A climber was dramatically rescued by a Luxembourg Air Rescue (LAR) team on Friday after suffering a serious fall on the steep face of the Rotenfels cliff in Bad Kreuznach, Germany’s highest cliff north of the Alps.
The climber, part of a couple scaling the 200-metre-high and 1,200-metre-long rock face, fell and sustained severe injuries, according to a statement released by LAR on Saturday. The rescue was carried out under “extremely difficult conditions,” LAR reported.
The Trier emergency control centre immediately alerted Luxembourg Air Rescue, which deployed a helicopter equipped with a winch and a specially trained rescue team. Within 37 minutes of being airborne, the helicopter reached the sheer cliff, where the crew conducted a reconnaissance flight to locate the injured climber.
Due to the steep terrain and loose scree, rescuing the man by winch was deemed the only viable option. After a detailed briefing with local rescue teams, the LAR crew–comprised of an experienced winch operator, a specially trained pilot, and a rescuer from the Reconnaissance and Intervention Group in Hazardous Environments (GRIMP)–began the operation.
The rescuer abseiled approximately 100 metres from the summit to reach the victim, who had already been secured by the mountain rescue team. The injured climber was then safely lifted by the winch operator and, within seven minutes, handed over to an LAR emergency doctor for evaluation. The climber was later transported to the hospital for further treatment.
