A 24-year-old ice climber died on Saturday in an avalanche in Bad Gastein. He was about to enter the Federweißfall icefall roped together with his cousin when a powder snow avalanche came down.
The 24-year-old was in front and was dragged ca 200 meters and buried in 1 meters of snow. His cousin was not buried or seriously harmed. Other ice climbers saw the accident and called rescue services.
The buried man did not carry an avalanche transceiver. However, rescuers found him by following his rope after ca 15-20 minutes. Rescue personell attempted resuscitation, but they had to stop after an hour due to prevailing danger of more avalanches.
The dead body was carried to the valley. Rescue with helicopter was not possible due to strong winds.