Both alpinists slipped on a snowfield, police said. The 30-year-old had the accident in St. Jakob in Defereggen, the 53-year-old in Virgen. The injured were both rescued by emergency helicopter and flown to the Innsbruck clinic and the Lienz hospital.
30-year-old fell regarding 50 meters into a gully
The 30-year-old had set out from the Kasseler Hut in South Tyrol with his brother and father. Ultimately, they wanted to get to the Parm Hut. The accident occurred when the three hikers passed a snowfield around ten metres wide on the rope-secured path to the Rosshornscharte. The 30-year-old had been walking between his two family members at the time. The man fell around 50 metres into a gully filled with rocks and snow, where he remained injured. The father set the rescue chain in motion. The German was rescued with a cable winch.
53-year-old crashed into stone
The Austrian, on the other hand, had been on his way from the Bergerseehütte towards the Lasörlinghütte. On the descent towards Bergertörl, the man slipped despite wearing so-called Grödel – snow chains for hiking boots. After around 20 to 30 metres, the 53-year-old hit a stone and briefly lost consciousness. When he came to, he alerted the rescue services. Due to bad weather, the emergency helicopter might not land directly at the scene of the accident. The mountain rescue team therefore took the injured man to the helicopter.