Heat and Drought

No Water on the Alpine Pasture: Rescue Operation for Calves

A 738-PS helicopter from KitzAir in Kitzbühel flew to the Hochlecken nine times, transporting 7,000 water in containers up the mountain.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Lublasser, Stadler)

Where alpine meadows and plenty of water usually await the animals, a state of emergency prevails during this hot summer. At Hochlecken in Upper Austria, a helicopter recently had to fly in 7,000 liters of water to supply the calves. Why the fire department, mountain rescue, and farmers had to join forces—the “Krone” has all the details.  

Since mid-June, the eight calves belonging to the Lublasser (“Dickerl”) and Zopf (“Feichtinger”) farming families from Steinbach am Attersee have been grazing below the Hochleckenhaus. For decades, it has been a tradition for the animals to spend the summer on this popular hiking mountain. When they’re herded up or down, half the town is usually out on the streets.

Normally, the collected rainwater lasts without any problems until mid-September—then the animals are escorted back down to the valley via the hiking trail.

This year, however, things are completely different: Due to the persistent heat and severe drought, the rainwater reserves had long since been depleted.

Normally, the water supply lasts through the entire summer.(Bild: Christoph Lublasser)

(Bild: Christoph Lublasser)

Landlady initially provided for the cows
Farmer and Deputy Mayor Albert Zopf, who owns six of the eight calves, told the “Krone”: “We were lucky at first because the landlady at the Hochleckenhaus took care of the animals. She gave them water that was actually intended for the restaurant. But at some point, that stopped working. They can’t exactly close off the restrooms at the Hochleckenhaus.”

It could have become a major danger if there hadn’t been any water left. In 1993, it was so dry that a helicopter had to be flown in.

Landwirt Albert Zopf, Steinbach

Bild: Gemeinde Steinbach/Attersee

An extra-heavy-duty helicopter transported 7,000 liters of water
At first, the residents of Steinbach considered transporting the water to the 1,572-meter-high Hochlecken via the material cable car. But they quickly abandoned that plan. “We then applied to the agricultural authorities for support so that we could get a helicopter for the transport,” says Zopf.

In the village, water containers were organized at the Leube concrete plant and from local farmers, then filled by the fire department and mountain rescue. 

A 738-PS helicopter from KitzAir in Kitzbühel made nine flights to the Hochlecken, ...(Bild: Stefan Stadler)

Using a particularly powerful Ecureil AS 350 B3+ (738 PS) from KitzAir, 7,000 liters of water were finally delivered to the mountain in nine rotations within 43 minutes.

Young farmer Christoph Lublasser set out for the mountain at 4 a.m. on Thursday to check on the animals. “Everything is fine with the calves,” he reported back down to the valley.

Young farmer Christoph Lublasser has calves on the Hochlecken. Two days after the helicopter mission, he hiked up to the animals early in the morning to make sure everything was in order.(Bild: Robert Loy)

One minute of flight time costs 28 euros net. Funding has been approved.