Standing firmly at the top of Store Skagastølstind – news Vestland

Rescue crews struggled through the night to find their way through demanding weather conditions to the top of Store Skagastølstind in Luster. The man and woman in their 50s left at 09:00 on Thursday. The two did not get down from the 2,405 meter high mountain peak until bad weather and darkness struck. Operations manager Knut Dahl-Michelsen at the West police district describes the situation as demanding. – They are thinly dressed, chilled, wet and cold, and have no food. They are not dressed for a night out in the mountains, he says. – Bad weather reports At 08:00 on Friday morning, an alpine rescue group gave up the attempt to get up to the steep slopes. The group was then only 200 meters from the summit. – They assessed their own safety and found that it was not advisable to continue. For the time being, there is a standstill, but it is continuously assessed whether it is possible to pick up, says Dahl-Michelsen. The rescue team is now hoping for a long enough stay in the bad weather so that a helicopter can go up. – But there are bad weather reports for the day. It seems to hold up as now. Around zero degrees, precipitation, wind and low cloud cover, says Michelsen. Difficult to find their way The skorfaste notified themselves of the situation just before midnight. The weather was too bad for a rescue helicopter to go up. – It was bad weather and bad visibility, and it was going to get worse, said operations manager Terje Magnussen. The alpine rescue team from Sunnmøre first estimated that they would arrive at 6am at the earliest. – It’s quite rough, with both fog and wind. They had difficulty finding their way around, so we have seen them in contact with people who are familiar with the area, says rescue manager Thomas Breivoll at the Main Rescue Center in Southern Norway. Just before 08:00, the police reported that the rescue team had still not been able to reach the top. Rain, wind and cold Store Skagastølstind is the third highest mountain in Norway. One has to climb towards the end to reach the top. It was cold last night. – As far as we can see, it has been around zero to three degrees at the top. The wind has been up to 10-12 meters per second. It also rained a lot last night, says Breivoll. HRS was in contact with the man and woman at 0530. – They were cold, but in relatively good spirits. It helps when we say that people are on their way, says Breivoll. – How well equipped they were for a night at the top of Store Skagastølstind. – We don’t know, but they were cold and wet. Published 26/07/2024, at 06.31 Updated 26.07.2024, at 09.04



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