On the Hochkönig

Tourers had to be rescued during the night

Two ski tourers endured anxious hours.(Bild: Bergrettung Werfen / Koller)

A woman from Salzburg (37) lost her skis during a tour on the Hochkönig in a Föhn storm. She and her companion had already set up a bivouac when mountain rescuers found them and brought them safely down to the valley.

Two ski tourers who wanted to reach the summit of the Hochkönig triggered an extensive search operation by mountain rescuers on Saturday evening. A 37-year-old woman from Salzburg and a 38-year-old man from Lower Austria had climbed from the Arthurhaus to the Hochkönig in the morning and wanted to spend the night in the winter camp on the summit. Due to the poor snow conditions, the two had to carry their skis again and again. Their progress was therefore slow.

At an altitude of around 2740 meters, the woman lost a ski, which crashed over rocky terrain and was blown away by the strong foehn storm. "Because they couldn't go any further and were also very exhausted, they made an emergency call at 5 p.m.," explained head of operations Stefan Koller from Werfen Mountain Rescue. Due to the poor mobile phone connection, the ski tourers could no longer be reached and located by the rescuers. A police helicopter spotted them, but was unable to rescue them due to the storm.

25 mountain rescuers helped
From the Mitterfeldalm, mountain rescuers climbed around 1000 meters in the dark to reach the two missing men. They had dug themselves a bivouac and were well equipped. With a spare ski and boot, the athletes were brought safely down to the valley. A total of 25 mountain rescuers from Werfen, Mühlbach and Bischofshofen, two police helicopter teams, an alpine policeman and two police officers were in action until midnight, the mountain rescue service announced in a press release.