The stop that two skiers started in Kaprun on Thursday was intense. The two men from the Netherlands quenched their thirst in an umbrella bar on the Maiskogel in the afternoon. This was obviously large because it survived the official closure of the slopes. Only when dusk had set in did they decide to finish the last glass and head towards the valley. But they didn’t get there together.
On the descent, the two winter sports enthusiasts had lost sight of each other – a circumstance that caused both of them to panic. One of the skiers reported his colleague to the police as missing. Alpine police contacted the missing person, but his location remained a mystery despite the phone call. The man was completely upset and panicked, police said.
The officials searched on foot, found the Dutchman’s skis on the piste and, after following footprints, the man himself. The 37-year-old was drunk and leaning on a cable car support and was brought down to the valley with a snow groomer.
Snowboarder sat in a bar
A 45-year-old Briton had already reported his companion missing on the Schmittenhöhe in Zell am See on Tuesday. The snowboarders drove along the lift route in the direction of the valley station and lost sight of each other. Because the companion, a 51-year-old Briton, did not have a mobile phone with him and was apparently heavily intoxicated, the 45-year-old was very concerned.
Here, too, alpine police officers picked up the trail. The first good news came after just a few minutes: Both tracks of the snowboarders ended at the valley station. This ruled out an alpine rescue operation. Further surveys allowed the officials to look into an après-ski bar in Zell am See. There they actually met the 51-year-old man, who was unharmed but obviously very surprised by the search operation.
Source: Nachrichten
