How an 86-year-old hiker survived 4 days in the Alps without provisions

An 86 year-old hiker that went  missing on September 7th, 2023  in the Bavarian Alps was found, amazingly, safe and sound four days later.

According to the local police, the hiker, Norbert Jung, was in the German town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen to climb the 2,628 meter (8,622 ft) high Alpspitze (pictured), as reported by local media.

On the evening of September 6th, 2023, Jung spoke to his wife on the phone and told her that he wanted to spend the night on the mountain and come back down the next day. After that, he must have lost his cell phone so he couldn't call for help, according to local authorities.

One day after Jung went missing, the police in Garmisch-Partenkirchen received a missing persons report. Extensive searches on foot and from the air were immediately initiated, but were stopped without success.

According to the police, the 86 year-old got lost and wandered around in the forest for four days. Finally he came across a road.

On the afternoon of September 10th, 2023, Jung was finally found by a mountain biker from Austria, news outlet ‘Der Merkur’ reported. He was found laying down on a forest road.

After the rescue, Jung was taken to a hospital. According to a police spokesman, he was "exhausted but fine."

Jung had not taken any food or drinks on the hike, according to his own statements, and survived by drinking from water sources he found in the forest.

Unfortunately, situations like this are not uncommon in the Alps,  and they often turn out to be fatal.

According to a report by the Swiss Alpine Club SAC, there were 109 deaths among hikers and climbers  in 2022 across the mountain range and more than two dozen in 2023.

Photo: Simon Fitall/Unsplash