Rescued

Boys Got Lost on an Adventure Trip

Rescue crews brought the teenagers down from the mountain.(Bild: Bergrettung Gmunden)

They were looking for adventure and then couldn’t find their way home. Two boys—ages 15 and 16—went for a hike in the wilderness after a day of swimming at Lake Traunsee in Upper Austria. However, the two then got lost and had to be rescued.

A 15-year-old from Linz and a 16-year-old from the Linz-Land district drove to Gmunden on Tuesday morning and went to the swimming spot at the end of Traunsteinstraße. After spending the day there, they sought a new challenge and followed the course of a dry stream bed. This path leads from the shore of Lake Traunsee, becoming increasingly steep as it heads west into the so-called Teufelsgraben, which ends in pathless, rocky, steep terrain.

Lost Their Way
Standing before the rock faces, they decided to climb further up to enjoy the view of the lake from above. But that wasn’t a good idea. At around 8:20 p.m., the 16-year-old finally called his father and explained that they were in a gorge near the Traunstein. However, they had lost their bearings and needed help. The 51-year-old father made an emergency call around 8:50 p.m., after which the mountain rescue team and the Gmunden Alpine Police were alerted.

Boys Were Stranded on Rocks
The two teenagers could no longer be reached by phone by the emergency responders. However, the 51-year-old was able to see the real-time location of his son’s cell phone and relay it to the emergency responders. The rescuers climbed up and were able to locate the two teenagers at 9:30 p.m., sitting on a ledge in the steep, unstable terrain. Since they were not carrying equipment suitable for the terrain, they were provided with helmets, headlamps, and climbing harnesses. They were rappelled down about 30 meters and brought down to the valley while secured on a “short rope.”