2019-03-01ReadersDigest_AUNZ

124 | March• 2019

SWEPT AWAY

youngcoupleonaromanticgetaway,

Vincenzo Forti and Giorgia Galassi,

were spared as well.

The snow – and the weight of

everything it had brought down the

mountain with it – ripped the hotel

from its foundation, collapsed it into

a pile of rubble, and sent debris flying

more than 100 metres. When the

tossing and tumbling came to a stop,

those caught inside were left buried in

the icy heap of rock and ruin. All was

now still; everything had gone dark.

FABIO SALZETTA,the resort’s care-

taker,hadbeenworkinginthetiny

boiler hut about 30 metres from the

main building when he noticed an

eeriesilence.Hetriedtothrowopen

thedoor,butitwouldn’tbudge.The

little outbuilding was sealed in snow.

So he pried away the window frame

andwriggledoutside.Standingonan

emptysnowfield,hegazedatatrail

of sheer destruction – as if a rake had

beendraggeddownthemountain,

toppling beech trees, crushing cars,

chewingupeverythinginitspath.

Salzetta felt numb. He trudged

forwardsinthesnow,sinkingtohis

knees.Wait, where was the hotel?

Then he saw the tip of the hotel’s

roof poking out of a pyramid of ice-

topped rubble. The entire building

had been bulldozed down the hill.

Salzetta noticed a figure stumbling

across the snow. It was Giampiero

Parete, a chef from the Adriatic coast.

Moments before the avalanche had

hersonhuddledoverachequerboard
inaplayroomonthegroundfloor.
Sheneededsomeaspirinandhad
sent her husband, Giampiero Parete,
tofindsomeintheircar.Meanwhile,
theirdaughterplayedpoolwithtwo
other children down the corridor in
the billiard hall.
Matrone paced the reception area,
anxiously discussing options with his
wife. Del Rosso was just around the
corner, in the hotel’s handsome library
nook. Half a dozen of his employees
milled about in the kitchen.
That was when the snow on Monte
Siellabegantoslide.

Trail of Destruction

Theyheardtheavalanchebeforethey

sawit.Asthewallofsnowandice

tumbled downward, it compressed

theairintoaterriblelowwhistle.As

the avalanche gathered speed and

size,itgrabbedeverythinginitsway

androareddownthemountain.

With the force of 4000 fully loaded

Mack trucks, the snow slammed into

thehotelat100kilometresperhour.

Wallsbuckled.Theavalanchethun-

deredthroughthekitchen,killingthe

workersthere,includingFayeDame,

the Senegalese handyman. It tore

into the alcove where Del Rosso had

beenstanding,thenracedacrossthe

two rooms where guests sat sipping

hot drinks. Stefano Feniello, celebrat-

ing his 28th birthday, died instantly.

Hisgirlfriend,FrancescaBronzi,

somehow stayed alive. Another