Fatal accident in the Karwendel: 29-year-old swept away by avalanche - mountain rescue service warns of danger
Created: 04/15/2022, 20:26
By: Josef Hornsteiner
Mountain rescue comrades climb down the support of the Karwendelbahn to rescue the missing person (left).
The salvage site on the right.
© Bergwacht Mittenwald
A 29-year-old wanted to climb the western Karwendelspitze on Maundy Thursday.
He was killed by an avalanche that he had triggered himself.
The mountain rescue service now urgently warns of the winter dangers in the mountains.
Mittenwald
– He was well equipped.
Left on time.
He had his cell phone with him.
But nobody is prepared for the forces of nature.
A 29-year-old man from Bavaria wanted to walk from the valley station of the Mittenwald Karwendelbahn to the western Karwendelspitze on Maundy Thursday.
He should never get there.
He was probably killed by an avalanche that he triggered himself around noon.
The Mittenwald mountain rescue service is now again urgently warning against undertaking mountain tours in areas that are still snow-covered on the Easter weekend and in the weeks that follow - the dangers are enormous.
The young man parked his car at the valley station of the Karwendelbahn early Thursday morning and went up the Karwendelsteig alone.
He sent his father pictures of his mountain tour at regular intervals.
He received the last photo of his son at 11:32 a.m.
It shows the young man on the Gamseck (1717 meters) enjoying the sun during a short break.
About half an hour later he released an avalanche above this last photo spot, which tore him down 300 meters through a rocky area.
He must have been dead on the spot.
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Mountain rescue comrades climb down the support of the Karwendelbahn to rescue the missing person.
© Bergwacht Mittenwald
Emergency services took the Karwendelbahn because no helicopter was available
In the late afternoon, the father made an emergency call after hearing nothing from the 29-year-old.
The police then issued a missing persons report.
At 9:15 p.m., the control center alerted the Mittenwald mountain rescue service.
A total of 15 mountain rescue comrades and a member of the Alpine Task Force (AEG) immediately set off.
Since all the helicopters were otherwise involved in operations, three employees of the Karwendelbahn helped bring the emergency services upstairs with the cabin.
They used lamps to look for fresh footprints in the snow.
The police also called the emergency services.
Careful rescue: emergency services fetch the casualty with the Karwendelbahn.
© Bergwacht Mittenwald
Two mountain rescuers, who had gone below the Mittenwalder Hütte on the trail in the direction of the Viererspitze, noticed a relatively fresh avalanche cone above the Arzgrube around 11 p.m.
They searched the area more closely.
Shortly thereafter, they discovered the 29-year-old, almost completely buried under the masses of snow.
The emergency services roped down to the casualty in rough terrain and shoveled him free.
But any rescue came too late.
Since they could no longer salvage the body in the dark, they laid it down just below the cable car.
On Good Friday at 9.30 a.m., the mountain rescuers, together with three members of the police’s alpine task force, finally brought the casualty down into the valley.
The commitment and what is seen gnaw at the volunteers.
They themselves always risk their lives in such salvage operations.
Once again, Mittenwald's on-call manager, Heinz Pfeffer, urges alpine athletes to use common sense.
"You must not underestimate the current dangers on the mountain in any way." The sunshine and warm weather have softened the snow cover over the past few days and made it slippery.
The avalanche danger is exorbitantly high.
This is also shown by the scene of the accident: the avalanche that carried away the 29-year-old should have gone off around noon.
"At 7 p.m., another avalanche was spotted in the same place," says Pfeffer.
This is how it currently looks in all other areas in the Karwendel area.
So now, in light of the Easter holidays, he hopes that people will only go there
where there is no danger of avalanches.
"Better safe than sorry."
You can find more current news from the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen at Merkur.de/Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
