Mountain Guide Norbert Joos Suffers A Fatal Fall While Descending The Piz Bernina In The Bernina Range Of Switzerland
Piz Bernina, Switzerland – On the afternoon of Sunday, July 10, 2016 Norbert “Noppa” Joos, an accomplished Swiss alpinist and professional mountain guide, suffered fatal injuries after a 160-meter fall while descending the Piz Bernina in the Bernina Range of Switzerland.
Joos and his guests had stayed in the Tschierva Hut the night before. The group of five mountaineers were planning to summit the highest peak in the Bernina Range, the Piz Bernina at 4049 meters, and continue on to stay at the Marco Rosa Hut on the Italian side. The climbing accident occurred at approximately 3900 meters. Photos of accident location available here.
Initial reports from witnesses on the route say that someone on a three person rope team slipped on a snowy ridge near the Italian-Swiss border before a rappel and dragged the others with them. Rescuers were notified and responded by helicopter. Joos died in the fall. His guests, a 56-year-old Italian woman and a 58-year-old Italian, were seriously injured. They were flown to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.
Joos, 55, had an impressive climbing resume. He summited 13 of the 14 highest peaks in the world – all above 8000 meters without using supplemental oxygen. He was only missing Everest. He was a member of Kästle’s Guide Team and owned an outdoor shop in Chur, Switzerland. Read more about Joos’ accomplishments at SwissInfo.ch.
The mountain community will miss Norbert Joos. RIP.
We will try to update this post when more information becomes available.
