A red pixel in the snow: How AI solved the mystery of a missing mountaineer
BBC••world
Key Points:
- In September 2024, experienced climber and orthopaedic surgeon Nicola Ivaldo went missing in the Piemonte region of Italy, prompting an extensive but initially unsuccessful search by over fifty rescuers and helicopters in the vast Cottian Alps.
- In July 2025, after snow melted, rescuers resumed the search using AI-powered analysis of thousands of drone-captured images, which identified potential locations, including one with a red helmet that led to the discovery of Ivaldo’s body on Monviso mountain.
- The use of AI significantly sped up image analysis, reducing a task that once took days to just hours, but still required human expertise to interpret results and narrow down search areas based on terrain and likely climber routes.
