The Gmunden mountain rescue service in Austria had to fetch a 44-year-old from the mountain at night and in heavy rain. The man was walking barefoot. Now he’s facing a big bill.
A 44-year-old man from the Ried district in Austria drew the ire of mountain rescuers because he climbed the Traunstein without shoes. The man, who said he always hiked barefoot, was severely hypothermic in the cold, wet weather and lost his bearings in the darkness. “Heute.at” reports.
As the Gmunden mountain rescue service reports, it was called into action at around 9 p.m. The barefoot hiker was about 1,100 meters high on the Mairalmsteig and could no longer go any further.
Six mountain rescuers then attempted the ascent in heavy rain and reached the man at around 10:30 p.m. Despite their efforts to offer him mountain boots, the man refused. According to the mountain rescue service, the descent took around two hours due to the lack of footwear. According to “Heute.at”, the man will probably have to pay between 2,500 and 3,000 euros in mountain rescue fees for this operation. According to the mountain rescuers, an hour of mountain rescue costs around 500 euros, and even double that at night.
The rescuers noticed that more and more hikers are walking barefoot. “This is a trend,” a mountain rescuer confirmed to “Heute.at”. A dangerous trend, as the rescue workers warn. Not only because it puts the individual hiker in danger, but also because the mountain rescue teams find themselves in dangerous situations.
The fact that the mountain rescue service is called to strange rescue missions is not an isolated case. Just last Sunday, the Bavarian mountain rescue service had to fetch young people from the mountain who were taking drugs in the mountain hut. As a result, they were no longer able to manage the descent alone.
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