Historically few mountain deaths, the same number of accidents, but more use on via ferratas and mountain biking: That is the balance of the German Alpine Club for the Corona year 2020.
Munich – tears flow. The strength is not enough. And the handles are way too far away. The little boy hangs in the Rio Sallagoni via ferrata in the mountains of Lake Garda and does not appear – and neither does it come back.
With good persuasion and with combined forces, father and mother push the little one back. You can reach the exit without assistance. But more and more often, mountain rescuers have to move out to get overwhelmed children and young people out of via ferrata. This is shown by the mountain accident statistics of the German Alpine Club (DAV) 2020 presented in Munich on Wednesday.
The number of emergencies and accidents in the Corona year 2020 only increased in the trend sports climbing and mountain biking. The death toll was even at an all-time low.
Appeals for restraint followed
The year and with it the number of accidents were “clearly marked by Corona,” said Lukas Fritz from DAV security research. “It is likely that many people have taken the Alpine clubs’ appeals to restraint seriously.” The concern that the pandemic-induced rush to the mountains could cause the accidents to skyrocket has not been confirmed, at least among the DAV members in 2020, said Speaker Thomas Bucher. But it was “an unusual year” in every respect.
28 DAV members died in the mountains in 2020 – half as many as in the previous year (56), but in which there were an unusually high number of deaths. At the same time, it is the lowest absolute number since the first statistics were published in 1952, although the association, with just under 1.4 million today, has a good ten times the number of members.
The downside: This year, for which the DAV does not yet have any figures, the police in southern Upper Bavaria reported the high number of 33 fatalities – in the entire past year it was 34. The autumn with its hiking season is still ahead this year, said the spokesman of the Police Headquarters Upper Bavaria South, Stefan Sonntag. Many underestimated their performance or the dangers – at the same time, a lot of people are out and about in the mountains due to the pandemic.
Fewer emergencies and accidents expected in the long term
In the past two weeks alone, two people fell to their deaths on the Watzmann, first a 39-year-old, days later a 59-year-old. This week, the disaster above the Höllentalklamm shook people – a woman died when a tidal wave rushed through the gorge.
Overall, however, according to the DAV figures, the long-term trend of falling emergencies and accidents continued in almost all mountaineering disciplines last year. Most – twelve – fatal accidents happened while hiking. However, the hikers are by far the largest group of mountain sports enthusiasts. Statistically, the risk of having an accident while hiking is extremely low: a mountaineer has to hike every day for around 228 years before suffering an injury.
The lockdown and the closed borders in spring also played a role in the 2020 accident figures. This broke the ski touring season, which otherwise attracts ski tourers from March to May in the high mountains, for example in Austria or Switzerland.
Fewer accidents in winter, roughly the same numbers in summer, many missions with mountain bikers and an increase in missions with uninjured, blocked or needy people – these trends are also registered by Bergwacht Bayern.
Underrated climbing routes
According to the DAV statistics, more than half of the incidents on via ferrata were blockages that stuck the person concerned. A quarter of the cases involved falls. Via ferratas are sometimes underestimated, it was said. It cannot be proven whether, in view of the closed leisure facilities, some in search of something new ventured into a via ferrata without appropriate experience.
Among the mountain bikers, accidents in bike parks in particular resulted in increasing numbers. The proportion of accidents with e-bikes is surprisingly low at twelve percent. The conflict-prone coexistence of hikers and mountain bikers, which has already led to physical disputes, is not at least accident-prone: in 20 years, not a single collision has become known at the DAV.
The DAV only evaluates data of its members for the statistics – worldwide, accidents outside German borders are also included. dpa
