Operating in Pinzgau

Company charged with illegal mountain tours

Symbolic image(Bild: cppzone – stock.adobe.com (Symbolbild))

A company offering mountain and via ferrata tours in Salzburg has been charged with fraud. The company is said to have offered alpine tours with guides who did not have the necessary training.

Because a 15-year-old holidaymaker from Denmark was slightly injured on a tour, the 45-year-old managing director of the company, a man from Pinzgau, and the 25-year-old Danish guide are also being charged with negligent bodily harm.

According to the police, the 15-year-old suffered minor injuries on July 9 in Kaprun in the area of the Großer Grießkogel when he slipped down a snow field. The tour had been booked by the holidaymaker with an - apparently foreign - tour company and led by a guide.

During the subsequent investigations by the Zell am See Alpine Police, the suspicion was confirmed that the guide did not have the appropriate qualifications for this tour in alpine terrain. He should have had mountain guide training for this level of difficulty, they were told on request. According to police information, the company also offered via ferrata tours with trained guides, who are also not trained mountain guides.