Avalanche in 50 degree gully: tourer fell 500 meters

On Sunday, two mountaineers from Graz, aged 41 and 43, went on a ski tour on the Rote Rinne in the Kaiserschild area. This leads through extremely steep terrain, sometimes up to 50 degrees steep. At around 12:50, about 100 meters below the starting point, they finished the climb and decided to descend.

Crashed at 500 meters
The 43-year-old descended the gully first and stood on the side about 300 meters away to wait for his traveling companion. This also drove away and caused a superficial snow patch about 100 meters after the start. Due to the extreme steepness of the terrain, he lost his balance and fell approximately 500 meters through rocky terrain.

The 41-year-old came to rest in the area of ​​the avalanche cone, but was not buried by the avalanche. He himself made an Alpine emergency call. The 43-year-old was not affected by the avalanche and was able to ski to his partner.

34 mountain rescuers and two helicopters in action
The mountain rescue services in the Eisenerz area then launched an operation with 34 men. The Hochsteiermark Alpine Police was also warned.

After investigation revealed that more people were involved, the two alpinists were flown into the valley by the Libelle Steiermark police helicopter. The 41-year-old suffered injuries of an unspecified degree and was subsequently taken to UKH Kalwang by the Christophorus 17 rescue helicopter.

The two mountaineers were equipped with adapted touring equipment, including an avalanche transceiver.