We were called out to a total of 5 incidents this weekend.
In the early hours of Saturday afternoon, a toboggan rider lost control of his sled on the descent from Siebenbrunnerwiese towards Preiner Gscheid and crashed into a tree. The person was so seriously injured that he had to receive emergency medical treatment on site. The Christophorus 3 helicopter that was requested was unable to reach the scene due to the wind conditions, therefore a mountain rescue emergency doctor from our local station and the emergency doctor from the Bruck-Mürzzuschlag Red Cross, who is also a trained mountain rescuer, provided care together with the comrades from our local station and the Reichenau mountain rescue team. The person was then transported to the Preiner Gscheid using an Akia and handed over to the Red Cross.
On Sunday morning, a person fell down around 200m in the "Grubbichl" area on the Schneealm due to the icy conditions and remained injured. Supported by the Neuberg mountain rescue team, the Christophorus 17 emergency helicopter was able to rescue the person and the accompanying person from the area using a rope.
In the early hours of Sunday afternoon, a ski tourer lost his footing in the large Karlgraben and slid several hundred meters down the steep, icy gully. The person tried to continue downhill himself. However, due to his injuries, this soon came to an end and the mountain rescue team was called. Together with comrades from Reichenau Mountain Rescue, the person was given first aid and has then been transported by the Christophorus 3 emergency helicopter using a rope.
Later on Sunday afternoon, we were informed by the country warning center that a pair of mountaineers were stuck in the Rax area. After consultation with the emergency callers by our operations management, the people were located and guided to the nearest hut. Due to the accessibility of the scene and the approaching darkness, it was decided to call in the Libelle Steiermark police helicopter for assistance, which also carried out the rescue.
While the people on the Rax were being rescued by Libelle Steiermark, we received another emergency call. Two mountaineers were in the winter room of the Karl-Ludwig-Haus and were no longer able to make the descent on their own due to the prevailing conditions in the upper part of the ascent, where there was mostly bare ice over long stretches. In the last light, the Libelle Steiermark was also able to bring these climbers safely down to the valley, saving our comrades a lengthy, terrestrial rescue!
Please take the current conditions into account when planning your tour! Crampons for ski tourers and crampons adapted to the footwear are currently part of the standard equipment of every mountaineer in the Rax/Schneealm area! Many thanks to all the emergency services for their perfect cooperation during all operations!
Red Cross Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Alpine Police Hochsteiermark
Helicoptercrews of Police Steiermark, Styria Christophorus 3, Christophorus 17
Mountain Rescue Reichenau
Mountain Rescue Neuberg
Ehrung für verdiente Mürzzuschlager Bergretter:
Sie blicken auf unzählige Einsätze, Übungen und natürlich auch Bergtouren zurück - die beiden Jubilare Karl Pretterhofer und Fritz Buchebner. Die aktiven Mürztaler Bergretter wurden im Rahmen der Weihnachtsfeier der Bergrettung Mürzzuschlag, welche in Altenberg an der Rax stattfand, für ihre 50-jährige ehrenamtliche Tätigkeit im Dienst der Alpinrettung geehrt.
Karl Pretterhofer, mit seinen 84 Jahren einer der ältesten noch aktiven Bergretter der Steiermark, war und ist jedoch nicht nur als Bergretter aktiv, auch beim Roten Kreuz versieht der rüstige Pensionist noch immer einen Nachtdienst pro Woche.
Fritz Buchebner, der in jungen Jahren zu den Top Alpinisten des Mürztales zählte, ist auch heute noch von der Rax bis zum Großglockner regelmäßig unterwegs.
Ortsstelleleiter Gerhard Haiden und Einsatzleiter Christoph Stritzl gratulierten, auch im Namen des bei der Weihnachtsfeier anwesenden Mürzzuschlager Bürgermeisters Karl Rudischer, den beiden junggebliebenen Bergrettern ganz herzlich und überreichten die Auszeichnungen der Landesleitung der Steirischen Bergrettung.
Winter - Einsatzübung der Bergrettung Mürzzuschlag auf der Rax
Zur bereits traditionellen Winter – Einsatzübung am Dreikönigstag trafen sich die Kameraden der Mürzzuschlager Bergrettung, diesmal bei traumhaften Wetterbedingungen, auf der steirischen Raxseite.
Es waren diesmal keine Schneemassen oder arktische Temperaturen, welche von den Alpinrettern besondere Leistungen abverlangten. Doch auch das Übungsprogramm konnte sich in seiner Vielfältigkeit sehen lassen. Denn der Aufbau eines Seilgeländers nach der aktuellen Lehrmeinung des Landesausbildungsteams stand im vereisten Felsgelände ebenso auf der Tagesordnung wie das Klettern mit Steigeisen auf einem Klettersteig oder die Interpretation eines Schneeprofiles.
Nach einer kurzen Pause im Winterraum des derzeit winterbedingt geschlossenen Karl Ludwig Hauses konnte dann auch noch die Versorgung und der Abtransport eines „verunfallten“ Tourengehers im Bereich der Heukuppenwächte, unweit des Gipfels, trainiert werden.
Landesausbildungsleiter Andi Steininger stellte sich für diesen Übungsteil als „Opfer“ zur Verfügung und wurde von seinen Kameraden bestens erstversorgt und sicher geborgen. Anschließend ging es gemeinsam in flotter Fahrt durch den Karlgraben zum Waxriegelhaus, wo die Abschlussbesprechung dieser abwechslungsreichen Winterübung stattfand.
On Friday 2 tourers made a ski tour from "Preiner Gschaid" to the summit of Rax. On the descent they lost contact due to dense fog. One of them reached the Karl-Ludwighaus and was able to contact his colleague by telephone, who reported that he was in an emergency situation and could neither go back nor forth. Thereupon he informed the emergency call centre via the emergency telephone in the KLH. Around 14:00 a search was initiated. The search had to be aborted around 20:30 due to bad weather and darkness. The tourer, who made the emergency call, was accompanied by the mountain rescue into the valley. He remained unharmed during the incident. On Saturday morning the search was continued, the missing man could unfortunately only be found dead at noon.
Area training in the Mürz valley away from rock and alpine terrain
Not only the increase in the number of search and recovery actions by mushroom searchers off the marked trails, but also the training with the relatively new digital radio technology was decisive for the programm for this year's Mürztaler area exercise, which took place this Saturday.
Therefore, the mountain rescuers from the villages of Kindberg, Neuberg an der Mürz, Veitsch and Mürzzuschlag moved away from their usual alpine environment.
The forest and meadow area between Scheibs- and Kindtalgraben high above the Mürztal valley offered the perfect training area to test the numerous functions of the digital radios as well as the GPS receivers. In addition, the alpine rescuers were sent in small groups across the partly almost impenetrable undergrowth in order to train search and recovery techniques especially for hikers who had lost their way on the marked trails.
The mountain rescue service was supported by the volunteer fire brigade in a proven way. The exercise, which was optimally prepared by the Kindberg local MR, did not require a sophisticated rope technique this time, but rather a somewhat unorthodox search strategy. Area manager Gerhard Holzer was thus able to convince himself that the four Mürztaler MR-teams also work well together outside the classic mountain rescue area.