A ski instructor died in hospital after she was buried under seven feet of snow following an avalanche on a mountain in Italy.

Tragic Giulia Ramelli and a companion had been ascending a slope between Ra Gusela and Rifugio Nuvalou in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, with climbing skins on 11th January.

But an avalanche struck, burying the man up to his waist in snow and swallowing Giulia, 34, whole.

The man raised the alarm and rescuers headed to the disaster site by helicopter with a sniffer dog unit.

The rescuers managed to free Giulia from underneath two metres of snow, but her condition was critical.

She was given CPR at the scene and then taken to hospital in Treviso by helicopter.

Her companion – 50-year-old cable car operations manager Piero Paccagnella – only suffered grazes in the snowslide and was also taken away by helicopter.

Sadly, Giulia died in hospital overnight.

In some reports Giulia and Piero were described as friends, while in other reports they were described as an engaged couple.

Local media said the risk of avalanches in the region is elevated, mainly due to strong winds and not due to the unusually warm weather.

Reports said high winds can cause accumulations of snow and ice floes that can detach triggered by the footsteps of a single mountaineer.