A mountain biker and extreme sports influencer has plunged more than 600ft to his death from atop the Dolomites just hours after sharing a triumphant video to social media.
The lifeless body of Andreas Tonelli, 48, was found early Wednesday in a ravine in the Vallunga area of Val Gardena, part of the Dolomites mountain range in Italy‘s South Tyrol province.
The discovery marked the culmination of a swift rescue effort which began at 9pm local time on Tuesday night after Tonelli’s concerned friends raised the alarm, telling emergency services that the daredevil had not returned from his excursion.
Less than two hours prior to the launch of the rescue, Tonelli had shared a video to his cohort of 127,000 social media followers in which he was standing atop the summit of Piz Duleda, a mountain peak measuring 9,543ft (2,909 metres) high.
The clip showed Tonelli flashing a huge grin while carrying his bike on his shoulders as he passed a small cross marking the mountain’s summit.
It is believed he suffered an accident or lost control of his bike while descending the mountain and fell some 650ft down the side of the peak, leaving him with fatal injuries.
A helicopter was dispatched within minutes of the alarm being raised and the team located Tonelli at the bottom of the ravine around 1am on Wednesday morning, but rescuers could not deploy into the harsh terrain to reach him in the middle of the night.
A search and rescue party reached Tonelli shortly after dawn on Wednesday morning, but found he had already succumbed to his injuries.
The lifeless body of Andreas Tonelli, 48, was found early Wednesday in a ravine in the Vallunga area of Val Gardena, part of the Dolomites mountain range in Italy’s South Tyrol province
Less than two hours prior to the launch of the rescue, Tonelli had shared a video to his cohort of 127,000 social media followers in which he was stood atop the summit of Piz Duleda
The clip showed Tonelli flashing a huge grin while carrying his bike on his shoulders as he passed a small cross marking the mountain’s summit.
Tonelli posted his final video at 7:15pm on Tuesday. Less than two hours later, a rescue helicopter was dispatched to find him
Tonelli was a native of Italy’s South Tyrol region and was therefore well acquainted with the Dolomites from a young age, but made a transition into extreme sports much later in life.
He reportedly ditched a traditional office job to pursue a life on two wheels, working as a cycling guide in the Dolomites while generating a notable following on social media where he posted adrenaline-fuelled clips of his exploits.
Tonelli became a well-known figure in the mountain biking community after achieving several impressive feats, including a successful ride to the summit of Chile’s Nevado Ojos de Salado volcano (22,614ft/6,893m), according to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero.
He was also reportedly an avid snowboarder, and often summited mountains using a splitboard – a snowboard that can be broken down into skis for ascents and travelling over flat ground, then clipped into one solid plank for descents.
The extreme sports influencer was biking and hiking through the Dolomites as part of a four-day challenge called ‘Dolomites Enduro Traverse’ in partnership with Norwegian outdoorwear brand Norrøna.
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