A Christmas Day hiking expedition in Greece’s Vardousia Mountains ended in tragedy when four adventurers perished in a devastating avalanche. The victims—three men and one woman—were discovered Friday evening following an intensive search operation in the treacherous Fokida region.
Greek fire service teams located the deceased partially submerged in snow on a near-vertical slope approaching Korakas Peak’s summit, approximately 2,000 meters above sea level. Rescue authorities confirmed the group had been swept away by a powerful avalanche despite beginning their ascent under favorable conditions that rapidly deteriorated due to extreme altitude and complex terrain.
The alarm was raised through a concerned friend who reported the three male hikers’ failure to return at their scheduled time. Weather complications including subzero temperatures and limited visibility severely hampered initial search efforts, grounding aerial support systems including drones and helicopters.
Fire service spokesperson Vasilis Vathrakogiannis revealed the fourth victim—a woman unexpectedly joining the expedition—was identified as a friend of one of the male climbers. Recovery operations continued through Saturday as emergency teams faced extraordinarily challenging conditions at the high-altitude location.
Rescue coordinator Haris Asariotakis described the complex recovery process, noting the remote site requires three hours of travel from the nearest village. While one victim has been successfully airlifted via helicopter, specialized teams including firefighters and mountain guides are preparing for potential foot descent operations to retrieve the remaining three victims using winch systems.