More walkers on the trails as Rega reaches 323 mountain call-outs

From the start of the year to mid-August, Switzerland's air rescue service Rega carried out 323 mountain operations. That is thirty-nine more patient transports than in the same period of 2025.

The explanation Rega gives is simple and comes down to how many people are on the trails. "In fine weather, during the holidays or at weekends, more people head into the mountains," said spokesperson Mathias Gehrig. The warm, settled summer has drawn a particularly high number of people to high-altitude walks and climbing routes.

Gehrig added a note on how the service assesses calls: "The reason someone finds themselves in an emergency is of no importance to our crews." It is the standard answer to the debate about recklessness in the mountains, which flares up every summer.

A death on Mount Pilatus

The most recent serious case occurred on Mount Pilatus, above Hergiswil in the canton of Nidwalden. A 57-year-old man resident in Aargau fell on steep ground in the area of the old Tomliweg path. The alarm was raised when a third party reported an abandoned rucksack in a gully. Rega located the body the following day.

Figures from the Swiss Alpine Club place the season in a wider frame. In 2025 mountain rescue services evacuated around 4,000 people engaged in mountain activities, eleven per cent above the 2020-2024 average. In the same year there were 98 deaths, the lowest number in a decade.

The rise in call-outs therefore does not match a rise in fatalities. What is increasing is the number of people rescued, not the average severity of cases, and mobile coverage across much of the Alpine area has lowered the threshold at which people call for help.