In Schladminger Tauern

Hours-long rescue operation in the Schladminger Tauern

The rescue operation lasted well into the night(Bild: Bergrettung Steiermark)

"It was not a day for a long-distance hike in the Schladminger Tauern in these adverse conditions!" - Thomas Kaserer and his Upper Styrian mountain rescue colleagues had to search for a fallen hiker for hours into the night on Monday. The American woman (58) was rescued.

It was shortly after 4.30 pm on Monday when an 18-year-old American woman raised the alarm at the Preintalerhütte hut at 1656 meters. Her mother had slipped on a snowfield while descending from the Rettingscharte (2326 meters above sea level) and fallen around 200 meters. "I could hear her, but couldn't see her because of the fog," the young woman described excitedly. She feared that her mother might be seriously injured. The landlord immediately made an emergency call.

Rescuers had to climb up on foot
"The weather conditions were not ideal. We tried to reach the scene of the emergency by helicopter, but unfortunately we were unable to do so. The first mountain rescue team, including our doctor, were then brought to the fog line by helicopter," says head of operations Thomas Kaserer, describing the challenges. From there, the rescuers climbed 500 meters further up on foot.

The rescuers fought their way to the accident site on foot.(Bild: Bergrettung Steiermark)

The weather situation was very bad on Monday(Bild: Bergrettung Steiermark)

In the meantime, the remaining emergency personnel were transported as far as possible on passable paths with the support of the Untertal/Rohrmoos volunteer fire department. They then had to continue on foot for around three hours towards the scene of the accident.

Search from two sides
The mountain rescuers from Kleinsölk also set off at the same time from the other side of the valley in miserable weather conditions. "We didn't know the exact location of the emergency, so we had to try to reach the injured hiker from two sides as quickly as possible," says Kaserer. "We managed another shuttle flight, which not only brought us mountain rescuers, but also a special stretcher and ropes up the mountain."

We appeal to people to be sensible when planning tours. Yesterday, with its adverse weather conditions, was not a day for long-distance hikes in the Schladminger Tauern.

Thomas Kaserer, Bergrettung

Critical condition of both Americans
After almost two and a half hours, the injured hiker was located by the first mountain rescue team. The doctor and mountain rescuers treated the 58-year-old from Stanford in California: she was severely hypothermic when they arrived, but had only suffered bruising. She was taken to the Preintalerhütte. There, her daughter's condition also deteriorated. "Her condition was critical. Shortly after dark, the ÖAMTC Christophorus 14 emergency helicopter had to be called out," says head of operations Thomas Kaserer.

A total of 37 members of the Schladming and Kleinsölk mountain rescue teams were involved in the operation, supported by the Untertal/Rohrmoos fire department, the Alpine police and the helicopter crews.