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Member of the Bavarian Mountain Rescue Service
Photo: Angelika Warmuth / dpa
Hiking is trendy – and more and more people are going on excursions into the mountains in winter too.
But with snow and ice, even simple paths can become deadly.
An unusually large number of deaths while hiking and more avalanche deaths than in previous years: This was the balance drawn on Friday in Bad Tölz by the Bavarian mountain rescue service and the avalanche warning service at the end of the winter season.
Four people died in avalanches, the highest number in the past decade - two of them were hikers.
In addition, 19 hikers and climbers died in accidents, a new record.
Many hikers would not have the equipment they need for winter conditions – ice axes and crampons, or at least Grödeln as a slimmed-down version of crampons.
Again and again there is a lack of awareness of dangers and the competence to behave accordingly, said the deputy state manager of the Bavarian mountain rescue service, Jürgen Bummer.
With around 5,500 missions, the mountain rescue service had to go out more frequently from the beginning of December to the end of April than in the previous season, but as often as before the Corona period.
The lifts were running again in the ski areas – this is where most accidents occurred.
3500 skiers and 725 snowboarders needed help.
wit/dpa
