Dutch people rescued from Germany’s highest mountain: ‘Were well prepared, information on the site was incorrect’

They want to make their voices heard because they ‘completely’ do not recognize the image that the Garmisch-Partenkirchen mountain guard painted of them on Facebook after the rescue operation. The message was picked up by almost all news sites in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

“We have been made a laughing stock,” says Younes el Khallouki (30) from Amsterdam. He returned on Sunday with his brother-in-law Oussama el Ouarti (39) from a week’s holiday in the far south of Germany. In the early morning of Tuesday, April 16, 2024, they left their accommodation for a mountain hike to the top of the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in the Federal Republic at 2,962 meters. They would never reach the mountain top because the ‘Dutch people in sweatpants and sneakers were stranded by the snow and low temperatures at the Knorrhütte’, at an altitude of about 2000 meters. Two mountain rescuers brought them to safety with a helicopter ‘under turbulent conditions’.

“We had been on mountain walks before and knew that it would not be an easy job. But we were fit and prepared for anything,” El Khallouki continued. “We wore high and waterproof hiking boots, football socks, sweatpants with heattech thermal clothing underneath, had extra socks, rainwear and fleece sweaters in our backpacks, which also contained a first aid kit, power banks and enough food and drinks.” He contradicts that. they were numb. “I almost floated out of my thermal clothes.”

The walking shoes and clothing of the two Dutch people. © Private photo

Information

If it had been up to him and his brother-in-law, they would have continued to the top, but the situation near the Knorrhütte made them realize that ‘something was wrong’, the Amsterdam resident says looking back. “We saw an empty ski slope and a closed cable car. While all the dots were green on the Zugspitze site. Since the cable car station was still a 3 kilometer walk, I decided to call the Zugspitze office to ask if the train was running. I got a lady on the phone who said everything was closed and was transferred to the mountain guard. The man on the phone immediately said he would order a helicopter, while I called for advice,” sighs the thirty-something.

“We could have just walked back down, but the Mountain Guard didn’t even suggest that. Apart from that, it now seems as if we acted irresponsibly, while the information on the Zugspitze site was not accurate. If you indicate that it concerns live information, it must also be correct,” he said. As proof, he later sent a screenshot of the site in question, showing that all lifts and (cable) cars still had green dots that Tuesday, even at 7:26 p.m. “We were not the only hikers, because we were overtaken by two Germans along the way. They were wearing low summer hiking boots and we later saw them descending disappointed from the Knorhütte, returning from a rude awakening.”

Text continues below the image

The screenshot of the site in question shows that all lifts and (cable) cars still had green dots at 7:26 PM on Tuesday. © Private photo

Rescue operation

According to the Garmisch Mountain Guard, the cable car was closed all day last Tuesday due to a storm. “The two Dutchmen may have missed this when they left,” says the employee who handled the call for help. He is brief about the information in the Facebook message. “Normally we write an official and neutral press release, but now the man who led the operation posted a message on Facebook.”

According to him, it does not matter whether the two rescued men were wearing sneakers and sweatpants or not and whether the cable cars were open or not. “They were not well prepared anyway. The Knorrhütte is only open from May to October. To get to the cable car station, the Dutch had to walk another 3 kilometers. Because of the 4 meter thick layer Tiefschnee they didn’t stand a chance of getting there. That would only have been possible with snowshoes or skis,” the man explains in his Bavarian accent. “Moreover, it was very cold with a temperature of minus twelve degrees and stormy winds.”

According to him, the rescue operation was justified. He told the thirty-somethings in the telephone conversation that they could take shelter in the emergency cellar of the mountain hut pending the arrival of the helicopter. The Dutch also followed that advice.

The press department of the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn Bergbahn AG, the company that runs the lifts, (cable) cars and Zugspitze site, has not yet responded to a request to respond to the Dutch’s statements about the information provided on the site on 16 April.

Bill

The two Dutch people think back to their Zugspitze adventure with mixed feelings. “The surroundings were beautiful, we also went mountain biking and instead of the cable car we got a helicopter flight, although we still received a bill for that,” said El Khallouki. The cost of the mountain rescue effort has yet to be determined.