Long searches

Local mountain rescuers with record deployment hours

The mountain rescuers were on duty for many hours.

(Bild: Bergrettung OÖ)

14 people lost their lives in Upper Austria's mountains in 2024, according to mountain rescue statistics, and two are still missing. The number of missions exploded last year because more and more people are being drawn to the mountains.

A total of 656 people were rescued from the mountains in Upper Austria alone last year. A quarter of them survived the emergency unharmed. In most cases, the victims had simply lost their way, while poor tour planning or inadequate equipment often played a role. The mountain rescuers point out that if the worst comes to the worst, you should call the Alpine emergency number 140 or the Euro emergency number 112 in good time.

Number of fatalities down
14 climbers could only be recovered dead. This is significantly fewer than in 2023, when there were 26 fatalities, and it is also a rather low figure compared to the long-term average. However, the hours spent by mountain rescuers reached a new record: 10,954 hours, compared to 9,769 hours in 2023, and in some cases significantly fewer in previous years.

Several local stations in action
The large amount of time spent can be explained by some particularly intensive search missions for missing persons, with which the Upper Austrian Mountain Rescue Service was involved for a total of 51 days across several locations. A missing man in Bad Ischl could only be found dead after two days. Two people remained missing despite extensive search operations: a female hiker who went missing in the Almtal valley at the foot of the Großer Priel and the author Bodo Hell, who disappeared in the Dachstein massif.

Preparation extremely important
In view of the numbers, mountain rescue once again appeals to mountaineers and recreational athletes to prepare tours well, to critically question their own knowledge and skills and, if necessary, to hire a professional mountain guide. It is also important to have rescue and search cost insurance for recreational accidents - which can also be taken out through the mountain rescue service - because one minute of flight time for an emergency helicopter costs more than 100 euros and the mountain rescue service also charges 505 euros per hour for a standard operation.