One can certainly speak of a miracle: A Belgian hiker who had been missing in the Tyrolean Karwendel Mountains since Thursday was discovered alive and rescued during a search operation in the so-called Vomper Loch on Sunday morning, suffering from severe hypothermia. The rescue was achieved practically at the very last moment.
He spent the night of All Souls’ Day in the winter room of the Lamsenjochhütte and sent photos to his brother in Belgium. He was last seen in the Lamsenjoch area on November 2nd – by two French alpinists. Then the 55-year-old, who had set off from Scharnitz to cross the Karwendel on October 29th, apparently disappeared without a trace. He no longer contacted his brother and did not return to Belgium on Saturday as announced. So the brother called the police in Schwaz on Saturday evening. Fresh snow made the search more difficult. A large night-time search operation was immediately started. While the Scharnitz mountain rescue service searched the Karwendel from the west, 18 Schwaz mountain rescuers combed Lamsenjoch and Vomper Loch. “There was 30 centimeters of fresh snow around the Lamsenjoch hut, so the nighttime operation was demanding,” says Fred Wallenta, head of the mountain rescue service in Schwaz and the surrounding area. At 4:30 a.m. the search had to be stopped without results. The body temperature was only 32 degrees. Around two hours later, the mountain rescuers made a new attempt – supported by the Libelle Tirol police helicopter. Pilot Walter Strolz set off on a search flight into Vomper Loch with two mountain rescuers. And indeed: the completely soaked Belgian was crouched around 1,100 meters between the hunting lodge and the Lochhüttl. He managed to get the rescuers’ attention. “He was unresponsive, had a foot injury and his body temperature was only 32 degrees,” says Wallenta. “The man was shaking from top to bottom.” The dragonfly was able to land on the victim and then flew the 55-year-old to the mountain rescue heliport in Schwaz. The rescue team was already waiting there and took him to the hospital. “The well-equipped hiker was supported by a guardian angel. He probably wouldn’t have survived the next few hours,” believes Wallenta. The experienced mountain rescuer wonders whether the foot injury was the reason why the Belgian got into trouble in the mountains. “Probably not, because on the route between Lamsenjoch and Vomper Loch he could have descended to the Karwendelrast in an emergency. Two search missions in one week “There is no longer the time for such a Karwendel crossing,” warns Wallenta. No wonder: last Tuesday A young German woman also got into trouble in the mountains on a similar tour. The Schwaz mountain rescue service found the woman uninjured in the Halleranger area after a search operation. “Someone will help me.” Wallenta explains that there are still hikers in the area in November the trend of the times. “People expect a lot because they believe that someone will help them in an emergency,” he criticizes. The pictures and reports on social media would always attract more people to the mountains. The consequence : a dramatic increase in the number of missions for the mountain rescuers. 100 instead of 10 missions per year “I have been the local branch manager in Schwaz for 25 years. We used to have around ten missions in strong years. Up to 100 missions a year are now almost normal,” he says. Finding the required number of volunteer rescuers is not easy. No cell phone network in Vomper Loch: “That’s where the cat belongs!” By the way, Wallenta warns against relying on your cell phone in an emergency in Vomper Loch. “It used to be said that anyone who got into trouble in the Vomper Loch was dead,” says Wallenta. This saying actually still applies because there is no functioning cell phone network there. In any case, the Belgian had all the luck in the world on his side.
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