A 37-year-old woman from Salzburg and a 38-year-old man from Lower Austria had ascended from Arthurhaus to Hochkönig in the morning, intending to spend the night in the winter camp on the summit. Due to the low snow levels, the two had to carry their skis repeatedly, which slowed their progress.

Exhausted Tourers Discovered by Police Helicopter

At an altitude of about 2,740 meters, the woman lost a ski, which fell over rocky terrain and was blown away by the strong foehn wind. "Because they could not continue and were also very exhausted, they made an emergency call at 5:00 pm," described operation leader Stefan Koller from the Werfen mountain rescue team. Due to the poor mobile phone connection, the tourers could no longer be reached or located by the rescuers. A police helicopter spotted the two, but could not rescue them due to the storm.

Mountain Rescuers Safely Brought Athletes Down to the Valley

From Mitterfeldalm, mountain rescuers climbed about 1,000 meters in the dark to reach the two missing persons. They had dug a bivouac and were well equipped. With a spare ski and boot, the athletes were safely brought down to the valley. In total, 25 mountain rescuers from the Werfen, Mühlbach and Bischofshofen stations, two police helicopter teams, an alpine policeman and two policemen were on duty until midnight, the mountain rescue team announced in a press release.

(APA/Red)

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