Gscheideggkogel Photo LVS

Press release 28.12.2020

The Gesäuse National Park offers winter sports enthusiasts a new and potentially life-saving service. So-called avalanche beacon checkpoints have been set up at popular starting points for ski and snowshoe tours. There, the functionality of the avalanche beeper can be tested before the start of the tour. After all, a tour should not even be started without a functioning avalanche transceiver! Danger to life!

"Does my avalanche transceiver really work? The indicator light is on, but is it really sending the potentially life-saving signal? Did I really turn it on and activate it correctly?" Many a person will have asked themselves these questions at the start of a ski or snowshoe tour.

This can now be tested at the avalanche beacon checkpoint. As you walk closer, the device gives an "ok" or "not ok" both visually and acoustically. Of course, only the current condition of the avalanche transceiver is checked. It is not possible to predict whether the device will break or the batteries will run out in the course of the tour.

Supported by funding from the Province of Styria and the European Union, five of these checkpoints could be set up at the following locations:

- Gstatterboden
- Johnsbach: Sebring
- Johnsbach: Kölbl
- Johnsbach: Ebnerklamm car park
- Johnsbach: Gscheidegger car park

But not only a functioning avalanche transceiver but also an avalanche shovel, an avalanche probe and functioning ski touring/snowshoe equipment as well as careful tour planning are indispensable for every ski/snowshoe tour. In the Gesäuse National Park, preparations for the coming season have already been completed. The routes have been cut free, snow poles set up for orientation and information boards erected. The avalanche beacon checkpoints will be activated as soon as the snow conditions permit touring.

In order to protect the flora and fauna and to save their lives, the National Park asks winter sports enthusiasts to adhere strictly to the marked tours. If these tours are not followed, important habitats can be destroyed or animals can be startled. Startling and fleeing costs the animals a lot of energy. Perhaps the very energy they would have needed to survive the winter....

Enquiry notice:

Markus Blank, m.blank@nationalpark-gesaeuse.atTel: 0664/82 52 321

 

General enquiries about the Gesäuse National Park:

Isabella Mitterböck, i.mitterboeck@nationalpark.co.atTel. 0664/34 65 629

The photos can be downloaded in high resolution. Use exclusively for reports in connection with this press release and quoting the image rights. Any other use of the photographic material requires the consent of Gesäuse National Park GmbH.

You can find more photos on the topics of National Park, Gesäuse region, nature and culture in the Gesäuse image database. The image database has a sophisticated keyword search and download options. A one-time registration is required.

GESÄUSE IMAGE DATABASE

Download press information

Gscheideggkogel Photo LVS

500.1 KB

LVS Checkpoint

449.6 KB

Capercaillie image

877.6 KB

Lifesavers text

525.1 KB