Risk mountaineering: Warning of the expert trap for mountain guides!

Risk mountaineering: Warning of the expert trap for mountain guides!

In recent years, Austrian mountain guides have become more and more involved in critical situations that lead to serious accidents. In the past ten years alone, 34 people in avalanches died during guided tours - an alarming trend that brings the danger to mountain guides and their guests to light. Larcher said that the enormous pressure to expect often causes mountain guides increase the willingness to take risks. This could play a fatal role, especially at avalanche warning level, since the "expert trap" is then particularly dangerous, so ORF TIROL .

One of these tragic incidents occurred in February 2020 when mountain guide Christian "Hechei" Hechenberger and his guest were hit by an avalanche on a ski tour on the Großer Rettenstein. Despite all the precasts, both were seriously injured. A judicial expert confirmed that Hechenberger had made appropriate decisions when planning and implementing the tour. Nevertheless, the incident leaves questions: Would you have been able to choose the goal differently to minimize risks? Hechenberger shared these and other teachings from the accident in an interview; He emphasizes the need to always critically question one's own risk perception, such as "https://www.bergundstieg.com/artikel/doppelzaesur-was-lern-ein-bergfuehrer-aus-zwei-unfaellen/"> Bergundstiegen .

risk awareness and personal responsibility

The number of accidents is clear: a total of 110 people have been killed in the tours in Austria in the past few years, although not every death is due to an accident. The president of the mountain and skiing guides, Walter Zörer, emphasizes that there is a risk on targeted tours. A mountain guide transfers part of his responsibility to the specialist, but personal responsibility remains crucial. Zörer said that around 800,000 people are accompanied by Tyrolean mountain sports guides annually, which underlines the need to learn from every incident in order to minimize the accident rate. Against this background, it is essential for mountain guides to find the right balance between the desire to offer their guests something special and to find the use of a risky approach.