One body was found buried in snow while the other was recovered from a lake after the avalanche at a height of around 2,200 metres (7,200 feet)in the Val Formazza area in Italy's Piedmont region, Alpine rescue group CNSAS said in a statement.
A specialist rescue team was sent to the scene by helicopter despite strong winds in the area after the alarm was raised around midday (1100 GMT). A dog trained in rescue operations also helped to find the bodies.
The victims, who had been wearing snowshoes to help navigate the mountain, were a 30-year-old woman and a man aged 53, Italian media reported. They were from the region of Lombardy in northern Italy.
(Writing by Keith WeirEditing by Hugh Lawson and Frances Kerry)
