All five avalanche victims in South Tyrol were from Bavaria.

All five victims of the avalanche disaster on All Saints' Day in South Tyrol were from Bavaria . This was confirmed to the German Press Agency by a spokesperson for the Italian financial police in Bolzano.

A 58-year-old man, his 21-year-old son, and the son's girlfriend of the same age were killed in a climbing accident. According to the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office, they were from the districts of Oberallgäu and Ostallgäu. A 46-year-old father and his 17-year-old daughter also died. Two men from Germany survived the accident.

The mountaineers were caught in an avalanche on Saturday shortly before 4 p.m. while ascending the 3,545-meter-high Vertainspitze in the Ortler Group. It remains unclear why the climbing parties were still on their way to the summit so late in the afternoon.

According to the mountain rescue service, the Germans were climbing independently in three groups – one rope team of three and two rope teams of two. The accident occurred on the north face below the summit at an altitude of approximately 3200 meters.

It is suspected that the avalanche was triggered by the rope team that was highest up: the father and daughter, who were still about 100 meters below the summit. According to Italian media reports, the two tried to warn the other climbers on the face by shouting.

According to the mountain rescue service, there was no particularly high avalanche danger: warning level two out of five. It is suspected that the avalanche was triggered by heavy drifting snow, as the fresh snow had not yet bonded sufficiently to the underlying ground. The first snowfall of the season had fallen in the region a few days earlier. Daytime temperatures there had recently been quite high for this time of year. At night, it is already very cold at that altitude.

The ascent to the Vertainspitze in the Ortler massif is considered long and strenuous, but not particularly technically difficult. The mountain above Sulden is a popular summit due to its panoramic views. Its north face is considered a "high-alpine ice climb" requiring a rope and full ice climbing equipment.