Mountaineer in Leutasch: Search for 21-year-old continues

Mountaineer in Leutasch: Search for 21-year-old continues

In the rugged mountains of Tyrol, a 21-year-old climber is missing who was in the area of the "Ostkipfel Hohe Munde" in the municipality of Leutasch. The search for the young man who comes from Germany had to be canceled on Thursday evening after the mountain rescuers in the area came across adverse weather conditions. The situation is both a challenge and an urgent emergency that has attracted the attention of mountain rescue.

The dramatic events took their course when the missing person, together with a friend from the parking lot of the "Rauthhütte" in Telfs, left towards the summit. While the friend reversed because of the sudden snowfall, the 21-year-old decided to go further towards the summit. He reached this on Thursday afternoon at 3:40 p.m. Shortly afterwards, around 4:00 p.m., the man sent a voice email to his buddy in the valley and asked him to make an emergency call. This initiated a comprehensive search.

search action in challenging terrain

Around 27 members of the mountain rescue Telfs were mobilized to search for the missing person in the demanding site. However, the search was extremely difficult because the climber reported that around 100 meters had crashed and had injured himself. Despite the telephone contact with the 21-year-old, who was able to give the rescuer valuable information, the situation was risky. The search finally had to be interrupted at 9:00 p.m. because of the poor weather, the exposed location and the falling darkness.

Since the use of a police helicopter due to the adverse conditions was not possible, the mountain rescuers could not start searching on Friday again. The rescuers had to wait while they accepted the challenges of the mountains. In view of the uncertainty about the whereabouts of the climber, the time remains tense for everyone involved and there are additional risks in view of the weather forecasts.

Reporting on this tragic situation stimulates the discussion about the safety precautions when mountaineering. Every mountaineer must be aware of the dangers that can lurk in the mountains. Weather swings and sudden changes are particularly crucial in winter. More details on alpine accidents and security measures can be found in a detailed report on www.oe24.at .