A 20-year-old Italian woman has died following a 150-metre horror plunge in the Himalayas.
Victim Elisabeth Lardschneider was killed instantly when she fell nearly 500 feet in the Zanskar Valley in Ladakh, India, Italian media reported on 27th July.
The young woman, who hailed from Urtijei in Italy’s Val Gardena ski area, was described in reports as a “rising star” in Italian sport climbing.
She had set off with six other climbers from Italy’s South Tyrol region three weeks ago in a bid to climb new mountains and open up new routes.
All of the group were members of the South Tyrol Alpine Club. However, they had organised the trip independently.
It is not known what led to Elisabeth’s fatal fall.
Elisabeth had previously been selected for the Italian youth climbing team and had dreamt of a career in the Catores mountain guides group.
The authorities in India will begin procedures to repatriate her body back to Italy.
The mayor of Urtijei, Tobia Moroder, told local media: “There is great consternation in the town.”
Last summer, Elisabeth and four friends had scaled the west face of Pik Odessa, a 4,810-metre mountain in Kyrgyzstan.
And when she was just 14, she had climbed the terrifying Menhir Pillar in the Italian Dolomites.
