From a height of around 2,250 meters, emergency services rescued a 19-year-old on the wintry Watzmann southern tip with a police rescue helicopter. The holidaymaker from Finland was initially traveling with three other hikers on Sunday, as the Bavarian Red Cross announced on Tuesday. While the rest of the group turned back after the Grieshütte in Ramsau near Berchtesgaden (Berchtesgadener Land district), the young man wanted to return to the valley via the Watzmann.
With temperatures around freezing point, he was dressed in sneakers, sweatpants and a sweater. The three made an emergency call out of concern for the 19-year-old. Emergency services were unable to reach the missing man by telephone; the police helicopter then discovered him with a thermal imaging camera and headlights and brought him into the valley. A total of 17 mountain rescuers and the Bavarian police’s three-person helicopter crew were on duty. The cost of the operation was initially not known.