Gastein Valley

Search operation for hiker – man (63) recovered dead

(Bild: Bergrettung)

For days, the mountain rescue team in Sportgastein searched for a missing mountaineer from Carinthia. On Sunday it was a sad certainty: the man probably collapsed in an old snow field on Wednesday and died in an accident. 

 

"The missing Carinthian had set off from Mallnitz (Carinthia) in the direction of Hagener Hütte (2446 m, Hohe Tauern)," says Gerhard Kremser, district manager of Pongau Mountain Rescue. "He then wanted to take the train back via Sportgastein." However, after he had not returned home by late evening, relatives informed the police.

Cell phone tracking and search flights
On Thursday morning, the police searched for the 64-year-old using cell phone tracking and search flights. The Bad Gastein mountain rescuers and four mountain rescue dog handler teams were also alerted: "The cell phone tracking located the missing man in Sportgastein." Traces of the missing man were discovered relatively quickly on old snow fields. A mountain rescue dog handler found a rucksack and other items belonging to the man by a torrential stream below a snowfield in Sportgastein. "We then discovered an open snow hole and tracks about 200 meters further up on a snow field at an altitude of around 1800 meters," says Kremser. 

Search discontinued
The water rescue team was also alerted for assistance and searched the watercourses in Sportgastein for the missing man. "We repeatedly cut holes with chainsaws in the pimple-hard old snow cover in the area of the so-called Eselskar, which was up to four meters thick in places. There is also a torrent underneath. We've also cleared these cavities where possible." However, after the weather conditions deteriorated dramatically, the search was suspended on Thursday.

Mountain rescuers from Bad Gastein continued to search for possible traces of the missing man on Friday and Saturday.

"Dangerous terrain"
Due to the improvement in the weather, another major search operation was launched on Sunday: "The terrain was very challenging and also dangerous for our emergency services. There was a risk of collapse in some places and this torrential stream with large cavities runs underneath." A special steam probe with a camera was requested from the Tyrolean Mountain Rescue Service. "We finally got a signal from a Recco search device. We used a chainsaw to cut open the snow cover in this area and roped a mountain rescuer down into the cavity."

The missing man was eventually found and rescued with great effort; the snow cover there was 1.50 meters thick and as hard as a rock. The alpine police are investigating the circumstances of the accident.