Mürztalersteig, Austria: Fight breaks out on mountain’s precarious ledge between guide and hiker

A fight has broken out between a hiker and mountain guide at 3000m, on a precarious ledge.

A Polish couple were visiting Austria and climbing its highest peak, Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte, travelling the Mürztalersteig route on August 22.

A female hiker continues ahead while the male stops to give her some space, watching from behind.

Tensions boil when a mountain guide overtakes the man to continue ahead.

In translations by The Sun, the male hiker can be heard saying, “I should go first, shouldn’t I?”, before the Austrian replies, “No, no, no”.

As the guide squeezes past the Polish woman on a precarious ledge and encourages the others in the group to do the same, her husband becomes agitated.

“Hey, are you out of your mind or what?” he yells.

“I’m a mountain guide, shut up,” the guide replies.

When the hiker calls the guide a “f...ing idiot” with his middle finger raised, he retaliates.

“Shut up or I’ll come up and punch you,” he threatens as he makes his way back up the mountain, pushing past the man’s wife again.

When the guide reaches the man, he grabs him and yells, “Behave yourself”.

The video of the incident was shared online by the unnamed man, and it has racked up more than 2.9 million views since it was posted less than a week ago.

In the caption, the climber explained his version of events, writing that the Austrian guide was accompanying two climbers on the journey when they were met with “aggressive and confrontational” behaviour.

“In my opinion, this unnecessarily endangered not only my wife and me, but also his own two clients,” he wrote.

“Overtaking other hikers or climbers in the mountains is completely normal and understandable.

“However, I would expect a professional mountain guide to show basic courtesy, good judgement and, above all, responsibility for the safety of everyone around him.

“Mountain guides should set an example for other people in the mountains.

“Arrogant, aggressive and thoughtless behaviour is the exact opposite of what one would expect from someone in such a responsible profession.”

The climber went on to write that the mountains should be for everyone, regardless of their experience, skills, or pace.

Local outlet Kurier reported that police have launched an investigation into the incident, as have the Austrian Mountain and Ski Guide Association.

The Kals Mountain Guides Association has terminated the mountain guide’s employment and described his behaviour as “unacceptable”.

In translated reports, the association said it was commonplace for slower climbers to be overtaken by others, but it should be done safely and all movements should be communicated with other climbers.

While some commenters recognised the frustration of a slow climber and the bottle neck that can be caused by them, most condemned the guide’s behaviour.

“This looks like attempting murder the way he attacked you on that dangerous part,” wrote one.

“Please report this to the Austrian police! I’m frequent in these areas and this is life threatening behaviour from the guide,” suggested another.