One of the most thrilling rescues in the Karwendel is the
rescue of two German climbers in June 1979 on the 900mtrs high
Lalidererwand. It is a story told over and over and shows the Karwendel
has, beside its friendly appearance, also a dangerous character.
On 15 June 1979,
Wolfgang Grunenberg and Hubert Wehrs planned to climb the Lalidererwand
via the popular Schmid-Krebs-Route. In June there is still a lot of snow in
the shadow areas, specially on the north side, making the climb the two
Germans tried more risky than it would have been in August or September.
Also the weather did not look good, as it often is in June. Cumulus clouds drift
slowly over the Karwendel and also the radio-forecast was not good. But
both were experienced climbers and trusted their skills. Also they
carried a sleeping-bag, just in case. The tour is indicated as being 7-12
hours (but also done in 5) and on top there is a small cabin for
shelter during the night. So they hooked together and started the climb. At
first all goes well, the chimney and the Krebsrisse (IV), the most risky
parts, are taken without taken without trouble although drops of rain
are felt. At the Pfeilerkopf, it's 2 o'clock, and they decide to wait and
see how the weather turns out. Soon it is pouring with rain and lightning
shoots through the air, followed by mighty echoing thunders. In these
conditions the Lalidererwand becomes alive and hell on earth. Streams
and stones come down everywhere. Around 6 o'clock in the evening they realize
they
are trapped and start shouting for help, 6 times a minute according
alpine emergency signals. Slowly the rain turns into snow. More by
co-incidence, they are heard by someone in front of the Falkenhutte. He
warns the huttenwirt (hut warden), who was by good custom informed by the two
climbers about their tour, so he knows they are on the Schmid-Krebs-route
as no other climbers were present. And he also knows what it is like
when the Lalidererwand becomes alive. He sends out an alarm to the berg-rescue
group in Seefeld. In the same night a rescue team is assembled. As an
helicopter cannot be used in these conditions, they are driven to Kastenalm
in the Hinterautal. From this side the climb to the cabin is much
easier and can be done in 5 hours when the conditions are good. But
these man have to travel in awesome weather, through fresh snow and with
the burden of the rescue materials. They carry two 800mtr steel cables,
each weighing 100kg! Also two 100mtr cables as the Lalidererwand is
900mtrs high. For rescues in the Karwendel 800mtr cables are specially
made as the Karwendel has many high walls. In those cases connected
cables tend to get stuck between rocks and won't move up or down. In
the afternoon the rescue team reaches the edge, wet to the skin and
exhausted. However they immediately try to get a fix for the cable,
which is difficult on the edge as it mainly consists of loose rocks.
Using more cables, fixed on several places, they are finally ready to
start the descent. Fritz Popella goes down first, the weather is still
the same, with clouds hanging against the Lalidererwand giving rain and
snow. Visibility is almost zero. There is no answer to their calls, the
Lalidererwand seems to absorb them. Halfway down the wall Fritz gives the
sign to take him up again as he did not see or hear anything. It takes three
hours to get him up. Next, more to the east, Otto Neuhauser goes down. He
goes down further but the only responses he gets from his cries are the
sounds of stones and water coming down. As the people on the edge are too
tired to get him up in due time, Otto Neuhauser decides to descend
further to the Falkenhutte, depressed. The man on the top cannot get
the cable up again and it becomes useless for further attempts. They go
to the cabin for the night. Without this cabin, which has nine
sleeping places with blankets, the rescue attempt would not have been
possible. The two climbers have to stay another night on the
Lalidererwand, without real protection against rain and cold. As this
rescue attempt has failed, a second team is assembled, with a third
800mtr cable, and they are on their way. It is still raining and snowing and
they
have to get to the edge in the same conditions as the first group. The
Lalidererwand now is covered with snow and ice and frightens even the
most experienced climbers. When the second team arrives another try by
the first team has failed and the second cable is lost as well. The
second team holds Laliderer expert Walter Spitsensatter. He immediately
sees that the first group was too far to the west as they did not know
the exact path of the Schmid-Krebs-route. He determines the point for
the next try. At that moment on some places there was 3 meters of new
snow! When Walter Spitsensatter descends he has to cut ice from the
wall to prevent it cutting the cable and breaking loose, with
him below. 200mtrs down he is unsure, is he still too far to the west?
Visibility is less than 50 meters, so orientation, even for an
experienced climber its extremely difficult, if not impossible. He uses rocks
to get more to the east. Sometimes he suddenly falls 2-3 meters when the
cables get loose from a rock. When he yells he only gets the echo from
the wall. When it is 7 o'clock in the evening, Walter Spitsensatter hears a
sound
that does not seem to come from the wall. He goes more east and yells again.
Then the answer comes! Walter now can see the red sleeping bag. He has
found them! But he is now 50mtrs too far east, now cursing his decision to
go more east. If he had not gone east, he would have come exactly to the
right spot. He starts giving directions to the two so they can meet. He will
descend and go more west, and they should descend and go more east. Soon he
sees it is of no use. The two are not able to get closer to him and he
can not reach them. Then it is 8pm, and too late for another try.
"Can you hold on another night." he yells to them. "Yes, we can." is the
reply from Grunenberg. Walter Spitzensatter descends to the Falkenhutte,
remembering a tragedy on the North Wall of the Eiger in similar conditions.
Then, the climbers were dead the next day. In the Falkenhutte he hears
that the people on the edge could not get the third cable up and it was
lost as well. Three days after the two climbers got into trouble, the
fourth cable is brought up, and still it is raining and snowing. Now
Klaus Hoi and Werner Sucher descend with a new system. They have 40mtr
climbing cable connected to the steel cable. Therefore they are much more
free than the earlier rescuers. After two hours they reach Wolfgang
Grunenberg and Hubert Wehrs. Both are completely exhausted. They are
fixed to the steel cable and the descent to the bottom starts. At 3pm they reach
the bottom. Hubert Wehrs is too exhausted to walk and has to be
carried to the Falkenhutte. The largest rescue operation in the
Karwendel had a happy ending. Over 200 people participated in this
rescue.
Although the Karwendel is generally a friendly mountain area, each year people (including hikers) are killed as they over estimate their capabilities, take too much risk, or don't know when to turn back! In June 1994 a hiker, at the foot of the Lamsenspitze, slipped in an easy pass on the snow, slide down 100mtrs, hit a rock and was instantly killed.