The reality is that any form of hiking, especially along mountain trails, presents a degree of risk. A study published in Forensic Science International in 2020 found that there were, on average, 46 fatal hiking accidents in Switzerland every year between 2003 and 2018. Austria recorded an average of 110 hiker deaths – about half of them from falls – across a similar period. In Australia the numbers were lower but still concerning, with a 2022 study into deaths during sport and recreation between 2000
and 2019 finding more fatalities from bushwalking (32) than from rock climbing, mountain biking and surfing. The risk of accident or incident on a hiking trail is small but undeniably real, but it can be mitigated to a large degree by preparation and knowledge. Technology can be both friend and foe in this. In some ways we’ve been led into hiking laziness by the ubiquity of trail apps and smartphone maps that seem to negate the age-old need for map and compass skills. But the
reliance can backfire – phone batteries run flat, and devices can easily fail or get broken in the rigours and rainfall of a hike – and analog knowledge of maps and compass is still vital when the scat hits the fan.
Inca Trail, Tourism Australia, hiking safety, trail apps, smartphone maps, compass skills, fatal hiking accidents, bushwalking deaths, Forensic Science International, sport and recreation deaths