– We are working our boots off to finish, and I think it will be great. That’s what an enthusiastic Audun Hetland says. He is an associate professor at the University of Tromsø – Norway’s Arctic University, and head of the research center CARE, which researches landslides in Norway. Audun Hetland is an associate professor and trained psychologist. He leads a research group on human factors in avalanche accidents at UiT – Norway’s Arctic University. Photo: Ingrid Wester Amundsen The month of March is the worst avalanche month of the year, according to statistics from the warning service varsom.no from the Meteorological Institute. In March 2023, five people lost their lives in three different landslides in Troms, on the same day. On Monday this week, a young woman lost her life in an avalanche on Kvaløya outside Troms. Since 2008, more than 760 people have been caught in avalanches. On Friday, a man in his 20s died in an avalanche in Hemsedal and became the 107th person to die in 15 years. – We had to do something, it was absolutely terrible, Sir Hetland. A new app, which will help people find safe journeys in the mountains, will be ready for use by tourists and the population of Troms at the end of February. App: Topptur.guide The app has been developed in collaboration with the research center CARE and tourism companies in Troms that specialize in winter tourism. The app is called topptur.guide and functions as a map of Norway, with suggestions for trips all over the country. The app already exists, but operates with test data and will only be launched at the turn of February-March, when the winter season kicks in in full. Topptur.guide already exists as an app, but only operates with test data. The finished version launches at the turn of February-March. Photo: Toptur.guide/screenshot – It is made up of data that people themselves have shared from their trips, explains Hetland. The development group has used the data from people’s own trips to draw up alternative safer routes that can be found in the app. – The first track that is laid on the trail will be followed by others, so it is important to list the right path, points out Hetland. Børre Berglund is project manager in the tourism cluster Arctic365. Great need Arctic-365 is a cluster of tourism companies that work together to increase international winter tourism to Northern Norway. They have contributed together with the CARE research center to develop the app. Børre Berglund is project manager in Arctic-365, and says that the initiative came in 2016: – Since then there has been a desire for more information about safe trips for tourists and foreign guides. Arctic-365 works actively to ensure the competence of the guides at the tourism companies they collaborate with. – An app will naturally not do the whole job, but can become an important tool to secure tourists and local people on trips in the mountains, says Berglund. Audun Hetland has been in the breach for a new top tour app, he hopes it will make ski tourists safe in the mountains in northern Norway. App warns of avalanches An important function of the app will be to make recommendations about safe summit tours based on contributions from local guides, and information about weather and avalanche conditions. – But it is important to emphasize that no trips in avalanche terrain in winter are safe. It’s about finding the trips that are the least risky, says avalanche researcher Audun Hetland. At the same time, it entails the responsibility of giving clear advice on which path to choose, should the choice turn out to be wrong: – This brings with it a number of ethical issues, says Hetland. The concern for Hetland is what happens on the day a recommended trip leads to an avalanche accident. – Who is responsible if something like this happens, he asks rhetorically. That is why it is important for the avalanche researcher that people also make their own assessments, and not blindly listen to the advice from the app: – At the same time, there is value in influencing people who enjoy traveling in Norwegian nature to make safer choices in the mountains, he says.
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Developing new top tour app with avalanche warning – news Troms and Finnmark
