Living out his passion for mountains, he got lost and rescued

It was on a sunny autumn day that two team members of Kempinski Hotel Berchtesgaden couldn’t resist going for a hike. The hotel is located in the middle of the Bavarian Alps with breath-taking hiking paths. They chose that day to target the top of the Hoher Göll, a traditional climb for local hikers. On their way back, the most experienced one returned via the same path, while the 21-year-old team member decided to follow another mountain trail. As he progressed, frozen snow covered his path inch by inch, at the same time as night started to fall. The young man was trapped, alone with mobile batteries that had run out of power. There was no alternative but to fold himself into a murky ice-cold hole cut into the wall of the mountain, with just a space to light a brushwood fire. There he spent freezing times in pitch-black darkness. Numbed at sunrise, he struggled to climb his way back to the very spot where he split from his colleague the day before. Somehow he missed the path and got lost, again. Completely stranded, he yelled for help. Luckily, the young man was not the only hiker in the vicinity, he was heard and rapidly helped. A helicopter from Berchtesgaden’s Bergwacht saved him, but not before rescuers had to descend more than 300 metres to free him from his hot position. A human venture he probably will never forget.