Autumn Hiking Surge Brings 34% of Mountain Accidents

[Anchor]

As people head to mountains to enjoy autumn foliage and silver grass, hikers are being urged to exercise caution regarding safety.

UBC reporter Sung Ki-won shares tips for a safe autumn hike.

[Reporter]

Silver grass stretches along the ridge, creating silver waves in the wind.

Hikers, fully immersed in the autumn atmosphere, direct their gaze toward a firefighting helicopter.

A rescue worker descends on a rope, firmly secures an injured person, and ascends back to the helicopter together.

Drones search for stranded victims from the air, while ground crews transport patients on stretchers.

At actual rescue sites, rugged mountain terrain slows down the responders.

Narrow trails, steep rocky sections, and many places inaccessible by helicopter pose significant challenges.

Over the past five years, there have been about 2,000 emergency dispatches for mountain accidents in the Ulsan region.

Among them, 34% occurred between September and November, and half of all dispatches were concentrated over the two-day weekend period.

[Kim Min-sung / Seolju Fire Station Rescue Team: (Recently) it was a rainy night when a patient fell from a cliff area, making it extremely difficult for us to approach. As you saw earlier, transporting them on a stretcher took a tremendous amount of time.]

Fire authorities advise hikers to choose courses that match their physical stamina and to allow plenty of time for their hikes.

Hikers should also pack spare clothes to maintain body temperature, a flashlight, and a portable smartphone battery.

Providing your location through the National Point Number markers installed along hiking trails allows rescue teams to find you more quickly and easily.

[Park Ki-sung / Seolju Fire Station Mountain Specialized Volunteer Fire Corps: When hiking, people tend to feel ambitious or want to visit certain places, so it is best to be cautious and avoid dangerous cliffs and similar areas.]

A journey to experience autumn must be accompanied by preparations to return safely.

(Video by Kim Young-gwan UBC, Footage courtesy of Ulsan Fire Headquarters)

Sung Ki-won, UBC
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.