In höchster Not - Bergretter im Einsatz — Season 2
About this season
The documentary series offers a captivating insight into the world of mountain rescue and shows the diverse challenges the rescuers face, what they achieve, what they experience, and what they feel. Despite their beauty, the Bavarian Alps also harbor numerous dangers, for example, when tour planning is poor, one's own abilities are overestimated, or the natural surroundings are underestimated: Steep slopes, unstable weather conditions, avalanches, and unpredictable natural events make mountaineering and hiking ventures with a risk that should not be underestimated.
Episodes (8)
1. Life-Threatening Danger in Höllental
Aired 6 May 2026 • 43 min
A mountain rescue operation on the Höllental Glacier of the Zugspitze escalates, pushing the volunteer mountain rescuers to their physical and mental limits. In another operation by the Grainau Mountain Rescue team, a newly trained air rescuer has to prove himself under extremely challenging weather conditions.
2. Apocalypse
Aired 6 May 2026 • 43 min
On the Höllental Glacier of the Zugspitze, a mountaineer slipped into a crevasse right before the eyes of mountain rescuers. The rescue team was actually in the process of airlifting seven other climbers, who had overestimated their abilities, down to the valley by helicopter. On the mountain, the weather can change within minutes. In this case, a routine operation suddenly turned into a major emergency with serious consequences.
3. Swallowed by the Glacier
Aired 13 May 2026 • 43 min
A dramatic emergency call came from the Höllentalferner glacier: "Person fallen into a crevasse!" Every minute counted to locate the injured mountaineer and get him out of the crevasse as quickly as possible. When the rescuers from the Grainau mountain rescue team arrived at the scene, they couldn't believe their eyes.
4. Four Paws in Distress
Aired 13 May 2026 • 43 min
A dog slipped on steep terrain and got into trouble. Its owner alerted the mountain rescue service, which – when there is imminent danger – also responds to animal rescues in such cases. The stressed animal's barking is clearly audible, but difficult to pinpoint due to the echo in the mountains.
5. Lost in the Blizzard
Aired 20 May 2026 • 43 min
It's mid-May. Spring seems to have arrived in the valley, but at 2,900 meters, freezing temperatures prevail. On the mountain, it's still the dead of winter! Five stranded climbers make an emergency call. They can't go any further, having completely misjudged the conditions on the Höllental via ferrata. The route is still buried meters deep in snow, darkness is slowly falling, and the temperatures are plummeting.
6. Vanished Without a Trace
Aired 20 May 2026 • 43 min
A suicide threat in the area of the Blaueishütte mountain hut is keeping the Ramsau mountain rescue team busy. A large-scale search operation is underway in close cooperation with the Alpine Task Force of the state police and the Piding border police.
7. Fall into the whitewater
Aired 27 May 2026 • 43 min
A woman fell several meters into the whitewater in the Weißbach Gorge. This emergency call reached the Bad Reichenhall Mountain Rescue Service, which immediately set out for a canyoning rescue. In addition, a woman had an accident while descending from the Kleiner Watzmann mountain in the Ramsau Mountain Rescue Service area and had to be rescued by helicopter from a wooded slope.
8. Accident on the Watzmann
Aired 27 May 2026 • 43 min
A mountaineer has fallen from the Watzmann South Peak in steep terrain: suspected polytrauma! Every minute counts for the Ramsau Mountain Rescue team. On a sunny day in the Grainau Mountain Rescue area, several patients are simultaneously waiting for help on the mountain.