Four young hikers knew that they were on the Naturfreundsteig when they alerted the mountain rescue service on Wednesday evening. They might no longer unanimously determine which route they had taken to climb. Whether they reached the plateau via the Hernlersteig or the Mairalmsteig didn’t matter in the end. Luckily they were rescued unharmed.
The young men from the Linz-Land district, aged between 17 and 21, had only set off towards the Traunstein summit at around 1.30 p.m. and obviously misjudged the ascent time.
It wasn’t until around 6:30 p.m. that they set off down the Naturfreundsteig into the valley. They didn’t have headlamps with them, so the light from their cell phones had to help. Shortly following 9 p.m., they lost their way at 1,020 meters above sea level and alerted the mountain rescue team.
The Gmunden mountain rescuers climbed around 600 meters and, following providing them with initial supplies of thermal jackets and drinks, led the boys back to the valley. The operation was over at midnight.
Information from the editors: To climb the Traunstein, you have to climb almost 1,400 meters in altitude on all paths. The average time to arrive at one of the two (still closed) huts is around three hours if you have enough fitness and experience. Allow another two to three hours for the descent. In Gmunden the sun currently sets at 6.30 p.m.
Author
Gabriel Egger
Editor Upper Austria
Gabriel Egger
