Night Climb

20-Year-Old Falls to His Death on the Zugspitze

The fall proved fatal. The young man’s body had to be recovered by the police helicopter.(Bild: Krone-Collage/Zoom Tirol, Bergrettung Ehrwald)

Tragic scenes unfolded on the Zugspitze early Saturday morning. Two young men had set out to climb Germany’s highest mountain at night from the Tyrolean town of Außerfern. But around 3 a.m., a snowfield proved fatal for a 20-year-old. He slipped and fell 250 meters. The man was recovered only after he had died.

According to mountain rescue, the German citizen of Kazakh descent was 20 years old and had planned to climb the Zugspitze via the Stopselzieher route with his friend of the same age, a German of Ukrainian descent. The two young men set out from Ehrwald around 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Their plan: to watch the sunset during the ascent and the sunrise at the summit. According to police, the two were equipped “only with hiking boots, headlamps, and crampons.” 

The two intended to watch the sunset during the ascent and the sunrise after reaching the summit.

Die Polizei in einer Aussendung

Around 3 a.m., the two men were halfway along the route and had to cross a snowfield. As one of them went ahead, he slipped. The 20-year-old fell about 250 meters down extremely steep, rocky terrain. 

Nighttime rescue by helicopter
His companion immediately made an emergency call, but for the victim, any help came too late. He could only be recovered dead by the police helicopter Libelle around 5 a.m. and brought down to the valley.

The second climber was rescued unharmed by members of the Ehrwald Mountain Rescue team and the crew of an emergency medical helicopter from Liechtenstein using a winch.