A climber (62) was completely hypothermic and exhausted on Sunday after a climb on the Sonneck in the Tyrolean Kaiser Mountains in Scheffau. He had underestimated his tour and made an emergency call just before midnight. The mountain rescue eventually led the man into the valley unharmed.
“He would have underestimated the length of the trip and was completely exhausted and hypothermic,” said Hannes Höflinger of the Scheffau/Söllandl mountain rescue service, describing the operation on Monday evening in the Kaiser Mountains. What happened? A Lower Austrian (62) climbed to the top of the Sonneck on Sunday. He should have reached it around 5pm.
On the way back he chose the difficult East Ridge. “This is a terrain for two to three people with ridge climbing. He clearly had a hard time there,” said Höflinger. When the climber realized he could no longer descend alone because of the darkness, he planned to stay on the mountain for the night.
At around 11:30 p.m., he finally made an emergency call. Six mountain rescuers climbed up to him, supplied him with thermal equipment and lashed him more than 50 meters down. Shortly before 6:30 a.m., the man was back in the valley unharmed.
Climber actually knew the region well
After talking to the emergency services, it was surprising that the 62-year-old had this accident. He stated that he had been here before. He would have known the normal way. Why he decided to do this tour shortly before nightfall remained open. “Of course we would have preferred that he had called earlier. We do not rush to climb in the middle of the night. If someone falls, no one is helped,” criticizes Höflinger.
Second mission hour earlier
It was not the first emergency call that day for mountain rescuers Scheffau-Söllandl. Already in the afternoon they had to climb up to a 51-year-old German woman. She had descended from the top of the Scheffauer and had fallen. She injured her foot and was unable to get off on her own. Seven mountain rescuers carried the woman with the mountain stretcher to the next mountain pasture.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
