“The Watzmann calls” is the name of a legendary album by the Austrian trio of friends Ambros, Tauchen, Prokopetz, which was later expanded into a musical. In it, the one calling is appropriately sung: “Watzmann, Watzmann, mountain of fate”. That was in 1974, but of course the Watzmann still calls. And some who listen to it, literally tempt their fate. Two men from Munich have been called by the Watzmann these days, who are described by the always friendly mountain rescue service in Ramsau as “highly motivated” and “adventurous”. In this case, the Ramsau mountain rescue service came into play fairly quickly, but at the same time certainly not too early.
The mountain rescue service was not called by the Watzmann himself. Instead, the integrated control center in Traunstein had the two mountaineers on the phone, one of whom was apparently also a beginner who was just undertaking his very first mountain tour. After all, he had recently acquired crampons with him. But the fact that this young mountaineering career should start with the Watzmann crossing, and that in the middle of winter, is actually described as “adventurous” much too friendly. In any case, the two mountain friends didn’t even get up to the Watzmannhaus before they got lost in the fog and blowing snow.
In the first telephone conversation with the Traunstein control center, however, they only wanted to ask the mountain rescue service for advice and also to feel what a rescue from the mountain would cost them. This is what the Bavarian Red Cross in Berchtesgadener Land has now reported. The battery of the mobile phone also caused problems in the cold, and so in the end the two stray victims preferred to be rescued right away. However, the visibility was too poor for the helicopter, so the rescuers fought their way up through the snow with vehicles and on foot. The two mountaineers should follow their own tracks back down for so long, also in order not to cool down completely. At the climate station of the Berchtesgaden National Park, they finally met the rescuers, freezing. Everyone involved can only be happy that they didn’t even make it up near the Watzmanngrat, which is particularly dangerous in winter.