Police helicopters were used on the Mahdlgupf via ferrata on Lake Attersee (Vöcklabruck district) and in the grave ditch near Ebensee (Gmunden district).
A German (36) started at ten in the morning with two friends to the summit of the Mahdlgupf. The trio chose the via ferrata, which is rated D/E – meaning very difficult. The entrance and a key point in the middle are particularly demanding. The 36-year-old was there when he could no longer hold himself up and fell two meters into his via ferrata set. This triggered the shock absorber.
The German was lucky: he was unharmed. The group took a longer break after the fall. The three men still had about half the climb ahead of them. They made it to just before the summit. Then the 36-year-old left his strength for good. He also had severe cramps, police said. Because he couldn’t climb any further, the exhausted man made an emergency call. The police helicopter Libelle flew in from Salzburg and rescued the German from the via ferrata with a 40-meter rope.
Young Czech rescued from grave ditch
The police helicopter from Upper Austria was also called to an alpine emergency on the same day. A group of young people had planned the descent from the Rieder Hütte near the Feuerkogel using a mobile app. The tour ended in steep, unmarked terrain. According to the police, the young Czechs between the ages of 17 and 20 had taken the cable car to the Feuerkogel the day before. From there they hiked to the Rieder Hütte and spent the night there.
On Wednesday, the group wanted to descend via the “Big Grave Ditch” – they had found the route on the Internet. However, this is an unmarked trail that also requires climbing skills. “Not everything that is marked on a digital map is also a hiking trail,” according to the mountain rescue service in Upper Austria. The five mountaineers would later experience this as well. According to the police, they had asked in the hut if they could descend the path across the grave ditch. That was answered in the affirmative, which is why the group descended the route. At first everything went as planned, but then they got to the climbing ropes. In addition, the clouds gradually obstructed visibility. The young Czechs were not equipped, which is why one of them finally picked up the mobile phone and dialed the emergency number. The flight police rescued the five hikers with a rope and were able to bring them down into the valley because the cloud cover had cleared in the meantime. Luckily nobody was hurt.
Source: Nachrichten
