Three small children with

their family went in circles and had to be rescued

The family was picked up by the rescue helicopter. (Stock photo)(Bild: Hannes Wallner)

A couple from Germany wanted to hike from Krippenstein to the Simony Hut with their three-, six-, and eight-year-old children. However, things went terribly wrong. First, the family ended up walking in circles, and then bad weather set in. In the end, the five of them had to be rescued from the mountain.

On Monday morning, the two 35-year-old parents took their three- and six-year-old daughters and their eight-year-old son on the Krippensteinbahn to the valley station of the third cable car section. From there, they began their hike to the Simonyhütte as planned.

But because the family couldn’t find the “Trägerweg” trail leading to the hut at first, they wandered in circles for some time before finally discovering the intended turnoff. The rest of the ascent along the high-alpine hiking trail proved to be more challenging and exhausting for the family than expected.

Then the weather took a turn
Although the family had checked a weather forecast that predicted the weather would improve around noon, the five of them had no luck there either: Instead, the cloud cover lowered, and at times heavy rain showers accompanied by strong winds swept through. Despite having rain gear with them, the family ran out of energy after about seven hours of hiking, and around 4:30 p.m. they contacted the lodge owner, who set the rescue chain in motion.

Rescue by Helicopter
The two girls were already showing clear signs of hypothermia. The family of five was eventually brought down to the valley by two rescue helicopters.