Mountain emergency at the Großvenediger: Czechs and Chinese in the emergency bionwak!

Mountain emergency at the Großvenediger: Czechs and Chinese in the emergency bionwak!

Alte Prager Hütte, 9942 Virgen, Österreich - On April 20, 2025, two mountaineering groups in the Venice group, specifically at the Großvenediger, fell into a critical emergency due to the sudden deterioration in the weather conditions. A group of four Czech nationals consisting of three women aged 42, 51 and 50 as well as a 48-year-old man, broke out on April 18, 2025. The goal was the new Prague hut, from which the climbing of the Großvenediger was planned. On Friday afternoon, the Czech group reached an emergency bivouac around 6:00 p.m., where it was exhausted but unharmed. There they immediately made an emergency call, since the weather was not worsened and a salvage was not possible, as the small newspaper reports that .

only a short time later, around 7:45 p.m., a group of three Chinese nationals, consisting of two women and a man between the ages of 27, 28 and 28, also arrived at the old Prague hut. They too were exhausted and had to make an emergency call due to the extreme visibility and the strong fog. Since an overnight stay in the emergency bivouac was not possible, the Chinese group was led to the emergency bionwak of the Czech group, where they arrived around 11:00 p.m. Throughout the night, the mountaineers stood in constant telephone contact with an alpine police officer to discuss their situation and to wait for help, Meinzirk.at .

rescue operation in the Venice group

In the early morning hours of April 19, 2025, the mountain rescue started a terrestrial mountains, but had to cancel it due to the bad weather conditions. A police helicopter finally dropped three mountain rescuers and an alpine police officer above the fog border. These went to the two mountaineering groups to provide support. Furthermore, additional mountain rescuers and emergency equipment were flown to the operational area, since the group members did not have a LVS device (avalanche-shaking search device) with them, which complicated the rescue measure, complement information from the Alpine Club .

The situation for the emergency team became particularly difficult when a tour of the Chinese group lost their snowshoes, which urgently had to be replaced. Despite the adverse conditions, the rescuers, the mountaineers and themselves to fly into the valley with the helicopter in the afternoon, when the weather finally improved.

These events illustrate the important role that emerges number 112 in the Alpine region. In all EU member states, this fee-free telephone number enables quick contact with emergency centers. This is particularly crucial for mountain athletes who quickly need help in emergencies.