Hiker falls on the Traunstein: Rescue successfully by helicopter!

Hiker falls on the Traunstein: Rescue successfully by helicopter!

This Wednesday, June 4, 2025, a dramatic incident occurred on the Traunstein, which gave up the mountain rescue in two missions. A 43-year-old hiker from Germany injured her ankle on the descent and had to be saved with the help of an emergency helicopter. According to 5min.at, the accident happened at around 2:20 p.m. near the "Bründl" at about 1,260 meters.

The injured hiker had risen in the morning at 8:30 a.m. via the Naturfreunde-Steig to the summit of the 1,691 meter high Traunstein and planned to return to the valley via the Mairalm-Steig. After their accident, subsequent hikers were able to alert the mountain rescue service via the alpine emergency call 140. An emergency helicopter was immediately requested to rescue the injured. Using a 30-meter-congestion rescue, it was secured by the helicopter and then flown to the Salzkammergut Clinic Gmunden.

simultaneous rescue operations on the Traunstein

Immediately after the hiking was used, the mountain rescue received a second alarm. This affected a 61-year-old German man who collapsed on the Mairalmsteig shortly after 2:00 p.m. after he had climbed to the summit for 2.5 hours. Despite the rapid intervention of passing by the mountaineers who got first aid and made the emergency call, the man could not continue independently. The emergency medical helicopter "Christophorus 10" from Hörsching concentrated on the rescue of the man, which was flown into the valley with a variable rope, as reported on bergrettung-gmunden.at.

In the meantime, an additional message came in: A 60-year-old woman from the Gmunden district was plagued by strong knee pain when relegation on the Mairalmsteig. A team of operations set off and was able to take the woman safely to the forest road in the Lainautal. It was released into home care.

a worrying trend

The events on the Traunstein are part of a worrying development that has led to increased operations of the mountain rescues in the past few weeks. So reported alpin.de about several serious accidents in the mountains, in which hikers fell into critical situations. These incidents, coupled with persistent weather changes, repeatedly lead to dangerous situations in the Austrian Alps.

For mountain rescue, it is clearly a challenging time in which quick reactions and efficient action are required. The incidents on the Traunstein show how important it is to always pay attention to your own security for mountain hikes and to call up help in the event of health problems.