Human Interest
August 22, 2023 | 11:36am
A decorated Russian scientist tragically fell nearly 500 feet to his death after a hiking app allegedly led him over the edge of a cliff in Germany.
The freak plunge occurred on August 12, while the man, Dr. Dmitry Fedyanin, 34 — who hails from Russia but lived in North Rhine-Westphalia — was hiking in the picturesque Berchtesgadener Alps National Park, which is known for its breathtaking views and peaks that soar up to 9,000 feet tall.
The Russki, who was reportedly traveling alone at the time, was using a navigation app to descend down to Gotzenalm near Koenigssee Lake, but was directed along a route with no paths, the Sun reported.
Tragedy struck after the alpinist lost his footing on a rocky ledge and fatally plummeted hundreds of feet.
“Our investigators assume that the male individual slipped in the rocky area which features some patches of grass,” reported Upper Bavarian Police spokesman Maximilian Maier in a statement. “He then slid down at least 150 meters (492 feet).”
Fedyanin’s disappearance came to light after the landlord at his lodging in Gotzenalm noticed that his bed had been unused and informed the police, BR24 reported.
This prompted the alpine task force and the mountain rescue service to dispatch a search party to locate the missing researcher.
A helicopter finally spotted Fedyanin’s body at the bottom of the Hoher Laafeld peak, after which paramedics determined that he’d died from head injuries sustained during the fall.
“The involvement of any other person can be ruled out,” Maximilian Maier declared.
This marked an untimely end for Fedyanin, who was a decorated researcher at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in Moscow, Russia, where he’d studied “nanoscale and quantum optoelectronics for data-processing, communication and sensing applications,” per his profile on ResearchGate.
The scientist, who had been a senior research fellow at MIPT since 2014, was notably awarded the Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2011.
He also garnered the European Material Research Society Young Scientist Award in 2012.
Fedyanin is one of four hikers to die in Berchtesgadener within days.
On Saturday morning, a 29-year-old Austrian woman suffered a fatal fall on Hochkalter mountain in Ramsau — the same day that a 49-year-old also died in the morning on the Reiteralpe but of natural causes.
Meanwhile, the day prior, a 57-year-old woman from the Black Forest fell over 650 feet to her death while hiking with her husband on the Almbach Gorge near Marktschellenberg.
This series of tragic events has raised concerns about safety measures and the accuracy of hiking apps in popular tourist areas. It serves as a reminder for hikers to exercise caution and rely on official trail maps and local expert advice to ensure a safe and enjoyable outdoor experience.