Trouble with insurance

Ski accident still causing trouble in summer

Injured, the 65-year-old was brought down to the valley (symbolic photo)(Bild: ZOOM Tirol)

A pensioner was rammed and injured by a snowboarder in Hochkar (Lower Austria) last winter. The insurance company sees it differently. Witnesses are now being sought.  

A skiing trip for Ignaz Baumgartner (65) came to a painful end last winter on the Hochkar. A young snowboarder crashed into him from a side slope. The Czech woman (16) left him seriously injured on the piste. And as if that wasn't enough, the pensioner from the Melk district also received a letter from his insurance company accusing him of being at fault for the accident.

The police picture from the file shows how the accident happened: the pensioner's route is in yellow, the black arrow shows where the young Czech woman got onto the slope.(Bild: Polizei)

Snowboarder did not seek help
Baumgartner was skiing down the steep slope Häsing 5 on December 28 at 3.35 pm when the 16-year-old entered the main slope. "All of a sudden I was thrown, she must have hit me from the side," he explains. At first, the Czech girl stopped with a friend and they exchanged names and phone numbers. But the two of them did not comply with the request to get help. It was only later that the victim was able to stop another skier, who called for help. "There was no way I could have continued", says Baumgartner.

Skier looking for witnesses
The hospital revealed why. The 65-year-old suffered a pubic bone fracture and was only able to walk with crutches for weeks. To avoid having to pay compensation for pain and suffering, the Czech woman's insurance company now wants to turn the tables and blame the Mostviertel native for the accident. "I am urgently looking for witnesses. The accident site is clearly visible from the lift route," says Baumgartner, who was wearing a petrol-colored ski jacket that day.

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