Urgent warning

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Three Nepalese people shovel the Christophorus hut free.

(Bild: feuerkogel.rocks)

The landlord of the Rieder Hütte (Upper Austria) issues an urgent warning against alpine excursions. There is still up to two meters of snow on the local peaks after the capricious weather of the past week. But the ground is far too warm, so the danger of avalanches is high. 

The glorious late summer weather means that the floods of the past few days have faded into the background in many places. Various online forums are already discussing whether mountain tours are possible again. Many people seem to forget that this can be associated with considerable risks. "It's not worth it, stay down", says Stephan Jobke, landlord of the Rieder Hütte in the Höllengebirge. "We advise everyone against it, we are closed so that nobody is encouraged to come up," says the mountain hiking guide.

Dolines - invisible traps
At the moment, there are still between 70 and 120 centimetres of snow on "his" hut at around 1700 meters above sea level, which is only slowly receding. This poses a number of dangers: "The snow has fallen on warm ground, which increases the risk of sliding snow avalanches," says the mountain expert, adding: "What's more, the snow is also lying over sinkholes. Inexperienced hikers in particular don't know where these are. If they step on one, it can be up to twenty meters deep." The Rieder Hütte is therefore expected to remain closed until next Thursday, with up-to-date information available on the website.

Rockfall on the Schoberstein
The Goiserer Hütte in the Salzkammergut is also closed. We strongly advise against climbing there online due to the current dangers - the hut is not manned until September 22. The situation is different at the Schobersteinhaus at 1260 meters in the foothills of the Alps. "We only had 20 centimetres of snow, which has melted in the meantime. After a rockslide, the forest road and the Dorngraben hiking trail are temporarily closed, but all other ascents are possible," says hut manager Stephan Zeilermayr. The hut has been open for normal operations again since Wednesday.

Nepalese shovel the path clear
Landlords Sandra Peitli and Andreas Dengg also reopened the snow-covered Christophorushütte on the Feuerkogel on Thursday. The Himalayan-experienced Nepalese employees Sonam Sherpa, Pasang Sherpa and Dawa Sherpa shoveled everything clear. But there are also dangers in the valley, such as in the popular Pesenbach Valley in Feldkirchen/D. The paths are closed due to the risk of falling rocks and mudflows.

Navigation still restricted
The water from the past few days is only slowly receding from the lakes. In order to prevent damage caused by waves to the shore area and buildings, the Vöcklabruck district authority has imposed a shipping ban on Lake Attersee until September 21, 12 noon.