiker has been identified.

A spokesperson Global Affairs Canada, Kevin Sweet, told the National Post that the department “is aware of the death of a Canadian citizen in Italy. Our thoughts go out to the family of the deceased individual. For privacy reasons, no further information can be disclosed.”

This isn’t the first death of a hiker in the Dolomites. Media reports going back several years have documented several fatal accidents in the mountain range shared by Italy and Austria.

 

In July of this year, The Brussels Times reported that a 42-year-old Belgian hiker died while climbing the Italian Dolomites. The victim was with a 28-year-old friend. Early investigations suggest they were headed for Via Ferrata a path involving hiking routes that require steel cables, rungs and ladders, but they were not attached to the cable at the time of the accident.