Two mountain climbers got lost in central Taiwan. Luckily they were later on rescued by police and fruit farmers who are familiar with the location. The total number of rescue cases in the area has amounted to 1.5 times of that of last year, which has added to the workload of emergency personnel.
Two mountaineers are riding on the transport cage provided by a local fruit farmer as they get carried down the mountain after being lost.
You got lost up in the mountain, after about a kilometer in?
(Mountaineer) Yes, it was too dark.
At about 9:30 p.m. on July 19, Taichung police received an emergency call from a group of mountaineers. As it turns out, they are calling for their two friends who got tired and lost after dark when climbing Mt. Sqoyaw. After narrowing down their approximate position, the local police asked a local farmer surnamed Chong to assist their search. After an hour, the group found the pair of lost climbers and carried them down the mountain with a transport cage.
We finally found the two at about 1.5 kilometer into the mountain path at 10:40 p.m.
The police said that the path of Mt. Sqoyaw measures about 19 kilometers long, and mountaineers will need to be fully planned out when exploring the lengthy course. After the mountain was opened this year and the passing of the pandemic, the number of mountaineers has grown to higher than last year. There has been 37 rescue cases that took place in Taichung's Guguan Scenic Area and Heping District by July 19. 20 out of the 37 cases took place in the Guguan Scenic Area, and 14 of those cases involved mountaineers getting lost. The total number is 50 percent more than that of last year, which came in at 22.
Many paths in the mountains (of the Guguan Scenic Area) are one-day courses. So those who climb must taking their time into consideration.
Experienced climbers said that they are happy the government has opened the mountain paths, but they advise other climbers to carefully evaluate the course and their physical conditions before climbing since the elevation of some courses could be as high as 1300 meters, making them very challenging.
Take Mt. Sqoyaw as an example, its elevation exceeds 1800 meters. If you plan to make it back in a day, you need to take into consideration the heavy physical load, as well as avoiding injuries for your knees.
Police and professional climbers are also calling on the public to climb in groups and prepare thoroughly ahead of time, as well as carry necessary items such as ration, cold weather clothes and flashes in order to make sure that they enjoy the trip and go home safely.
兩名山友坐著果農的流籠下山，終於順利脫困。
警察VS.山友：「(在上面迷路，就一公里就走不出來了？) 對，因為太暗了。」
19號晚間9點半，台中警方接獲報案，兩名男子前往志佳陽步道登山，但因為體力不支，天黑找不到下山路徑，才由友人報警求援。員警確認他們大概位置後，請求熟悉地形的鍾姓果農就近協助搜尋，一個小時後在步道1.5公里處發現兩人，利用"流籠"載運兩人下山。
和平警分局環山派出所長 邱調源表示：「終於在晚上10點40分，在步道1.5公里處尋獲兩男。」
警方指出，從環山部落進入的志佳陽步道全程來回接近19公里，單攻體能及時間掌握都要非常精準。而自今年山林解禁、再加上武漢肺炎疫情，登山人數變多，今年光是谷關七雄及和平區的山域事故救援，截至7 月19日為止就有37件，其中谷關七雄就佔了20件，20件中有14件是迷途。相較去年同期只有22件，多了1/2的量。
台中市消防局第二大隊大隊長 余易祐表示：「（谷關七雄)很多是屬於單日攻的行程。變成說，你去爬山的時候，要考慮到自己的登山時間。」
山友則是指出，政府開放山林是好事，但山友在攀登前一定要評估自己狀況，落差1千3百公尺的登山路線，不建議沒經驗的單攻。
台中市山岳會總幹事 張賀融表示：「舉個例子，像我們這座志佳陽大山，它的落差已經超過1,800公尺。你還一天來回的話，除了你個人的體力來講，是一個相當大的負荷以外，還有考慮到你的膝關節，是不是容易受傷。」
警消及專業登山團體也呼籲民眾，夏季山區天候變化萬千，入山要結伴同行，單攻一定要做好事前評估，糧食、禦寒、照明也要萬全準備，才能快樂親近山林，平安回家。