During their search for the 24-year-old who had an accident on the Hochkalter on Saturday and has been missing since then, the mountain rescuers from Ramsau and Berchtesgaden found the young man’s backpack late on Wednesday afternoon. Since the 2,607 meter high mountain was again and again surrounded by dense clouds on Wednesday, it was initially not possible to fly further emergency services to the mountain to search for the missing person.
Already in the morning, a mountain rescuer in the police helicopter over the Hochkalter suddenly heard a signal that could have been a sign of hope: the so-called Recco buoy under the helicopter, which can also locate electronic components in addition to special reflectors in outdoor clothing, had struck .
But in the morning it was not the mobile phone or the notebook of the 24-year-old who had slipped in a snowstorm at an altitude of around 2500 meters, which had reflected the signal from the buoy. Instead, two mountain rescuers, who were lowered by the helicopter with the cable winch on the steep slope, initially only dug out the remains of a weather balloon and electronics from the deep fresh snow.
Only many hours later did the rescuers find the backpack, but not the missing person themselves, with whom they had last had telephone contact on Saturday evening. The dramatic search operation under the most adverse weather conditions, in which dozens of mountain rescuers took part, became a race against time – with an open end. Only on Wednesday did the weather finally allow longer search flights.
In the valley, other members of the Ramsau and Berchtesgaden mountain rescue services were ready all day and from midday also a large transport helicopter from the federal police, which could have taken them up the mountain immediately. Climbing up on foot to look for the missing person would, according to the operations manager, hardly have promised success in view of the icy rock, the snow cover up to three meters high in places and the high risk of avalanches, but rather continued to put the mountain rescuers themselves in danger.