By Sara Francis & Gerald Lehner

If you find your life in danger while travelling the Alps, we will rescue you and bring you to safety - anywhere, anytime. We can always solve the problem! Cost of Search and Rescue (SAR)? Rest assured! Worldwide! 22 Euro annually: Most favorably priced rescue insurance and highly skilled - with Austria Mountain Rescue Service (AMRS) since 1896 ...

By paying a minimum of 22 Euro annually policy holders (as special patrons of AMRS) will receive quality insurance against SAR costs up to a 15,000 Euro maximum. The policy covers all immediate family members or life partners including children less than 18 years of age - within one household, worldwide. In essence, this develops a fund from which rescue costs can be repaid and prevents any sole individual from bearing the total cost of their rescue. A one week search for a missing person could easily cost 20,000 Euro. The funds paid back to AMRS for rescues are used solely for training, search and rescue equipment and nationwide alert-system maintenance and upgrades. No member of the Austrian Mountain Rescue Services receives monetary compensation for their efforts.

An example of such a search that lasted nearly two weeks and involved hundreds of forces and several helicopters was that of Helmut Simon of Nuremburg, who was killed during a hike in the mountains of Gastein valley in the Austrian province of Salzburg. The man was known worldwide. He and his wife, in 1991, were tourists to the Schnalstal glacier in the Ötztal Alps, near Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy. The Simons are credited with the discovery of Ötzi the Iceman a preserved mummy from 3300 B.C. Rest assured AMRS will provide such help for every missing person, not only for VIPs.

“By paying 22 Euro for one year you can destroy every fear of paying high costs for SAR and be at ease during your travels or skiing trips in the mountains," said Estolf Mueller, provincial chief of staff AMRS Salzburg. “One hour for one specialist of the Mountain Rescue Service is 30 Euro."

By investing in the AMRS insurance plan, policy holders (as special patrons of AMRS) are investing in themselves and the well-being of their fellow outdoor enthusiasts. Payment can be made via credit card or direct deposit from a valid bank account. Please transfer 22 EURO or more to one of our accounts, you an your family will be insured for one year beginning from the next day. 

More information is available in one of our seven AMRS provincial offices. Contacts: See "Landesleitungen" on this website (Shortlist with all contacts).