After falling into the rope

Spectacular rescue from the “Intifada” route

The Swiss air rescue service "REGA" had to help at the border with Austria.(Bild: REGA)

Late on Thursday afternoon, a spectacular helicopter rescue took place in the Rätikon, the border mountain range between Switzerland and Vorarlberg. A climber had fallen around 25 meters into the rope on the Drusenfluh and was unable to continue. The Swiss air rescue service "Rega" had to resort to special means.

Two sport climbers were on the partially overhanging "Intifada Route" (difficulty level 8/8+) on the Schweizereck, a foothill of the 2827-metre-high Drusenfluh, when one of them fell around 25 meters into the rope at around 5.30 pm.

The man injured his ankle, among other things, and was no longer able to continue climbing. The duo alerted the Swiss Air-Rescue "Rega" Operations Center, which also called out a mountain rescuer from the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) to support the helicopter crew from Untervaz. 

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Once at the scene, the Rega crew decided, after an initial reconnaissance flight, to extend the 90-metre rope of the rescue hoist to a total of 135 meters with the help of two extensions. This method is used when the length of the rescue hoist rope is not sufficient to reach the patient. 

This is how the fallen climber was rescued from the "Intifada Route".(Bild: REGA)

Using the extended winch cable, the SAC mountain rescuer was finally brought directly to the patient on the wall. The Rega crew then flew both climbers one after the other on the rescue hoist to the intermediate landing site at Schweizertor, the border between Graubünden and Vorarlberg.

After receiving first aid, the patient was transported to hospital for further treatment.