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Investigators Probe Cause of Andreas Tonelli’s 200-Meter Fall in Val Gardena

Recovered during a nighttime search, his body is now subject to technical inspections, terrain analysis, witness interviews, medical tests as authorities seek to determine how the accident unfolded.

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Overview

  • Tonelli, 48, disappeared on the evening of July 15 in the Vallelunga sector of Val Gardena, prompting his family to alert rescue teams around 9 PM.
  • The Soccorso Alpino service and an Aiut Alpin helicopter scoured rugged terrain until about 1 AM on July 16, when rescuers located his body at the bottom of a 200-meter ravine.
  • Recovery crews retrieved his remains the following morning and transferred them to local authorities for autopsy and further analysis.
  • Authorities have not reached a conclusion and are exploring mechanical failure, a miscalculated descent or a sudden health issue as possible factors in the fatal plunge.
  • A central figure in the Ride oN collective since 2017, Tonelli earned more than 120,000 Instagram followers through extreme mountain-bike expeditions and high-altitude photography.