Sign located quotLast dropquot when looking for climbers

Sign located: "Last drop" when looking for climbers

Updated on 09/22/2022, 16:50

  • Rescue teams in the Berchtesgaden Alps have a new lead on the missing climber’s whereabouts.
  • A signal was received with a special technique by positioning a helicopter from a rock in the search area.
  • It was “the last straw in today’s quest”.

You can find more panorama themes here

After a new tip, rescuers in the Berchtesgaden Alps have resumed the search for a climber who had an accident on Thursday afternoon. A police spokesman said the signal was received with a special technique by positioning a helicopter from a rock in the search area. The helicopter must therefore once again bring rescue teams from the mountain to the Hochkalter area near Ramsau to search for the 24-year-old. “This is the final straw in today’s quest,” the spokesman said.

Location technology reacts to semiconductors and reflectors

Mountain rescuers initially gave up the search for the young man from Lower Saxony because of the great danger. The helicopter then flew over the search area for the last time and picked up the signal, he said. What triggered the signal was not initially clear. The tracking technology reacts to semiconductors and reflectors, like those sewn into some outer jackets.

The 24-year-old made an emergency call on Saturday because he had slipped in a snowstorm just below the summit of the 2,607-metre-high Hochkalter near Ramsau near Berchtesgaden and was barely able to keep his grip on the steep terrain. and slippery. After several phone calls, contact was interrupted.

Search canceled several times because of great danger to rescuers

Due to adverse conditions, the search operation started had to be temporarily stopped. Rescuers waited in the valley for days, ready for action, until a helicopter with a special locating probe could finally take off on Wednesday. As a result, at least the young man’s backpack was found. A Bundeswehr Eurofighter was also deployed, supporting rescuers with positioning technology and high-resolution aerial photography.

But as these gave no indication of the missing person’s whereabouts, three mountain rescue teams and mountain police guides searched the steep ravine and rocks above and below the site with avalanche probes and electronic locating devices on Thursday. During the search, they were held by ropes and, because of the adverse conditions and the alpine terrain, they had both ice axes – they are special pickaxes – and emergency equipment for avalanches. (dpa/mgb)