The short version
- Foreign ski tourists went out on a snow shovel, with 300-400 meters directly below them
- It is dangerous to go out on scree, warns an avalanche researcher
- Ski tracks do not guarantee that the blade will last
- At this time of year, the bonds in the snow weaken and the risk of the shovels breaking is greater
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At the weekend, Andre Krause was visiting TromsdalstindenTromsdalstinden/Sálašoaivi is the highest peak visible from Tromsø, and a mighty sight with its 1238 metres.. At the top, he spotted a group of tourists on their way to the top. They followed ski tracks that do not go over the mountain, but over one scowlA snowdrift is an accumulation of snow that forms on the lee side of an obstacle, such as a mountain peak, when the wind blows the snow over the edge and it builds up. with snow.
– In the picture you can see a black dot and this is a stone. A stake has been set up by the stone. If you go to Tromsdalstinden in the summer, you know that the rock is one and a half to two meters away from the mountain side. There, it descends vertically for 300–400 metres. Those tourists were not on safe ground. They were standing far outside the mountain, says Krause to iTromsø.
Tromsdalstinden in the heart of Tromsdalen is, according to ut.no, the highest peak visible from Tromsø. It is a powerful sight with its 1238 meters.
– It’s absolutely terrible to see. I have seen several such pictures this winter, also from other places in the country. It’s like standing in thin air, says Carsten Gade Rolland, avalanche researcher and head of department at the Sports Academy at UiT to VG.
– Race to the death
Gade Rolland believes that the snow drifts at Tromsdalstinden and other overhanging drifts on the mountains around Tromsø are very dangerous to venture on.
– You expose yourself to life-threatening danger. We have had fatal accidents with people who have stepped on screeds that have broken, he says.
In the picture, you can clearly see that there are several people out on the scythe at the same time.
– The more people standing on the screed, the greater the chance of it breaking.
The outcome is almost a given.
– If you stand outside on an overhanging scree, you will in all probability crash to your death if it breaks, says Gade Rolland, who researches landslides and safe travel in the mountains.
– Many hundreds of meters straight down
– We always respond to such accidents, but often the fall is so high that the injuries cannot be survived, says Mads Gilbert, senior physician at UNN and professor of emergency medicine at UiT.
He says they have experienced a number of fatal accidents as a result clavicle fractureWhen a snowdrift collapses or breaks off, often suddenly and without warning. In recent years. At Tromsdalstinden, two or three people have died. There have also been fatal accidents in Lyngen and in Nordfylket.
– We have picked up tourists who have gone too far and the top skid has broken, and they have fallen many hundreds of meters straight down, says Gilbert to VG.
The problem, he believes, is that it is difficult to assess where solid rock ends and the scree begins, when you reach the top from the least steep side.
– Here, as in many other things that are on the border between pleasure and horror, you have to be careful and think defensively, he says.
– Very high risk
Gade Rolland says that you are not safe either if you are standing on a screed that is on solid ground.
– A shovel over solid ground can break at up to 45 degrees and the risk is very high that you will be dragged down when it crashes.
– What happens to you when you stand on a screed that breaks?
– You will probably fall straight down with the scythe. Often there will be a vertical drop of several hundred metres.
The avalanche researcher believes that you must acquire knowledge of the snow conditions and enter a safety margin on the peaks.
– False security
He says many people think it is safe when they follow a ski track. But that is false security.
– Even if there are tracks, that does not mean that it is safe when you go there. There is a high probability that, at one point or another, a screed will collapse, says Gade Rolland.
His advice is to avoid such scraps throughout the season.
– You can never know with 100 percent certainty that the shovel will hold. Snow drifts are formed when snow blows and builds up – and beyond the peaks. The more snow a shovel contains, the heavier it is and then the force of gravity applies.
The time we are in now is extra scary, the researcher believes.
– These days, when the sun is higher and it’s warmer, the bonds in the snow weaken and the chance of the slopes collapsing increases, he says.
– Fantastic in the mountains now
– How is the avalanche situation in general in the areas around Tromsø now?
– The general situation now is that there is a low risk of landslides. But people have to check the Varsom app, and familiarize themselves with what avalanche problems there are in the area you’re going to walk in, he says.
But Gade Rolland will certainly not discourage people from going into the mountains.
– It is fantastic to walk in the mountains now, with long, bright days and still lots of snow.
The tourist group that was on a trip at the weekend made it to the top in one piece. Then Krause tried to speak out.
– I waited for them and asked if they were aware that they were standing on a snow shovel and that it was not safe. What I said was recorded, but they did not comment on it. It didn’t sound like they were very worried, says Krause.
This is not the first time he has observed such a situation.
– Three or four weeks ago, there were three foreign ski tourists who stood the longest on the same snow shovel. Then I shouted to them to pull away from the edge immediately. They just flirted. They think it was terribly funny, says Krause.
