Randl follows Larcher

Ex-Alpine police officer becomes new “ÖAV safety chief”

Michael Larcher (right) symbolically hands over an old ice axe to Jörg Randl

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Jörg Randl from Telf, previously head of the Innsbruck Alpine Police, is following in the footsteps of ÖAV veteran Michael Larcher as head of the mountain sports department of the Austrian Alpine Association (ÖAV). With the 42-year-old, a proven expert is taking over the important tasks.

When the topic of "safety in mountain sports" comes up, there is no way around Michael Larcher. Born in Absam, he has been head of the department at the Austrian Alpine Association (ÖAV) since 2002, which is responsible for training and therefore safety in practically all mountain sports.

Larcher retires
Because Larcher will soon be 65, he is retiring. The position was advertised and the choice fell on an external candidate: 42-year-old Jörg Randl from Telf said goodbye to the Alpine Police and will take over Larcher's duties on December 1st.

It is exciting for me to be involved in making mountain sports safer.

Jörg Randl, künftiger Leiter der Abteilung Bergsport im ÖAV

From the "safe" public service to the ÖAV
The move from a supposedly secure job in the public sector to the private sector seems unusual. Randl explains his motivation for the move: "It is appealing for me to help make mountain sports safer." 

Flight rescuer of the Libelle Tirol
As an alpine police officer and flight rescuer for the Libelle Tirol police helicopter, the focus was on surveys and documentation following accidents. "Important data and facts were then incorporated into the accident statistics. But there were no opportunities to develop strategies." However, he sees these in his new job.

(Bild: Christof Birbaumer/Kronen Zeitung (Symbolfoto))

Focus on accident prevention
Among other things, he will now be training the 6000 ÖAV tour guides. "The focus is on accident prevention," emphasizes Michael Larcher, who has set milestones. For example, he is responsible for the use of semi-automatic belay devices in climbing gyms. He also created the safety magazine "bergundsteigen".

Civilian and police mountain guide
With Jörg Randl, a proven expert is now taking over. Randl is a civilian and police mountain guide and was a member of the national team of ski mountaineers and climbers. Nevertheless, the family man describes himself as an all-round mountain sportsman.

Exceptional sporting achievements
Probably out of modesty, he speaks little about his achievements in mountain sports. But they stand out: in 2021, he completed the Venter ski tour of 70 kilometers and around 6000 meters of altitude in ten and a half (!) Hours. For comparison: normal mortals need several days for this...