Lousy tour planning

30 centimetres of snow: emergency call from the via ferrata

The mountain rescuers waded through the snow with the exhausted alpinists to the Bettelwurfhütte.(Bild: Bergrettung Hall-Umgebung, Grassmayr)

Once again, two alpinists have misjudged the weather and snow conditions in the Tyrolean mountains. The Hall-Umgebung mountain rescue team had to rescue the duo from the Absamer via ferrata on Saturday.

The challenging Absamer via ferrata up to the Bettelwurfhütte in the Karwendel was too difficult for a German (24) and an Israeli (21). What's more, their tour planning went completely wrong. They must not have read the weather forecast very carefully.

Snowfall on the way out
The duo started at around 11 a.m. on Saturday in Halltal (Innsbruck-Land district), climbed the via ferrata and reached the exit at around 5.40 p.m.: there was 30 centimetres of fresh snow there, and it was also snowing.

Exhausted, disoriented 
The men were unable to find the path to the Bettelwurfhütte and were already too exhausted to get there on their own. The overtaxed alpinists lost their bearings and raised the alarm at around 5.50 pm.

Mountain rescuers brought the duo to the Bettelwurf hut
The Hall-Umgebung mountain rescue team climbed up and found the duo near the exit of the via ferrata. The emergency services took care of the exhausted pair and brought them safely through the snow to the Bettelwurfhütte (2077 m).