Story trail station 6

Death in the mountains

Life in the mountains is dangerous, but the technological progress of the 20th and 21st centuries has improved alpine rescue services enormously. One of the first missions of the Ausseerland Mountain Rescue Service, which was founded shortly after the end of the war in 1945, shows just how difficult mountain rescues used to be.
On February 7th, 1946, two Upper Austrians set off on skis for the Loserhütte. After spending the night, they continued their tour towards the Wildenseehütte at 14.00. The hut owner warned them of bad weather, but fate took its course.
On February 16, the two were reported missing in Linz. The mountain rescue service was alerted by telegram and on the same day several mountain rescuers climbed up, but without success. The large-scale searches of the following weeks were also unsuccessful.
On March 28th, the search was resumed after a period of precipitation with up to 4 meters of fresh snow. At 15.00, a ski tip was discovered sticking out of the snow near the "Rauchfang", the missing persons were dug out and identified.
The rescue work was stopped before nightfall and a day of rest had to be taken at the Appelhaus due to the exertions. On March 30th and 31st, the two rescuers were finally brought to the Loserhütte and then to Altaussee under difficult conditions.

Left: The route of the missing persons. In the Totes Gebirge, you are well advised not to leave the paths and to avoid bad weather.

Loserhütte - Wildensee
With modern equipment, local knowledge or good navigation and in good snow conditions, the tour still takes about 4 to 6 hours.