As early as 1946, a few mountain enthusiasts recognized the need for mountain rescue and mutual assistance in the Brixen area. Over time, the importance of mountain rescue has grown significantly.
More and more people seek relaxation and recreation in the mountains. The possibilities are virtually endless, ranging from simple hikes to ski tours, climbing trips to mountain biking, e-bike tours to paragliding.
With the increase in mountain leisure activities, unfortunately, the number of emergencies has also risen, and the readiness of the rescue teams has had to be constantly heightened. What began as a form of mutual assistance quickly developed into a well-organized, round-the-clock mountain rescue service. The mountain rescue service is alerted through the unified emergency number 112, and our missions are coordinated by the provincial emergency center. Our members are notified via pagers.
In 2025, the Mountain Rescue Service Brixen was called out for a total of 95 missions. After the record year of 2021 with 100 missions and 96 missions in 2023, 2024 was also a very intense year for us.
Along with the increase in missions, the diversity of causes has also grown. In addition to hiking accidents, there are winter accidents involving skiers off-piste, tobogganers, or ice climbers that require rescue and assistance. In the warmer months, more and more mountain bikers, e-bikers, and cyclists need our help. A significant portion of our missions also consists of search operations to locate missing or lost individuals. For technical rescues, such as retrieving paragliders from trees or rescuing patients from difficult terrain, cliffs, and ravines, it is essential to have solid technical training and continuous further education. Unfortunately, the number of workplace accidents has also risen, with most of them occurring during forestry work. Other areas of deployment include avalanche accidents, traffic accidents, animal rescues, and the support of other emergency services and authorities. For instance, Mountain Rescue Brixen was also called out for crashed small aircraft or the evacuation of the highway.
In addition to the initial medical care of the injured and their rescue, transporting them to the nearest paved road and handing them over to the emergency services is also the responsibility of the mountain rescue team. Furthermore, looking after the companions of the injured is part of the mountain rescue’s duties.
To meet these high demands, extensive training and, above all, continuous further education of the members is necessary. At least once a month, the mountain rescuers meet for exercises at the rescue station level. Additionally, there are numerous exercises and courses at the provincial level, in which individual members must participate.
Besides the many missions, exercises, and training, the BRD Brixen also provides active on-call duty on weekends and holidays. This is further supplemented by various on-call duties for events such as mountain runs, toboggan races, or ski races. Another important aspect of our work is the many prevention events with schools, kindergartens, and other associations that are held throughout the year.
In 2025, Mountain Rescue Brixen completed a total of more than 8,700 volunteer hours, with nearly 870 hours dedicated to missions.
Unfortunately, last year, 3 long-standing and dedicated members also ended their active service at BRD Brixen. Kinigadner Wolfgang, with 49 years of membership, Plank Konrad, with 48 years, and Tauber Josef, with 46 years, have shaped our rescue station for decades with their expertise, hard work, and commitment. For this, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to them.
The Mountain Rescue Service in the AVS Brixen EO currently has a team of 35 people, including 30 active members and 5 candidates. Three of our members are also active as dog handlers.
Only with your support will we be able to continue saving lives in the future!!
We would also like to once again thank our families, our supporters, and our patrons!!
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Raiffeisenkasse Eisacktal IBAN: IT92M0830758221000300221899 SWIFT-BIC: RZSBIT21007

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