A British hiker has been charged more than €14,000 (£12,000) by the Italian mountain rescue service after ignoring danger warnings in the Dolomites.
The man, aged 60, had to be rescued after venturing to the Ferrata Berti, a rocky mountain path at an altitude of 2,500 metres (8,200ft) in the San Vito di Cadore area of the northern Italian peaks where dozens of paths were closed last week because of the high risk of landslides.
Nicola Cherubin, the chief of the alpine rescue service in San Vito di Cadore, said the man, who has not been named, set off from the Passo Tre Croci, near Cortina d’Ampezzo in Belluno province, on Thursday morning and made his way to the Ferrata Berti, bypassing barriers and ignoring the closure sign, written in English and Italian, at the start of the path and others urging hikers to turn back.
He sounded the alarm at about 3.30pm on Thursday after becoming distressed by falling rocks.
“He said he wasn’t aware that the path was closed and didn’t see the signs,” Cherubin said, adding that the rescue operation involved the use of two helicopters – because of poor weather conditions – as well as several staff.
Cherubin said the man was lucky to be alive, although his venture into the mountains – and Brexit – landed him with a bill of €14,225, of which €11,160 was to cover the cost of the 93-minute helicopter rescue.
A few days earlier, two Belgian hikers were rescued in similar conditions but they received a fraction of the bill owing to Belgium being a member of the European Union.
Giuseppe Dal Ben, the commissioner of the Ulss 1 health authority in the Dolomites, urged tourists “to approach the mountains with respect and caution”.
“What happened [with the British hiker] warrants some reflection,” he told the local media. “Helicopters are essential for time-dependent [rescue] operations in harsh environments. Precisely for this reason, it is important that they are not used as taxis, endangering not only those who are providing the assistance but those who actually need it.”
Rockfalls occur regularly in the Dolomites, but there has been a significant rise in their number within the past two months, driven by extreme heat and weather events intensified by the climate crisis.
Erosion and rockfalls are on the rise across the Alps. In late June 2025, Mont Blanc experienced a record-breaking heatwave, with temperatures remaining above zero for an extended period at high altitudes, including the summit.
