Adventure went down the drain

Germans were too cold on the glacier – helpers needed!

The RK-2 emergency helicopter flew the failed adventurers safely down to Sölden during the night.(Bild: Bergrettung Sölden, Krone KREATIV)

Four young Germans wanted to bivouac on the Ötztal Wildspitze, North Tyrol's highest mountain: In the end, however, a night-time rescue operation by helicopter was necessary.

It may have been youthful recklessness that drove the quartet, aged between 17 and 19, into this adventure. In any case, the four German alpinists had planned to climb from Vent (1921 m) to the Ötztaler Wildspitze (3768 m) on Saturday and bivouac there. However, the attempt failed miserably.

Poor tour planning
"In the fall, it's still warm in the valley in good weather, but very cold higher up," says Franz Josef Fiegl, head of the Sölden Mountain Rescue Service. The four boys probably didn't take this into account - a fatal mistake when planning their tour.

The Germans were generally well equipped.(Bild: Bergrettung Sölden)

The RK-2 emergency helicopter flew the failed adventurers safely down to Sölden during the night.(Bild: Bergrettung Sölden, Krone KREATIV)

They set off from Vent at 9 a.m. on Saturday and climbed up to the Taschachferner via the Breslauer Hütte (2844 m) and the via ferrata. Up there at around 3400 meters, the young "savages" had to realize that the temperatures were not really friendly: the night was clear, at minus 6 degrees they quickly became too cold. A bivouac in the dark was out of the question. So they sounded the alarm at around 9 pm.

In the fall, it is still warm in the valley in fair weather, but very cold further up.

Franz Josef Fiegl, Ortsstellenleiter Bergrettung Sölden

Bild: Birbaumer Christof

Helicopter crew had just rescued two climbers
The Sölden mountain rescue team then alerted the RK-2 emergency helicopter from Reutte, which is allowed to fly at night and also perform winch rescues. It came almost directly from a mission in the Wetterstein mountains in Leutasch. There, two uninjured German climbers had to be rescued from a vertical wall of the Schüsselkarspitze. A rope had become entangled during abseiling and the duo were unable to continue. 

The lighting conditions on the glacier at night were very difficult. I had hardly any reference points and it was almost impossible to see any unevenness.

Oliver Waldschmidt, Pilot RK-2

On the Wildspitze, the altitude and the extremely difficult lighting conditions presented RK-2 pilot Oliver Waldschmidt with challenges. "I hardly had any reference points, bumps were not recognizable. It was a difficult mission under these conditions," he explains. 

The RK-2 on landing in Sölden(Bild: Bergrettung Sölden)

"We managed to set the crew down on the glacier with the winch, then I propped the machine up on a skid a few meters below," Waldschmidt continues. In this way, the Germans and the crew were able to board the plane.

They managed to bring the uninjured adventurers to Sölden in a single flight. The local mountain rescue team was already waiting for the quartet there - and took the boys back to their hotel.