The Armed Forces deploys so-called avalanche task forces throughout Austria during the winter months. They consist of two search groups, a special group with army mountain guides and army high mountain specialists as well as a supply and resupply element. The commander is always an army mountain commander, as Chief Warrant Officer Markus Fahrnberger explains.
Mr. Oberstabswachtmeister, you are an army mountain guide and commander of an avalanche response platoon – what is the greatest danger in an avalanche?
In addition to the immediate risk of injury, for example if the avalanche pushes you against rocks or trees, there is also the definite risk of total burial. In such a case, you usually only have a small breathing cavity or none at all, which is why the probability of survival drops rapidly just 15 minutes after being buried.
15 minutes is not much.
No, it’s actually extremely little, considering that rescue teams usually have to make their way up the mountain after being alerted. In such a case, only first responders on site can intervene quickly, which is why it is so important to carry an avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe with you when touring in snowy alpine terrain – and to know how to use them.
After an avalanche, the mountain rescue team is alerted first. You are the commander of an avalanche rescue platoon of the Austrian Armed Forces, when is your platoon deployed?
When it is requested by the authorities. This is usually the case when there is a major avalanche with several people buried, several avalanches occur simultaneously in one area or the mountain rescue teams on site are already exhausted. Working in an avalanche cone is extremely strenuous and sweaty, the snow is so compressed by the force of the avalanche that it is as solid as ice in places. This means that the rescue teams become exhausted much more quickly than you might imagine.
How does the assignment actually work?
The control center usually alerts the air rescue – from the police or various rescue services – at the same time as the mountain rescue. They first make a sighting and a flyover of the avalanche cone from the air, then deploy air rescuers on site and start transporting other rescue teams directly to the mountain. Ideally, we then also arrive on the mountain with helicopters and carry all the equipment we need with us so that we can get straight to work on site.
In conclusion: As a rule, your work is about minimizing the dangers of avalanches. But can avalanches also be used for military purposes?
Of course. Avalanches can also be triggered artificially by blasting or firing, which is useful if I want to hinder the movement of an enemy or support the movement of my own forces. A targeted avalanche can be used, for example, to secure your own traffic routes and marching routes. It can also be used to create obstacles for opponents, block enemy lines of movement or directly endanger troops.
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