A 47-year-old Lower Austrian had a fatal accident on Tuesday at the Hochtor in the Ennstal Alps. The hiker is likely to have slipped on the descent and fell around 200 meters over steep, rocky terrain. A police helicopter found the dead Monday morning.
The 47-year-old from the Amstetten (Lower Austria) district went on a hike alone on Tuesday to the so-called Hochtor in the Johnsbach community (Liezen district). At 2369 meters above sea level, the Hochtor is the highest mountain in the Ennstal Alps. The Lower Austrian probably slipped on the descent in about 2000 meters. He did not survive the fall over 200 meters of steep Schrofen terrain.
When he did not return home that evening, his wife filed a notice of absence. A search operation was initiated during the night, which had to be aborted unsuccessfully at around 2 a.m. The search was resumed Wednesday morning. A crew of the police helicopter was able to see the lifeless body of the 47-year-old at around 7 a.m. The body was removed from the site using rope.
34 mountain rescuers (several local offices) including two search dogs, six alpine police officers and two police helicopters were involved in the operation.