Two Czech mountain hikers who wanted to descend from the Brunnkogel with two compatriots on a path that was far too difficult for them were hit by stones. A helicopter crew had to rescue the injured and their companions via Tau.
Four Czech friends aged 19, 42, 46 and 48 started their hike at 9 a.m. on Sunday at the Taferlklaussee car park to the Brunnkogel in the Höllengebirge (Neukirchen municipality). The ascent led them without any problems via the Hochleckenhaus to their destination, the summit of the Brunnkogels. To descend, they chose the Franz-Scheckenberger-Steig without further research, using a path drawn in a hiking app. This has climbing sections up to difficulty level II according to UIAA. Route was too difficult While two women, due to their mountain experience, would have been able to cope with the climb somehow, the 19-year-old and the 46-year-old (it was the first mountain tour for both of them) were with us overwhelmed by the technical climbing difficulties, which is why the four decided after about 200 meters of descent to go back up and down the normal route. Stone the size of a child’s head During this ascent, a rockfall occurred, whereby the 19-year-old was hit on the right forearm by a stone the size of a child’s head and was injured. Out of shock, the 42-year-old fell backwards and about ten meters down an extremely steep gravel gully. When she came to a standstill, she was hit in the forehead by a fist-sized stone. She suffered bruises all over her body and several lacerations. Helicopter deaf rescue They then notified the emergency services via an emergency call. Since it was unclear whether the location was in Ebensee or Neukirchen, both mountain rescue services were alerted. For a quick clarification and search, the helicopter of the “Libelle Upper Austria” flight police was also called in, which sighted the group and brought it to safety by means of a rope rescue. The injured were taken to the Gmunden Clinic by ambulance.
source site-12