The case in summary: Per Gustav Wesseltoft and Heidi Helgerud from Drammen were supposed to climb Store Skagastølstind, but ended up spending a night in the cold on the mountain. They made two mistakes: They left behind equipment, including a mountain cloth, to reduce weight. They also didn’t check the weather forecast ahead of time, since they were only going on a day trip. They became so hypothermic that they began to hallucinate, and they didn’t think they would survive. After more than a day, three climbers came to them with food, drink and warm clothes. The couple have received criticism on social media after the incident, but they have chosen to share their story so that others can learn from their mistakes. They plan to go on a summit trip again after resting. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – It was so warm and good that I went shirtless. It was completely unthinkable that things could turn around so quickly, says Per Gustav Wesseltoft. Last week he was to climb Norway’s third largest mountain, Store Skagastølstind, together with his girlfriend, Heidi Helgerud. The mountain is located in Vest-Jotunheimen. They are used to mountains and were well equipped. Nevertheless, the twelve-hour mountain trip became a nightmare for the couple from Drammen. LIFE DANGER: The couple from Drammen set out on a trip to Store Skagastølstind on Thursday morning. Suddenly there was a change in the weather that put them in danger. Photo: Privat Have been climbing since their teens. They have both embarked on mountain trips since their youth. Heidi has been climbing since her teens. She has climbed mountains such as Andersnatten, Svolværgeita and Kilimanjaro. She also climbed “Storen” twice when she was in her 20s. Per Gustav has also been climbing for the past fifteen years. They have been talking about experiencing the trip together since last spring. The trip up the spectacular mountain peak started on Thursday morning last week. They camped in the valley the night before to shorten the trip. But on the way, the two make mistakes they will later regret. FJELLVANTE: Heidi Helgerud grew up in the mountains and has been climbing since her teens. This summer she wanted to take her boyfriend on the trip up “Storen”, a mountain she has climbed twice before. Photo: Privat They feared that they would fall during the climb to the top. Therefore, they put down equipment along the way to lose weight. The mountain cloth was also left behind. On the way up to 2,400 meters above sea level, the weather changed. – It was black and cold and violent. It was almost full winter up there. There were some huge showers. It was completely unreal, says Wesseltoft. – Like wearing VR glasses It rained, blew and the fog cleared. They couldn’t find the rappel attachment in the storm. The couple were tired and freezing. They realized that it was too scary to look further on the edge of the cliff for the abseil mount, and abseil down on slippery rock. They decided to call for help. While they waited, they dug out two boulders, put the climbing ropes under them and built a kind of seat. Here they huddled together. – I looked down and saw that my legs were shaking and went off by themselves. As early as Friday night, a rescue team tried to get to the two. But bad weather put an end to the attempt. The rescue helicopter had to turn around several times. – It is an additional psychological burden to hear that the helicopter came and turned around many times, he says. The walkers had to change into dry clothes under a large windbag. Photo: Halvor Dannevig / Norwegian alpine rescue groups Throughout the morning of the following day, the couple were so chilled that they began to lose hope that they would survive. – You enter a fantasy world and see things that don’t exist. We saw rock caves to crawl into and canyons to go under, but we both knew there was nothing up there. It was like wearing VR glasses, says Wesseltoft. – I was afraid of Per Gustav. I noticed that the shaking and breathing stopped, says Helgerud. Over a day after they started the trip, three climbers approached the couple on foot. They were covered with a mountain cloth, given warm clothes, slices of bread and hot drink. – I remember that one of them shouted: “Dæven, they are alive”, says Wesseltoft. – It was amazing. We caught up quite quickly, says Helgerud. Dramatic descent Great resources were mobilized to get the couple out alive. Both the air ambulance, rescue helicopter and civilian helicopter were deployed. There were a total of six volunteer climbers in Norwegian alpine rescue groups who took part in the campaign. Two police patrols and three volunteers from the Red Cross also assisted. – The man was so cold that we barely got in touch with him, says Halvor Dannevik, one of the local climbers who took part in the action. It was a great help that the couple could walk themselves, but the trip down was also dramatic. – There was a stiff gale and it was hailing stones around us. It was an unreal situation to be in, says Wesseltoft. Only when they were down at the place called Hytta på Bandet could a helicopter pick them up. Just before four o’clock on Friday afternoon, 30 hours after the trip started, they were down from the mountain. Believes a mountain cloth had changed everything Following the rescue operation, the couple has experienced criticism on social media for going on the demanding trip. They have read online that they deserved to sit and freeze to death, that they should have paid for the rescue operation and given a bank guarantee before they were rescued. – It is obvious that they do not understand what it is like to go hiking in the mountains. We didn’t set out on a hopeless project in shorts, a T-shirt and sandals, he says. COOLED: Per Gustav Wesseltoft had a lot of equipment with him before he set out on the summit trip up Norway’s third largest mountain. Nevertheless, the trip ended with a dramatic rescue operation. Photo: Anders Haualand / news The couple believe that the rescue operation could have been avoided if they had brought a mountain cloth weighing a couple of hundred grams. Since they were only going on a day trip, they did not check the weather forecast further ahead. It was also a mistake, they admit. – We were reasonably prepared, but made mistakes, says Wesseltoft. Willing to help others You have chosen to come forward with your story so that others will learn from your mistakes, and think about it, to prevent others ending up in similar situations. The couple call the team that rescued them “unique” and “fantastic”. They were surprised when they realized that many of the people involved were volunteers and worked for free. – I would like to pay tribute to the volunteers in the Norwegian Alpine Rescue Groups, in addition to all public bodies who stood up for us every single minute, says Helgerud. Although they are tired, they are ready to go out on the summit again. – That is for sure. We are just going to rest for another week, she says. WEIRD THOUGHTS: Heidi Helgerud has been climbing since she was eighteen. She thought about her dog Frost and her son at home when she was stuck at Store Skagastølstind. – You get a lot of strange thoughts, she says. Photo: Anders Haualand / news Store Skagastølstind or “Storen” is Norway’s third largest mountain. It is located 2405 meters above sea level. If you want to reach the top of the mountain, you have to climb up and abseil down. Published 02.08.2024, at 18.26
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Per Gustav Wesseltoft and Heidi Helgerud saved in dramatic rescue operation at Store Skagastølstind – news Vestland
