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Vintl mountain rescue rescued four German holidaymakers from an unfortunate situation in the Puster Valley in South Tyrol (Italy). The images show the helicopter and a map of the region where the four got lost in the drifting snow. © Bergrettung Vintl
Four German hikers get lost in the Puster Valley and trigger a helicopter mission. The mountain rescue service says they can count themselves lucky.
Vals – climbing, biking, hiking – the beautiful South Tyrolean Puster Valley offers a wide range of activities in autumn. However, four hikers from Germany should have relied on snowshoes when storming the summit – and more time to prepare. The group from Saxony, aged around 50, got lost in the snowstorm on Wednesday evening (October 9th), triggering a helicopter mission.
Location sent via WhatsApp – great luck for South Tyrol hikers from Germany
According to the report from the Vintl mountain rescue service, they were Italy vacationers climbed up to the Wilden See via the Labeseben-Alm in adverse weather. They wanted to walk around it. Things got dangerous on the descent. The four always returned to their own tracks in the snow. They reported to the rescuers that their last clue was a fallen path sign with the time “1:40 to the Brixner Hütte”.
Via Whatsapp and Apple-Watch they were able to transmit their exact location. The mountain rescuers later made it clear how lucky they were. The fact that they had cell phone reception at that location was probably pure coincidence. Getting a signal for your cell phone is extremely rare in the surrounding area.
“Operation a real challenge”: South Tyrolean rescuers with clear words
In addition, the emergency call probably came just in time. In very overcast conditions, four mountain rescuers set off for the Labeseben-Alm at 5 p.m. Half an hour later, two more mountain rescuers drove to the Fanealm and were taken to the Wilden See in the Pelikan 2 helicopter. The dense fog (visibility 20 meters) initially prevented the flight from continuing.
At around 6.40 p.m., the helicopter team took advantage of a brief improvement in visibility to rescue all four hikers uninjured and bring them to the Fanealm. The four mountain rescuers who were still on the climb were able to turn back. “A challenge especially for the pilot,” explains the Vintl mountain rescue service IPPEN.MEDIA on Thursday morning. “The operation was a real challenge for ten mountain rescuers, but also especially for the P2 pilots, due to the weather conditions and the approaching darkness.”
Rescuer warning to hikers in the mountains
At 7:15 p.m., the hikers reported to the hotel on their way home, clearly relieved. But the mountain rescuers’ appeal should be a lesson to them. “An assessment of the weather“, the conditions (snow!!), tour planning and appropriate equipment (cold, darkness) are essential for every mountain tour.” Despite all the warnings, hikers still don’t listen. In Switzerland, holidaymakers wearing sweatpants and sneakers recently had to be fetched from a height of 3,500 meters by mountain rescue services.
How dangerous mountaineering can be in Italy was last seen in September, when a German vacationer disappeared and was only found dead days later.
