Difficult mission

Filzmoos: Hikers rescued from mountain distress

Mountain rescuers in action

(Bild: Bergrettung)

 

On Wednesday afternoon, the women from Germany got into rough terrain on their descent from the Sulzenschneid (1,884 meters above sea level) and were ultimately unable to continue. One of the three hikers suffered an ankle injury. The Filzmoos mountain rescue team started the search operation shortly after 3pm in the rain.

"They were found at 4.30 p.m.", explains local station manager Coen Weesjes. The injured woman was flown to hospital by the Martin 1 rescue helicopter and her two companions were brought down to the valley by the Libelle police helicopter.

The operation turned out to be difficult. The women, who were in their late 20s, did not call the emergency services, but instead called a friend in Germany and explained that they needed help from the mountain rescue service, but did not give the reason for their problem. The man then called the emergency services from his cell phone. "But he couldn't reach the women, and neither could I," said Coen. "So we didn't know what equipment we needed for the rescue, so we took everything with us."

The police helicopter took off on a search flight. The coordinates of their location, where the Germans had called the friend, were known, but they could not be spotted there. "We assumed that they were on the hiking trail, but they were no longer there," said the head of the local station. A mountain rescuer happened to hear the women's voices as they were climbing up a hunter's trail in Lammerach. "They were about 80 meters away from the path and were sitting on a small hunter's seat. There was no cell phone reception there. In this area, the terrain is very inaccessible and difficult to see due to mountain pines and trees."

Originally, the women wanted to hike from Filzmoos to the Dachsteinsüdwandhütte. Apparently the route seemed too long for them and they decided to turn back and take a shortcut down from the Sulzenschneid viewing summit. According to the head of the local station, three mistakes led to the emergency situation: Incorrect tour planning - the women underestimated the walking time required for this route. Secondly, they did not state the reason for the help they needed when they called. And thirdly, they should have stayed at the location from which they made the call. This would have enabled the rescue team to find the trio more quickly and to take only the equipment required for this rescue operation.