According to the specialist, rescuers increasingly have to face situations where the preparation of vacationers completely does not correspond to the conditions of the high mountains. In particular, attempts to climb glaciers in light rubber footwear have been repeatedly recorded. This trend is largely conditioned by the influence of social networks, where video clips demonstrating a false ease of passing difficult routes are distributed.
The problem became the central theme of discussion during a working visit of Landtag member from the SPD Florian von Brunn to the rescue station in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in which the Burgomaster of Mittenwald, Enrico Corongiu, also took part.
Zöllner familiarized the guests with the work of the rescue station and openly outlined the current systemic difficulties. The key problem became the increase of the financial and bureaucratic burden on emergency services. Corongiu, who himself worked in rescue structures for many years, noted that the fulfillment of a larger volume of tasks is required from the units without adequate material reimbursement from the side of the state. Many functions are provided exclusively by the forces of volunteers, while real operational expenses are not covered in full. Obvious parallels are traced with the situation in Bavarian communities, which are also forced to co-finance state tasks from local budgets.
Von Brunn drew attention to the general indicators of the activity of units in the region, which testify to a colossal burden. Only in the zone of responsibility of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the rescue service carries out about 1 thousand trips a year, moreover, two-thirds of them fall on the winter ski period.
In the district as a whole, rescuers went out to help almost 2 thousand 700 times last year. Zöllner explained that, contrary to widespread cinematic representations, work does not come down merely to difficult operations with the involvement of helicopter technology. A multitude of calls is connected with the provision of emergency care to tourists during a worsening of well-being, physical exhaustion, or acute conditions such as heart attacks and strokes at high altitude.
Strict criteria of professional selection
The Landtag member expressed respect for the high requirements that are presented to voluntary rescuers in Bavaria. Candidates are obliged to withstand serious qualification tests — including skills of mountaineering on rock sections of the fourth category of difficulty, high-speed movement on skis across rough terrain, and confident management of heavy rescue sleds on difficult tracks of the Kandahar level. The head of the station confirmed that for successful certification, it is necessary to possess professional ski preparation close to the athletic level.
Serious anxiety for the management is caused also by the attraction of new cadres in the long-term perspective. Due to the closure of small ski resorts in the region, in the future it will become significantly more difficult to find trained skiers for work in the harsh conditions of high mountains. At the same time, the intensity of calls continues to grow at an outstripping pace. Mountain routes are becoming increasingly popular among the mass consumer, and people, orienting themselves by ideal frames from the internet, do not notice real natural dangers. Zöllner states that mountaineering is now experiencing a period of commercialization and mass infatuation.
The times have passed when the classical image of a climber was associated with traditional thick clothing and strict compliance with safety rules. Today, young people in new branded equipment frequently set out into the mountains exclusively for the sake of creating entertainment content for a multi-million audience. And unfortunately, often an attempt to catch hype ends in many-thousands of likes under an obituary.
During the visit, von Brunn expressed regret concerning the cancellation of the former alternative civil service, thanks to which many citizens for the first time became acquainted with the activity of rescue organizations and remained in them for long years.
Popular television series attract attention to work in the mountains, however, a false representation of the workdays of the service is formed in many candidates. Reality consists not of continuous flights, but of multi-hour duties under the open sky when ensuring safety at mass sports events and routine administrative work requiring high self-dedication.
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