Finnish woman dies in climbing accident in Norway

Finnish man seriously injured

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A Finnish woman was killed and a Finnish man was seriously injured in an ice-climbing accident on a mountain in Rjukan in the south of Norway on Wednesday.
      “One of the Finns died. The other is in critical condition, and is in treatment at Ullevaal Hospital in Oslo”, Elise Godliebsen of the Telemark police said to Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday.
      She confirmed later that the injured Finn was a man and the deceased was a woman.
     
The Finns were climbing an icefall when they slid down over 100 metres.
      Local rescue officials got an alarm about an accident that had taken place on the Gaustatoppen mountain at half past seven local time.
      There was a third climber in the Finnish group, who ended up stuck on the wall.
     
Experienced climbers helped the third climber down, apparently unhurt.
      Rescue officials said that weather conditions were good.
      The Finns were part of a larger group of climbers who were given crisis counselling in Rjukan.
      The accident took place in an area known as Bølgen, which is located in the northeast part of Rjukan, favoured by climbers around the world. In the wintertime, climbers go for icefalls. There are more than 150 such falls and mixed climbing routes, whose degree of difficulty varies between gradually sloping to nearly perpendicular.
      Numerous climbing accidents have taken place in the area over the years, but no fatalities have previously been reported.


Links:
  Ice-climbing in Rjukan

Helsingin Sanomat