Instead of a thank you – a German mountaineer threatened lifesavers with a lawyer

“Actually, you’d expect a thank you,” Regina Poberschnigg, the local manager of the Ehrwald mountain rescue service, shakes her head incredulously. In fact, a German alpinist, whose life was in danger on the stopper-trekker route to the Zugspitze, threatened legal action after his rescue. The uninsured man refused to pay the cost of using the mountain rescue service.

“A-Alarm” – danger to life
“It was an A-alarm,” says Regina Poberschnigg. “That means there’s a chance of death.” According to the German, he had enormous heart problems.

Of course, due to the bad weather, no helicopter was able to fly. So members of the Ehrwald mountain rescue team, including a doctor, took the Tiroler Zugspitzbahn to the top and lashed them to the patient when it snowed and conditions were extremely slippery.

When they got to the man, he almost stopped responding. “He was extremely exhausted and very ill-equipped for the conditions,” said Robin Lutnig of the Ehrwald Mountain Rescue Service. The emergency services managed to bring the German, who was in mortal danger, safely to the top. But instead of driving into the valley later, accompanied by the doctor, he fled with his friends and drove to Bavaria.

Didn’t want to pay the bill
When the German received the bill for the demanding and costly work of the mountain rescue service, he did not want to pay the lump sum. Instead, he bombarded the local office with emails. He didn’t need a doctor at all, and the rescue lasted not two and a half hours, but only two. The bill is – analogously – a “mess”. And as a climax, he announced that he would turn against the lawyer.

Regina Poberschnigg did not let these accusations rest and confronted him over the phone. The result: after all, he paid!