A family with four children took the cable car up the Salzberg in Hallstatt on Sunday to hike a little in the high valley and enjoy the view. Arriving at the “Miners’ House”, the couple’s four-year-old son turned around in a brief unsupervised moment and returned to the mountain station of the cable car.
There he climbed behind the building in the direction of the steep drop down to the avalanche barriers. This area is clearly visible from the ascending cable car. As a result, a young woman and her companion realized that the infant was apparently in serious trouble. The child was already hanging on a boulder under the second avalanche barrier and was unable to move forwards or backwards.
Image: Hallstatt Mountain Rescue
The woman and her companion immediately informed a cable car employee, who made an emergency call and stopped the cable car operation. In the meantime, the two observers climbed down about 30 meters to the boy and took him to a slightly higher avalanche barrier.
There they waited for the rescue team, who arrived a short time later. They were finally brought back to safe terrain by the Hallstatt mountain rescue service and an alpine policeman after a rope railing had been set up. All remained unharmed.
