Climbers rescued from the Hochkönig – salzburg.ORF.at
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A helicopter crew from the alpine and flight police rescued two Czechs from the snow-covered Hochkönig near Dienten (Pinzgau) on Saturday. The men got into mountain trouble on the long “Königsjodler” via ferrata.
When they called the emergency room via mobile phone, the alpinists stated that they had underestimated the fresh masses of snow on the via ferrata, the length of the tour and the associated structures. The crew of the police helicopter Libelle took off shortly after 3:30 p.m. from the flight operations center at Salzburg Airport to the Hochkönig.
More than eleven hours of “fight”
After reconnaissance from the air measures, the pilot and the police mountain guide or flight rescuer put the 44-year-old and the 39-year-old on board unharmed at an altitude of 2,700 meters. The extremely exhausted Czechs were flown into the valley. They had already left the Dientner Saddle on their tour at 3:50 a.m. on Saturday night. They fought their way towards the summit plateau for more than eleven hours until they received the emergency call.
Tour planning vital
In this context, the Salzburg mountain rescue service points out that in poor visibility, snow or foehn storms, a helicopter could hardly or not be used. A team of mountain rescuers from Dienten would have taken care of the men on foot. Given the circumstances, the volunteers might have been out and about until Sunday night.
Alpinists, but also hikers, should not do without precise tour planning and realistic assessment of their own plans, i.e. mountain rescue, especially in autumn with shorter and shorter days and cold nights.