Department for Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Dr. Benedikt Andreas Gasser, Mittlere Allee 18, 4052, Basel, Switzerland.
Sci Rep. 2022 May 30;12(1):9011. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-12917-8.
Fortunately, fatal accidents while high-altitude mountaineering have decreased in recent years, but the number of emergencies has increased. These nonfatal emergencies might represent situations where alpinists are stranded (emergencies in which alpinists are no longer able to continue their tour on their own because of, for example, exhaustion, equipment problems, or weather). We analyzed 4596 cases of high-altitude-mountaineering emergencies in the period 2009 to 2020 from the SAC (Swiss Alpine Club) emergency registry. In total, 1951 cases (41.6%) were due to being stranded, 1348 cases were due to falls (28.7%), and 352 cases were due to illness (7.5%); these were the three most common classes. In cases of being stranded, 90% of alpinists were uninjured or not seriously injured. In addition, we found only eight fatal cases. More than 50% of cases occurred while ascending a summit above 4000 m. The main causes of becoming stranded were exhaustion and weather changes. These findings suggest that alpinists contact rescue organizations before experiencing serious troubles; these situations thus present risks and dangers both to those stranded and to emergency services. Since exhaustion and weather changes are the two main causes, adequate preparation and tour planning may help prevent such emergencies.
幸运的是，近年来高山登山的致命事故有所减少，但紧急情况的数量却有所增加。这些非致命的紧急情况可能代表登山者被困的情况（例如因疲劳、设备问题或天气原因而无法自行继续旅行的紧急情况）。我们分析了 2009 年至 2020 年期间 SAC（瑞士阿尔卑斯俱乐部）应急登记处的 4596 例高山登山紧急情况。共有 1951 例（41.6%）是由于被困造成的，1348 例是由于坠落造成的，352 例是由于疾病造成的（7.5%）；这是最常见的三个类别。在被困的情况下，90%的登山者没有受伤或伤势不严重。此外，我们只发现了 8 例致命病例。超过 50%的病例发生在海拔 4000 米以上的山顶攀登过程中。被困的主要原因是疲劳和天气变化。这些发现表明，登山者在遇到严重麻烦之前会联系救援组织；因此，这些情况对被困者和紧急服务都存在风险和危险。由于疲劳和天气变化是两个主要原因，充分的准备和旅行计划可能有助于预防此类紧急情况。
