EXCLUSIVE – Pictured: Female British teacher, 55, who fell 100ft to her death while walking ‘difficult route’ in the Italian Dolomites after taking a wrong turn with her partner
Louise Atkinson, 55, had been hiking in Rosengarten massif in the Dolomites
The teacher from Ripon was hiking with her partner John Dickinson, 58
She suddenly lost her balance and plunged down from a height of 98 feet
A British woman who died after falling 100ft while walking in the Italian Dolomites with her partner was named today as teacher Louise Atkinson.
Ms Atkinson plunged to her death after taking the wrong route, it emerged.
She was a keen runner, trained regularly and was a familiar figure around the streets of Ripon where she would go jogging and cycling.
Ms Atkinson, 55, was with her partner John Dickinson, 58, who runs a car valet firm, when the tragedy happened on Sunday after they ended up on a high altitude via Ferrata cable way.
The experienced route requires clipping on with carabiners which the couple did not have and should only be tackled by those who have correct equipment.
A British woman who died after falling 100ft while walking in the Italian Dolomites with her partner was named today as teacher Louise Atkinson (pictured)
A series of ladders, cables and walkways through narrow gulleys leads to the 2700m summit on the Catinaccio mountain near Bolzano in northern Italy.
The couple had left their hotel at nearby Castelrotto for the hike but had ended up on a more difficult route by the early afternoon which eventually led to the tragedy.
A mountain rescue spokesman told MailOnline: ‘The couple, who were not married, were on a hike on Sunday when they took a wrong turning and ended up on a more challenging route.
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‘It involved a Via Ferrata cableway, and they did not have the correct equipment so when they realised it was harder, they turned back.
‘On the way down and just before re-joining the correct route the British lady slipped and fell around 35 metres.
‘She suffered fatal injuries and was already deceased by the time the helicopter arrived at the scene.
‘Her partner and others who had seen what happened raised the alarm but there was nothing that could be done.’
The 55-year-old woman and her partner had been hiking in the Rosengarten massif in the Dolomites in northern Italy when she suddenly lost her balance. Pictured: Santner via ferrata, Catinaccio in South Tyrol in Italy
He added: ‘The woman’s children… have arrived to formally identify the body and once the all clear has been given by the local prosecutor she will be repatriated back to Britain.
‘The route they ended up on was much higher and more difficult than they were used to and that is what led to the accident.’
Ms Atkinson was a teacher from Ripon, North Yorkshire, and was also a runner while her partner runs a car valeting firm.
The route the couple ended up on is the Via Santner and it is described in guide books as ‘challenging’ and takes around five hours to complete.
Originally built in the First World War by Austro-Hungarian soldiers and their Italian enemies, they used ladders fixed to the mountain sides as well as cables and ropes and they system was used to transport weapons, ammunition and food to high altitude positions.
