In a sign of the times, a relentless summer heatwave above 3,000m has caused crevasse falls in the Austrian Alps to nearly triple against the 10-year average.
Between May and September 2026, according to the alpine accident database of the Austrian Board for Alpine Safety, the country recorded 19 crevasse incidents compared to the long-term mean of seven. Weeks of above-freezing temperatures stripped away the protective snowpack, leaving behind fragile snow bridges, bare ice, and forced closures on several established glacier routes. Tragically, one of these falls proved fatal on the Wildspitze in Tyrol.
Wildspitze. Photo: Wikipedia
In a striking contrast, deaths during the summer actually fell to 62, down from 78 in 2025 and a long-term mean of about 80, even as the overall number of accidents rose, according to Bergsteigen. Half of the accidents and 33 of the 62 deaths occurred in Tyrol.
The number of people either rescued unhurt or non-fatally injured increased. Uninjured people in distress were about 70% more numerous than in 2017, and injuries were up by almost half. The seasonal death toll has stayed near 80 for years; 62 is low, close to the record 61 from 2014.
From May 1 to September 13, 2,742 people hiked, climbed, went on high-mountain tours, or used a via ferrata, compared with a 10-year average of 2,351. Hiking still accounts for most of the trouble, representing 65 percent of those rescued unhurt, 47 percent of the injured, and half of the deaths. Falls or slips caused 30 of those fatalities, while cardiovascular emergencies caused 18.
