Alpine emergency

Ibexes block the path of climbing tourists

If an ibex gets in the way, there's a problem.

(Bild: Wolfgang Spitzbart)

A curious incident in the Vorarlberg mountains: a climbing group was surprised by an ibex and its young on the Hochjoch on Wednesday. The animals did not let the tourists pass. 

The climbing tourists from Spain, Italy and the Netherlands really couldn't have expected this. On Wednesday, the four friends set off on a climbing tour to Schruns and climbed the Hochjoch via ferrata. Everything went well at first, but then a surprise awaited the quartet:

In the area of the high rope bridge, an ibex suddenly stood in the way, also carrying her young. The two wild animals obviously didn't even think about clearing the path. The four tourists exercised patience for a while and waited to see if the goat would leave - but it did not. 

Eventually, the group realized that there was no point in waiting any longer. As they couldn't get past the goat and they also feared that more ibex might stray onto the via ferrata, the four of them made an emergency call. 

Animal remained stubborn
When the police helicopter approached, the animals were still standing in the via ferrata, and it was only the noise of the rotor blades and the engine that drove the ibexes away. The climbers were rescued from the wall using rope and set down near the cable car; they remained unharmed.