This is definitely not how the two Germans imagined their first high-altitude tour as a newlywed couple. For the 34-year-old and his 28-year-old wife, a planned ascent of the Dachstein (2995 meters) ended during their honeymoon on Tuesday afternoon in a police helicopter.
Tour scheduled online
Using an online app, the two planned the tour as a loop: they wanted to go from the mountain station of the Südwandbahn via the Hallstätter Gletscher to the Steiner Scharte and from there to the Gosaugletscher before climbing the highest peak in Upper Austria via Windlucke and the Westgrat.
But it didn’t come to that. In the area of the wind hole at 2737 meters above sea level, the couple deviated from the planned route and did not dare to go forwards or backwards in the steep terrain with the fog coming up. Shortly after 2 p.m., the couple called 911.
Mountain rescuers led pair out of fog
The mountain rescue service and an alpine policeman were then alerted, who in turn notified the police helicopter. Since a fog bank had already gathered, it was not possible for the police helicopter to pick up the couple directly. So two mountain rescuers were flown up the mountain, who led the two out of the fog secured on a rope. In the end, the police helicopter was able to pick up everyone involved and bring them down to the valley.
This was the second time within one day that a helicopter had to fly tourists down the Dachstein mountain into the valley. Two Czechs had spent the night on Tuesday without the appropriate equipment outdoors – at almost 3000 meters above sea level, in the middle of the shoulder via ferrata, without a bivouac sack.
Source: Nachrichten
