Climbing
A hiking trip involving two 21-year-olds from Germany has tragically ended with what police believe to be the death of one of the men in the Telfs region of Austria. The two young men had set out on a hike from the parking lot of the “Rauthhütte” in Telfs toward “Hohe Mund” on Thursday, October 3. The Hohe Munde is a 2,662-meter-high (8,734-foot) mountain in Tyrol north of Telfs.
Around 2 p.m., one of the hikers decided to turn around due to snowfall, while the other hiker decided to keep ascending towards the summit. The latter reached the summit of the Hohe Munde around 3:40 p.m. but sent out a voice message to his friend shortly after, around 3:55 p.m., asking for his friend to send out an emergency call. The young man had slipped and fallen and suffered unspecified injuries.
Mountain rescue teams were dispatched immediately, but due to the weather conditions, a helicopter rescue was not possible, and 27 mountain rescue members Leutasch had to set out on foot to find the 21-year-old. Mountain Rescue established phone contact with the injured hiker but could not locate the man. The members searched the area until 9 p.m. when the search had to be abandoned due to poor visibility and inclement weather.
On Friday, October 4, the search was continued for the injured hiker. In the morning, the helicopter was again unable to fly in the foggy and snowy conditions, and the ground search had to be halted. In the afternoon, the search continued on foot and by air, and the helicopter spotted a lifeless body on the east side of the Hohe Munde peak around 4 p.m. The search and rescue team on the ground could not descend to the person due to the risk of falling. The police helicopter then tried several times to rescue the lifeless person without success. Due to the weather conditions (snow, fog, and wind), the rescue effort had to be abandoned, and it is hoped his body will be recovered on Saturday, October 5. While his death has not been officially confirmed, the Tyrol police are treating this at this stage as a recovery operation rather than a search and rescue.
