Alpine emergency call: Hikers have to spend the night on the mountain - spectacular rescue operation follows

Created: 07/10/2022 17:23

By: Kai Hartwig

In Switzerland, four climbers get into trouble on the Matterhorn.

Their rescue initially fails, then the mountain rescuers use a spectacular trick.

Zermatt – A hike on the Matterhorn has become a life-threatening drama for four mountaineers.

As the rescue organization Air Zermatt stated, the quartet was in distress on Thursday (July 7) in the Swiss part of the mountain.

In the evening of the same day, the four climbers, three adults and one teenager, made an emergency call.

But the mountain rescuers could not move out directly.

Matterhorn: Four climbers make an emergency call and have to spend the night on the mountain - wind prevents rescue

Because of the strong wind, a rescue operation on Thursday evening would have been too dangerous, Air Zermatt said.

And so the exhausted climbers had to spend the night on the Matterhorn.

The weather situation initially did not calm down on Friday.

Despite this, a member of the rescue crew was able to get through to the climbers.

Four climbers had to be rescued on the Matterhorn.

© Dominic Steinmann/dpa

Several attempts to bring the four people to safety with two different helicopters then failed due to the persistently strong wind.

The rescuers also had major problems because the gusts of wind blew away the rope on the helicopter.

It was only with a trick that the mountain rescuers were able to initiate the rescue despite the unsettled weather conditions.

They hung a weight of 50 kilograms on a 100 meter long rope, which is how the spectacular rescue of the four climbers finally succeeded.

According to Air Zermatt, they survived their rescue unharmed, but were exhausted.

However, no further information was given on the identity of the quartet.

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Matterhorn: Italian mountain rescue was only able to save two Swiss dead

A few days earlier, it had become clear how dangerous a tour around the 4,478 meter high mountain can be.

According to a statement from the Italian mountain rescue service on Tuesday (July 5), the bodies of two mountaineers from Switzerland were discovered on the Matterhorn.

The duo had not previously returned from their tour, which had alarmed mountain rescue.

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The two Swiss could only be rescued dead by helicopter at an altitude of around 3100 meters on the Cresta del leone (Lion's Crest).

The mountaineers who died in an accident probably fell during their tour, it said.

(kh)