You could almost say “again”: On Sunday afternoon, German hikers in Tyrol found themselves in heavy snow and fog due to the excessive demands and miserable travel planning in mountain emergency. In the most unfavorable weather conditions, mountain rescuers had to leave on delicate rescue missions in the evening or at night.
Scene 1, Bergleintal in the Wetterstein Mountains: Around 3:30 PM, two German alpinists reported via the emergency call that they were descending from the Meilerhütte, but were not sure whether they could continue the path to Leutasch in fog and heavy snow and find falling darkness.
“The control center informed me about the situation and I then spoke to one of the Germans on the phone,” said Michael Strigl, local branch manager of the Leutasch mountain rescue service. “He told me they didn’t need any help at this time.” Yet six mountain rescuers from Leutasch were preparing for a possible rescue mission.
Heart problems and panic attacks
“About 20 minutes later the German contacted us again and asked us for help,” Strigl said. One of the Germans already complained of cardiovascular problems and panic attacks.
The emergency services from Leutasch then climbed through the Bergleintal in heavy snow to reach the Germans, who were waiting at approximately 1,650 meters in the area of the Mustersteinhütte. “There was already 40 centimeters of snow higher up and the climb over the steep terrain was difficult,” says Strigl. The weaker of the two had now recovered somewhat, so that the mountain rescuers could begin the descent with both of them.
Duo endangered their lives
The reason why they got into trouble in the mountains shocked the emergency services. “They said they were surprised by the weather. I then asked them if they had not followed the weather forecast,” says Strigl. In any case, the Leutashers managed to get the duo safely into the valley via the crash site. “If you slip once, you’re in the gorge below,” says Strigl, describing the life-threatening situation.
The top tour would have ended fatally
He was also appalled by the history of the operation. The alpinists had spent the night in the winter room of the Meiler hut and actually wanted to climb Musterstein (2474 m) on Sunday. “This is a climbing mountain, but the duo didn’t even have a rope with them,” says operations manager Strigl, shaking his head in disbelief. “They looked more like hikers and not high-altitude mountain climbers. Under these circumstances the summit trip would probably have ended fatally.”
Luckily they decided to go down, but way too late. “The tour planning was devastating, grade five!” Strigl explains.
Difficult night operations, even in the Karwendel Mountains
Scene 2, Bäralpl, Karwendel: Not far from where the mountain rescuers from Leutasch were deployed, twelve mountain rescuers from Scharnitz tried to fight their way to trapped mountaineers in the Bäralpl area (about 1820 m) northwest above the Karwendelhaus on Sunday evening. The four Germans – two men and two women between the ages of 24 and 27 – had left Mittenwald, Bavaria, in the morning despite the miserable weather forecast and wanted to cross the Bäralplsattel to the Karwendelhaus. The plan went terribly wrong; they were stuck in fog, snow and avalanche danger and raised the alarm at 4 p.m.
Mittenwald Mountain Guard had to cancel
“First the Mittenwald mountain rescue service tried to climb to the quartet, but due to avalanche danger the attempt had to be stopped just before the alpinists,” says Martin Mair of the Scharnitz mountain rescue service. The Scharnitz mountain rescue service was alerted at 8 p.m. to reach the victims from the Tyrolean side.
Avalanche danger for mountain rescuers from Scharnitz
“We drove with twelve men into the Karwendel valley to the Angeralm at an altitude of 1,300 meters and wanted to climb from there to Bäralpl,” says Martin Mair, describing the delicate night operation under the most unfavorable conditions. “The climbing route led through steep, grassy slopes, where several avalanches had already occurred. “So we had to stop the operation around midnight for safety reasons,” says the mountain rescuer. The Germans had to spend the night on the mountain and on Monday morning a German helicopter flew them to Mittenwald. The quartet was unharmed, but suffered from hypothermia after a night in the snow.
“The group’s travel planning was poor; they had completely misjudged the weather conditions,” summarizes mountain rescuer Mair.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
