Taiwan is a mountainous island, with around 260 peaks exceeding 3,000 meters in elevation. However, activities ranging from hiking on Taipei’s Yangmingshan, trails in Taichung’s Dakeng, or ascending Yushan, while all considered hiking or mountaineering, vary drastically in difficulty. Without proper training or full gear, attempting high-altitude mountains — especially in the harsh winter cold — can easily lead to accidents.

According to statistics from the Taichung City Fire Bureau, there have been four mountain rescue incidents in Shei-Pa National Park since the end of October last year, with three hikers still missing. Two separate incidents occurred at the end of December last year and on New Year’s Day this year. While those involved were rescued in time, both the couple who brought four high school students to climb the Wuling Four Beauties and the trio who attempted to summit Yushan for New Year’s were poorly prepared, consuming significant rescue resources and time — not to mention the costly helicopter evacuations.

“Don’t treat firefighters as cheap labor,” because “human life is the most precious.” Currently, high-altitude rescue operations are primarily carried out by firefighters in coordination with national park management offices, with civilian rescue teams assisting. If things go smoothly, a round-trip mission may take just two to three days. But if the missing persons aren’t found quickly, rescuers might have to search in the mountains for over a week. Without mountaineering experience, it’s impossible to conduct effective rescues — such efforts far exceed the defined duties of firefighters.

Many hikers are often under-prepared before setting off, especially when reaching high-altitude areas where phone or GPS batteries, designed for flatland use, quickly drain, cutting off all communication once lost. “Being unable to determine the location of missing persons” is a major reason why search and rescue efforts become highly inefficient.

The Taichung City Fire Bureau once wrote to the National Communications Commission (NCC), suggesting that the government establish public communication base stations in mountainous areas and require telecom operators to use these base stations as radar for remote positioning via communication signals. However, the proposal was rejected due to restrictions under the Personal Data Protection Act, leaving the issue of locating missing hikers unresolved.

“Hiking in Dakeng and climbing Yushan are absolutely not the same,” agreed Chan Jen-chieh, captain of the Second Brigade of the Taichung City Fire Bureau. He also supports implementing a classified management system for mountain climbing. Before ascending peaks above 2,500 meters, climbers should undergo pre-climb training and education, or be accompanied by professional guides, in order to reduce the incidence of mountain accidents.

In addition, some civilian rescue groups have previously proposed that high-altitude climbing should be subject to a “mandatory mountain climbing liability insurance,” similar to mandatory motorcycle insurance. Rescue costs incurred in the event of an accident would then be covered by the insurance company. However, to date, no insurance company has been willing to offer such mountain climbing insurance policies, leaving the idea still in the discussion phase.

(Central News Agency)

(Central News Agency)