This could very well be part one in a new video series called How Not To Climb A Mountain, but it is, in fact, a real video showing an actual tourist acting very stupidly indeed in a potentially fatal situation. And it proves you don’t need to be visiting a US National Park to be a "touron", the not-so-affectionate nickname for tourists of very little brain trying their best to earn a Darwin Award.
The video, posted to Facebook by German mountain guide Christian Hessing and which has gone quickly viral, shows an unidentified tourist climbing up the via ferrata to the Zugspitze’s 9,717 feet peak wearing Birkenstock sandals. And commenters have been outraged by the guy’s stupidity.
The rest of his clothing choices seem more fitting for yachting in the Med than climbing a mountain.
Even Hessing, in his voiceover, is clearly dripping with sarcasm when he says, "It’s just awesome how people are climbing out there.”
Skiing website Snowbrains points out that the tourist has probably taken the cable car most of the way; that takes climbers to within five minutes of the peak but the rest of the ascent includes a steep via ferrata that should not be attempted unsecured. Guess who’s not secured? Yes, Mr Birkenstock.
He seems to be with the woman who climbs up before him and she’s wearing the barely-any-better sneakers, and isn’t secured either.
“If you are traveling in the mountains 🤣 you should have good footwear,” said Richard Metz in the responses. “Safety first. Bad when something happens these people should pay for the entire rescue operation,” he added, reflecting the opinion of many others on the thread.
- The best women’s climbing shoes 2024: for indoor climbing sessions, valley cragging and all-day mountain adventures
- The best approach shoes 2024: for alpine adventures, via ferrata, scrambling, and more
