Ever just want to walk out of work in the middle of your shift, down a stiff drink, and get the weekend started a little early? That’s what this under-qualified Hungarian mountain guide did recently while leading a group of 60 into the Alps. Although, if you’ve ever been a guide at any point in your life and dealt with the occasional nightmare client, then you might be able to sympathize with him.
According to reports, the tourists were left out, seemingly lost in the Austrian Alps by their drunk guide over the weekend. Despite extreme weather conditions, mountain rescuers were able to locate and safely return the massive group of pissed-off hikers.
About an hour into the group’s hike, exploring the Rax mountain range of Eastern Austria, hikers were abandoned by their so-called guide and began contacting emergency services. One hiker was able to get in touch with authorities and report that he and his daughters were lost in the Alps, with the other lost hikers. He told the dispatcher that their mountain guide was drunk and that he’d disappeared (no word if he was provoked into doing so).
After locating the group, the 12 rescuers led them down the mountain, into the valley below where the group ran into none other than their intoxicated guide – liquored up and sporting a strong sense of wanderlust. There, the guide, who has not been identified, denied being drunk or having consumed any alcohol that day. Police did not perform a breathalyzer test on him due to the fact that no one was injured as a result of the situation.
Gerhard Rieglthalner, a mountaineering expert for the local police, told the press, “All the same, it was a fine line.The man was unprofessional and he was not a trained mountain guide.”
What can we learn from this? Next time you’re heading out on a guided trip into the heart of one of the planet’s most extreme mountain ranges, don’t go cheap on the guide. And use Yelp.
