Snowboarder rescued from Austrian Alps after setting fire to cash
Last updated 18/02/2010 16:32:43
Snowboarder rescued from Austrian Alps after setting fire to cash
Money talks – just ask a German snowboarder who's been rescued from the Austrian Alps after attracting attention by setting fire to his cash.
For six long hours, 22-year-old Dominik Podolsky, from Munich, was stuck on a ski lift after it shut down for the day, with temperatures plummeting to -18C.
Dominik became trapped about 10m above ground as he took the lift down the mountain and having forgotten his mobile phone, his shouts for help were not heard.
"I thought about jumping down, but then I'd have probably broken both legs and would have frozen to death," Dominik told local media.
The worried snowboarder was so desperate to be rescued that after dark he began burning paper handkerchiefs and the contents of his wallet with a cigarette lighter. Restaurant bills and business cards all went up in flames, but to no avail. Finally, the snowboarder was spotted burning his last euros in cash.
Mr Podolsky was taken to hospital and treated for hypothermia. A spokesman for the company that operates the ski lift said it was not meant for downward trips.
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