Friends of climbers from Hanover in shock

Hanover. There are moments between last hope and fear: Is there still a chance that Julian P. will be found alive? After five days, the Ramsau mountain rescue service at Hochkalter near Berchtesgaden has stopped searching for the missing 24-year-old Lehrter mountaineer. “Hope always dies last in such operations,” the rescuers said recently. And so did all the friends and companions of the young mechanical engineering student on Thursday.

“A person to be around”

A former teammate who played with Julian P. in the youth soccer team at JSG Immensen-Sievershausen-Arpke describes him as a “very open” and “very friendly” person. “He is popular and a welcome guest because of his manner and his broad smile. A person you like to be around,” says the man, who does not want to be named.

Later in his youth, Julian P. had to take a break after suffering cartilage damage in his knee. At the age of 18 he started again with the Adler Hämelerwald. First two years in the reserve, then he followed his coach Christopher Hofmann to the 1st men’s team. A little later he passed his Abitur at the Gymnasium Lehrte. After the first corona lockdown two years ago, however, the 24-year-old wanted to concentrate entirely on his dual mechanical engineering studies at Volkswagen and at Leibniz University.

“That’s what makes the whole thing so paradoxical for me”

Photos from his Instagram profile suggest that the high alpine tour of the 2607 meter high mountain was not his first of its kind. And physically, the Hämelerwalder is in top form. Like his older brother, Julian P. is a regular at the gym. “He’s well trained, a model athlete,” says Peter Wedemeyer, his trainer in the first substitution and two years as a youth. He remembers: “When we did a strength circle in winter, he laughed his head off.” Because it wasn’t challenging for him.

His former trainer describes him as quiet, reserved, unobtrusive and considered. “For football, I sometimes had the feeling that he was too intelligent and sometimes gave it too much thought,” says Wedemeyer. He is not a daredevil, not a go-getter. “The fact that he dares to go on such a tour in such weather doesn’t suit the Julian I know. That makes the whole thing so paradoxical for me.” He also looked to Ramsau on Thursday, hoping and worried. He doesn’t want to think about the worst, about the fact that Julian P. could only be recovered dead. “Because no 24-year-old deserves that.”

“Our thoughts are always with the family”

Hofmann, formerly under Wedemeyer and now under Marcus Kallmeyer assistant coach at the Adler, reported to the team on Tuesday after training about the accident of the former teammate. “The shock was great,” he says. “Our thoughts are always with the family.”