Man Dies After Fall on Uetliberg
A 69-year-old man lost his life on Sunday after falling at the Fallätsche, a steep rocky escarpment on the Uetliberg.
Shortly before 12:30 on Sunday afternoon, Stadtpolizei Zürich was notified by Schutz & Rettung Zürich that the air rescue service Rega had recovered a fallen person in the Fallätsche area. The man, who had been hiking with a companion, fell for reasons that remain unclear and died from his injuries.
Investigators from the criminal division of Stadtpolizei Zürich and the Staatsanwaltschaft Zürich-Sihl are looking into the circumstances of the accident, though an accidental fall is considered the most likely explanation.
The site has a long history of rescues. The Fallätsche is a treacherous steep erosion gully that catches many visitors off guard, with routes rated T4–T5 on the SAC hiking scale — terrain with an almost alpine character. Hikers unfamiliar with the area regularly overestimate themselves and require rescue. The trails fade out around 600 metres elevation, and above 700 metres the terrain becomes rocky and slippery. The difficulty of the ground has even prompted Schutz & Rettung Zürich to purchase a specialist all-terrain rescue vehicle for operations in the area.
