Search operation: French missing on Hochkönig
On Sunday he was with a compatriot on the technically easy but long normal route from Arthurhaus over the Mitterfeldalm to the summit plateau. At the gate pillar the tour became too strenuous for the Frenchman’s companion and he turned back. THEY agree that they would meet in the evening at Birgkarhaus on the Dientner Sattel in the valley.
Ascent as a couple – via the normal route
After the Frenchman and summit climber did not appear there, the other Frenchman alerted the mountain rescue team. He showed the emergency services a cell phone photo that the missing person had sent from his tour. Then the war for the Mühlbach mountain rescuers was evident that the French had decided to descend from the summit over the very steep and technically difficult Birgkar – namely over the Birgkar Gorge. So mountain rescuers and alpine policemen climbed up there that night to help the man.
Thermal imaging camera used by the flight police
A flight police crew from the Ministry of the Interior at Salzburg Airport also uses the good weather to deploy a thermal imaging camera with their helicopter, which is suitable for night flights. The search was unsuccessful, however, and the teams stopped working for the time being after midnight. He should go on again in the early morning in the first light of day.
The last fought by himself
Then the news came that a car driver had taken a French mountaineer along the Hochkönig-Straße under the Birgkar. This is how the emergency services came into contact with the abandoner. He fell in the lower part of the route and lost his headlamp in the process. At dawn he continued on foot into the valley.
According to the head of the local branch, Wolfgang Haggenmüller from the Mühlbach mountain rescue service, the Frenchman’s cell phone battery was already empty: “He stated that he had seen the police helicopter that night and wanted to contact us, but unfortunately that no longer worked. “
Landlord strongly advises against the Birgkar route
The Matrashaus on the summit of the Hochkönig is currently not managed – winter break! The long-time landlord Roman Kurz has a very firm opinion about the route through the dangerous Birgkar:
“I generally advise against inspecting the Birgkar! Most of the fatal accidents and rescue operations on the Hochkönig are in the Birgkar.
The Birkar is consistently a crash site – every step has to be right … The ascent to the summit over the Birgkar only looks shorter on the map. Also with this route Wann & SIE, as with the normal route from Arthurhaus, expect five to six hours of pure walking time. The descent also takes as long as it takes to get to Arthurhaus, namely three to four hours.
The Birgkar is a high alpine trail in the divided Schrofen area. Gravel-covered rock slabs, often still steep in August and hard snowfields in the morning and the great danger of falling rocks make it – by far – the most dangerous ascent and descent of the Hochkönig. Almost the entire route is man in the crash site. Surefootedness and a head for heights are therefore essential.
Even if it is described as follows in some guides: The Birgkar is not a via ferrata! There are no safeguards over very long stretches. Therefore, via ferrata equipment is no real help. But a rockfall helmet does! ” , says Roman Kurz, host of the Matrashaus on the summit of the Hochkönig.