Ragnar

Fitjadalen og Røssdalen er to ville dalføre opp av Frafjord i Rogaland. Ei helg i juni tok vi turen innover desse flotte og varierte heiene. Det var lørdags morgon og endeleg var det klar for helgetur. Turen skulle gå i sørlege delar av Ryfylkeheiane, i området mellom Frafjord og Espedal, omlag ein times med bil frå Nord-Jæren og Stavanger. Her er det flotte fjell- og dalføre og du kan vandre nesten heilt frå sjøkanten og opp på snaufjellet. Det som venta oss var vill og urørt natur med fleire høge fossefall, frodig skog, enorme steinurer og bratte fjellvegger. Men det var også vidstrakte sletter, snaufjell, idyllske vatn, eit rikt dyre- og planteliv og samt fleire kulturminner frå ei svunnen tid. Det var igrunnen ikkje min idè med denne turen, det var søskenbarnet mitt, Lars Erik Hoff, som lenge hadde ymta frampå om ein real fjelltur. Han ofra glatt fotball VM for ei helg, til tross for utruleg fotball-engasjement. Eg vart meir med som turfølge, men fekk dog både bestemme ruta og ta meg av telt, transport og mat. Sola kom som bestilt då vi spente på oss sekkane og gjekk oppover den nye stien mot Månafossen. Denne fossen med fritt fall på 92 meter er litt av eit skue, der den stuper loddrett ned! Stien opp til fossen og vidare inn til fjellgarden Mån er nyleg satt i stand av Jæren friluftsråd. Litt turister kjem det også for å sjå Rogalands høgste, og Norges 7.høgste, fossefall, men særleg mange er det ikkje. Etter å ha forsert ein del høgdemeter, flater dalen ut oppe ved Mån. Her ved den gamle garden er det store grassletter og flott utsikt oppover Fitjadalen. Bygningane er i den siste tida satt i stand og i våningshuset tilbys det overnatting (må bestilles på førehand). Det er også ei open varmestove i kjellaren som kan vera grei å ha på dagar som ikkje er så fine som denne. I elva like ved fekk vi fyllt vassflaskene før vi rusla vidare over slettene innover dalen. Den merka stien svinger over på motsatt side av dalen like før Månavatnet og går gjennom ei stor steinur. Her passerer elva under steinane, så det er vanlegvis ingen vading. Ved liten vassføring som det var no, kan det nok vera greiare å følge følge vasskanten innover, men då må elva vades lengre oppe. Vi holdt oss på stien og tok oss fram i den skogkledde sida eit godt stykke opp frå vatnet. Det er til tider litt kronglete oppover dalen og ein liten utilsikta avstikker frå stien kan fort skje, sjølv om den er godt merka. Innimellom er det nokre få fine teltplassar, særleg nede ved elva. I vinter har det tydelegvis gått ein del ras frå dei stupbratte fjellsidene og fleire tre var velta over stien. Barføtt Ved bredden av Fitjavatnet var det på tide med lunsj. Og så varmt det var i sola! Av med sko og sokker for her var det bare å sprade rundt barføtt i graset. Det var fristande å ta eit bad, men det fekk holde med litt vassing; Vatnet var nok ikkje så varmt som det såg ut til å vera. Vidare er landskapet meir òpe og terrenget meir lettgått. Fleire pausar må til på denne flotte dagen og vi sit lenge å nyt inntrykket av den fine naturen. Eit stykke ut på ettermiddagen kjem vi opp til Fidjastølen og tar av stien, som fortsetter opp til turisthytta Blåfjellenden. Først skal vi vade over elva og det er ikkje spesielt utfordrande med den relativt beskjedne vassmenga. Ved større nedbørsmengder kan det nok vera meir enn vanskeleg å ta seg over skulle eg tru. Telting på snaufjellet Nokre høgdemeter og ei kronglete bjørkeli langs ein bekk ventar oss, før vi når over tregrensa. Så ventar snaufjellet på oss. Då det lir mot kveld er det på tide å sette opp teltet tenker eg, men turfølge mitt kunne gjerne ha tenkt seg å fortsatt eit stykke til. Lars Erik Hoff har nemleg nyleg vore å traska ein del kilometer i Nepal, så formen hans er upåklageleg. Det vesle Rondane teltet blir satt opp på eit passe flatt område ved Lunnarvatnet. Litt stein må til for å få teltet til å stå i det skrine jordsmonnet. I mens sola er på god veg bak skyene, kryp vi inn i teltet og fyrer opp primusen. Vi har tatt med oss meir enn nok med pølser, ferske pølsebrød og ketchup, så det blir eit realt festmåltid. Etter ein lang dag blir det ein tidleg kveld og underteikna slukner iallefall temmeleg fort. Skyene kjem innover frå kysten i løpet av natta og det regner godt ei stund. På morgonkvisten, eller rettare sagt utpå formiddagen, så er imiddlertid sola der igjen. Frokost ute i det fri med utsikt nedover Indre Dalen er ikkje å forakte! Indre Dalen og Røssdalen I ti-tida rusla vi vidare. Langt der framme kunne vi sjå dei grøne jordene til bøndene nede i Espedal og no venta ville og vakre Indre Dalen og Røssdalen. Det er på ingen måte ein merka sti nedover, men av og til var det nokre små vardar som visar veg. Litt ulent var det til tider, men vi tok oss greit fram. Regntunge skyer kom farande inn og det byrja snart å dryppe litt. Varmt var det, så det var først då regnet verkeleg tok til, at jakken måtte på. I regnvèret vart det temmeleg sleipt på steinane og det vart raskt nokre litt ukontrollerte manøvarar. Langs Indravatnet kom vi heilt av stien eit stykke, viss det i det heile er ein sti der. Her passerte vi også ein flott foss, som stupte ned den loddrette fjellsida like ved oss. Praktfullt! Eit lite stykke ned i Røssdalen kom vi innpå den merka stien, men først hadde vi då tatt oss gjennom ei litt ulent steinur med store steinblokker. Det er imiddlertid ikkje noko i forhold til den store steinura som ligg like ved, men vi tok heller stien som går rundt (begge er merka). Nede på dei flotte grasslettene like ved Røssdalsvatnet var det på tide med lunsj igjen og her var det også eit par familiar på søndagstur. Det siste stykket ned til parkeringsplassen går på veldig god sti og til slutt ein kjerreveg. Kanskje for godt tilrettelagt for enkelte, fordi turfølget mitt insisterte på at vi måtte følge militær disiplin og småjogge det siste stykket... Etter ein halv time vart vi plukka opp og satt snart i ferjekøen på Oanes, der vi fekk kjøpt oss ein is i kiosken. Meir om turen og fleire bilde på breogfjellsport.no

Just some short answers to some of old hand's questions (se some posts above this one). My replies in italic text (kursiv) 1.Lp scan # 2 says it's 17 km from Elveseter Hotel to Lom, Spiterstulen is even more to the south, so how long is the drive from Lom to Spiterstulen? 34km, which about 18km is on the toll road 2.They arrived at 10 in the morning after he picked her up some 4 or 5 km outside Lom centre (i.e. about an hours walk). 3.So around what time could she have left Lom, and does this early start mean she spent the night there? Probably (I think). 4-5km outside Lom would mean about 30km distance. I guess that would take you 45-60 minutes because of the 18km of un-paved and narrow road the last leg to Spiterstulen. 4-5km would propably take just around an hour to walk and then mabye some waiting? 2 hours from Lom to Spiterstulen could then be realistic, meaning she left around 8 o'clock in the morning. According to news articles quoted on this forum, she did spend the night at Norddal turistsenter, which is located in Lom centre. (http://www.nordalturistsenter.no/) 4.Could she buy food that early? Did she (could she) buy food (to take along) at Spiterstulen (any time before she left on Sunday)? Only at petrol stations I think (at 8 o'clock). Breakfast at Norddal turistsenter from 8-11am. The evening before she could easily bought food and other items in one of Lom's several stores. They would have been open to 9pm on weekdays, like 2nd of june. 5.When did she arrive in Lom, and did she ever pay a visit to the Tourist Office there? See its opening hours. Tourist office open until 4pm that day. Probably not I guess 7.The 3 scans indeed seem to cover all that's written about Jotunheimen. I cannot find any mention (warning) there about the season, and when huts and facilities open in Jotunheimen in general. Nothing about bridges f.e. too. Twice readers are advised to contact the Tourist Office in Lom for information about Jotunheimen National Park and for tips on "Wanderwege" i.e. hikingtrails. But it's possible that perhaps elsewhere in the more "general information" for hiking in Norway, the LP warns in respect of the season, huts and other facilities being closed / unavailable before certain dates, and so on. Does it? Have no idea, but I might find out if I can get hold of this book It should do that, and I think it does. The editon for Iceland does. 8. What other sources besides her LP travelguide (what language? which edition?) did she consult in advance? Who advised her? She bought maps, so was she at the Tourist Office indeed in Lom? Was she (ever) told the season had not yet begun and she was an early foreign tourist there and wárned about the absence of certain facilities still? I don't know. Interesting question. She could possible have gotten advices some place else in Norway 9. Several of the lodges/huts can be booked in advance by e-mail. Did she? Do not think so at Spiterstulen (she could have done other places). Accoording to news reports, she checked in at Spiterstulen shortly after arriving (10 o'clock), before meeting the polish half an hour later and then startet to hike towards Galdhøgpiggen. It was on the check-in card that she wrote a questionmark for "next stay" (not when leaving the following day) 10. Did she ask if there was a mountainguide available at Spiterstulen for that day (Sunday), to accompany her in a certain direction? (Maybe a Sunday isn't the best day to ask for a guide, that's possible). According to news articles, she did not ask for anythink at the hut. A guide might have been availble in the Lom area, but it Would have been quite expencive to hire one for several days. It is more common to join guides tour with a "trekking company" (Like DNT) 11. Could she have a certain fascination or admiration for Ibsen, and/or his Peer Gynt? The LP guide highly recommends a hike over the "Besseggen Grat". That might be the case. It is a famous hike, and Lonely planet did recomend it, so she might have wantet do go there anyway 12. Whether she ever tried to find information in advance through the internet, we don't know. She may have e-mailed with the Tourist Office or with some of the huts (long) in advance; we don't know. But the website http://www.visitlom.com (the one recommended in the Lonely Planet guidebook) at present has its Norwegian version, yet if you click for its English version it now says: .... (removed some text) .... But there is no "more"... There is a lot of information on that website, also about a number of hotels and huts. But apart from the date June 1 for a specific hut to open, I can't find anything about accomodations being closed "before the season starts". Maybe that's my fault. No pages in english or german at present. I can't find "season" information, just expressions like "winter" and "summer". The pages are mainly general informations and give no details of spesific routes or paths. Galdhøpiggen is mentioned, but not in detail. However some advices about clothing and equipment are given, and they suggest that you ask the staff at huts for advices. They do not refeer to the "Norwegian Mountain Code" ("Fjellvettreglene"). When it comes to closed mountain huts, there are some information, but its hard to find. If you click on details (Meir info) sometimes the text states the season opening dates, but mostly you have to open their own webpages to get such information. It would have been natural to inform more clearly when it is "summer season" and "winter season". For most norwegians this is common knowlege, but not for foreign tourists. I mid february I meet some german tourists in Rondane. When asked why they did go so early in the winter (their first hut-to-hut ski trip ever), they replied that it was the best time to go skiing in their area in germany. Last year some of my relatives went hiking in Jotunheimen in june together with some of their dutch family. They did hike over Besseggen just to arrive at a closed tourist hut at Memrubu...(there was mobile coverage and they did get a boat to pick them up). No information about this closed hut was given when staying overnight at nearbye Gjendesheim, but they didn't ask either. It's adviseble to check opening dates before hiking to any tourist hut (remember a lot of tourist huts require a key anyway) http://www.turistforeningen.no/turplanlegger/cabin.php (in norweginan only...) General information in english: http://www.turistforeningen.no/english/index.php?fo_id=3610 I might write to the tourist information in Lom and urge them to refeer to the Mountain code aswell as giving more clearly season information on their webpages.

Ja, teltet egnar seg godt i dårleg vèr, det har eg også erfart. Har også brukt Svalbard 5 versjonen litt og då er det nok litt verre når ein er åleine, men veldig stor forskjell er det ikkje. Ein ellers svært viktig sak er dette med at bardunane viklar seg i kvarandre. Har opplevd ganske heftig samanvikling som tok langt tid å få opp, ikkje noko å trakte etter i dårleg vèr. Løyste problemet ved å rulle opp og feste bardunane med ein strikk.

Har brukt Helsport Svalbard telt ganske mykje i det siste, for det meste åleine, så eg kjenner igjen problemet. Det hjelper å tre stanga ved døra først - det er det beste trikset! I motsatt fall blir det bare kluss. Framgongsmåten eg nyttar er som følger: - Fester teltet med ein plugg (viss det er vind) - Først inn med dei minste stengene og spenner opp desse - Deretter stanga ved døra før den siste stanga - Spenner opp teltet Det virker som om problemet varierer med temperaturen. Det kan uansett skje at stengene sett seg fast i nokre av hempene. Eg har laga ein liten test av teltet i samband med Norge på langs turen eg gjekk i vinter. Den kan du lesa her: http://breogfjellsport.no/npl/utrustning/pages.php?pageID=71

This is a reply in another thread, regarding the disapperance of a dutch hiker in Jotunheimen, Norway https://www.fjellforum.no/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&controller=topic&id=5602 It is possible to hire a satellite phone or an emergency beacon in Norway, but it is not a common thing to do. Mainly only people going to very remote areas, sailing on the oceans or traveling to unstable countries tend to bring such communication equipment. Some of the guides in Jotunheimen may carry a sat-phone or an emergency beacon I belive, but I am not sure how many?. Tourist huts do not offer sat-phones or beacons for rent, and I am not sure people would be prepared to pay the cost (lets say €100 a week for a wild guess). A private company, Neratek (neratek.no), has sat-phones for rent, but at a rather high price. Also some individuals rent out their phones and beacons. In mainland Norway only a tiny fraction of mountaineers do carry a sat-phone or a beacon I think. Mabye a tiny fraction of tourists also do travel with a sat-phone, esessially thoose who need to stay in-touch everywhere. As an example, on Iceland I met a Dutch photografer on vacation bringing an Iridium 9505 sat-phone. The reason is partly a cost issue I belive, tough it has been alot cheaper to aquire and use the last years. Also I think people is not really aware of the benefits and added safety you could get when bringing either a sat-phone, or even better, an emergency beacon. However, I also see that most people dosn't need one, even when walking in the mountains. Fore thoose walking alone it might be a very wise thing to carry. In 10-20 years time, one can asume that a normal cell-phone also has got an emergency option by satellite, hopefully? There are really only two options for hand-held sat-phones at the time beeing, where only one offer very close to a global service: Iridium Nearly global coverage (except 2-3 countries like North-Korea) using 66 satelittes in polar orbits (Low altitude satelites). Expensive phones ($1000-$2000??) and no roaming agreements with gsm-networks, so you have to have a direct subscription to this service. Rather cheap calls, international flate rate $1-$2 a minute depending on call-plans. Prepaid availeble as well. The best choice at sea, at the poles and souronding areas and elsewhere when coverage is the main priority. Globalstar 48 sattelites in low orbit as well, but not polar orbits. Roaming agreements with most main GSM operators in europe (as far I know), so no direct subscription is needed if you do not want to. Romaing charges: $2-$3 a minute in europe. With direct subscription: $0,5-1,5$ in europe depending on plan (Elsacom). This is a "bent-pipe" type of network. Better coverage in some areas because of multiple satelitte coverage, but only within 60 degrees north og 60 degrees south. Single satelitte coverage between 60-70 degrees north/south. Limited coverage on the oceans and SEVERAL countries are not served. A lot cheaper phones ($500-$1500??) and roaming is the main advantage. Just a notice for norwegian globalstar users: Chess discountinued their globalstar roaming this year without telling anyone... (as part of the "moving") Luckely I got another sim-card aswell. I would recomend a basic Telenor mobil or Netcom subscription (not prepaid or restrictions like "young talk") A typically hand-held sat-phone is just like the first GSM phones in size, but with a bigger antenna. I've used both Iridium and Globalstar networks. Last year I bought a Ericsson R290 globalstar phone for a long solo ski-trip. When used in "the field", theese phones must be handeled with care, a waterthight box is recomended. Depending on the topography and satelitte orbits, it may take some time to get on the network. When using Globalstar in Norway it takes typically from 0-20 minutes before getting coverage, slightly more in the northern parts. In a very deep valley or other places with limited view of the sky, it might take a bit longer. Iridium should be somewhat faster to log on, espessially in north of Norway. Another issue is that emergency numbers do not work on theese sat-phones! So you have to use alternative telephone numbers to get in touch with the police or medical assistance (remember country codes, like +47 for Norway). (Thureya offer hand held sat-phone services from 2 geostationary satelittes, mainly in the middle-east and asia. GSM roaming) Emergency beacons (EPIRB - PLB) 2 american and 2 russian satelittes in polar orbits as well as 4 (?) geostationary satellites do pick up signals from emergency beacons. Essensially a small box with just one button. Press it and you will alert the nearest SAR centre whereever you are. If the beacon has got an internal GPS, it will pinpoint your location and brodcast it. If not, the satellites in polar orbits will calculate your position. If having geostationary coverage, the system will pick up the signal at once. With only coverage from polar orbiting satelittes, which often is the case inbetween mountains, it may take 0-2 hours before picking it up. Theres also a homing signal which a search helicopter could use to trace the exact position. It is very easy to use and designed to operate under extreme conditions, so no worry about batteries, water or things getting broken. Much more reliable than a sat phone, but only for use in an emergency. With a sat-phone you could get advices and also tell what the situation is like (e.g. easier for to priority when several SAR at one time) and also report if you just is late due to the weather. Prices ranging from $500 to $1500 I think. In addition a licence fee, about 500NOK (€60) a year, for devices registered in Norway, free in most other countries. Global coverage. Setting of an emergency beacon would trigger a quick and huge rescue effort, at first with helicopters. Just a reminder: Setting of a false alarm will be heavely fined and you would be responsibile for rescue expences When traveling on remote parts on the norwegian islandgroup Svalbard (with Spitsbergen as the biggest island), the authorities insist that you carry an emergency beacon. They also highly recomend a sat-phone (Iridium). The SAR teams on Svalbard also use sat-phones activly when operating (in addition to VHF) Edit: Wikipedia's article on emergency beacons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_position_indicating_radio_beacons Edit2: Just changing text-size on headlines

I've started this thread so we can discuss and share information and experience regarding the use of satelitte phones and Emergency beacons. As it might be of interest of international users on this board, I suggest that we mainly use the english language.

Reddet Reddet av nødpeilesenderen http://www.bt.no/lokalt/article278485.ece 57-åringen skulle ta seg fra Bergen til Shetland i denne 14 fots store båten. I natt ble han reddet vest for Marstein fyr i Austevoll. Legg merke til dette: Nødpeilesenderen var avgjørende for å finne mannen. Men den ga også noen redningstekniske problemer, fordi den var lånt - og av amerikansk opprinnelse. - Dermed tok det en stund før vi visste hva slags fartøy og hvem vi faktisk lette etter. Men det er selvfølgelig sekundært: Det viktigste for oss er uansett å redde liv, sier Solberg. Det er fullt mogleg å nytte peilere registerert i utlandet, men det kan vera greit å oppdatera informasjon om kven som bruker den ser det ut til. Veit ikkje eksakt korleis dette i praksis skal oppdaterast? I Norge er det vel Post og teletilsynet som har ansvaret. Ellers gir Wikipedia ein god beskrivelse av systemet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_position_indicating_radio_beacons

Some quick suggestions: EPIRB/PLB (Emergency beacon, Nødpeilesender): http://www.jotron.no/maritime/default.htm Globalstar sat tlf: http://www.htsalg.com/ You could also check out ebay.com for second hand phones ---------------------------------------------- I've startet two new topics which is related to this thread: The Norwegian Mountain Code ("Fjellvettreglene" in norwegian) https://www.fjellforum.no/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&controller=topic&id=5696 Satelitte-phones and Emergency Beacons https://www.fjellforum.no/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&controller=topic&id=5697

The Norwegian Trekking Association (Den norske turistforening - DNT) has published an english version of The Norwegian Mountain Code. When hiking in Norway you should always try to follow this code. The text below is an extrakt from http://www.turistforeningen.no/english/article.php?ar_id=7090&fo_id=3622 The Norwegian Mountain Code (called "Fjellvettreglene" in Norwegian) is directed towards your safety. Be prepared Be sufficiently experienced and fit for your intended tour. Practice hiking or skiing with a pack away from trails and tracks, even if conditions are poor. It's then that you gain the experience needed for mountain tours. Your physical and mental fitness, your experience and your gear determine the sensible length of a tour. Leave word of your route Many cabins, hotels and other lodgings have tour notification boxes in which you may put written notice of your tour route. In an emergency, the details you give will aid the rescue service. However, the best safeguard is to plan your tour so you need not be rescued by others. Be weatherwise An old adage advises that you should always be alert to forecasts of bad weather yet not rely completely on forecasts of good weather. Regardless of the forecast, you should be prepared for bad weather. Even a fresh breeze (Beaufort Scale 5) combined with sleet or frost can produce frostbite. Weather forecasts aren't sufficiently detailed to forecast local weather in mountain areas. Despite forecasts usually being right, it's difficult to predict when weather will change. So you should heed forecasts in adjoining lowlands as well as in the mountains, and follow weather changes. Be equipped for bad weather and frost. Always take a rucksack and proper mountain gear. Put on more clothing if you see approaching bad weather or if the temperature drops. A roomy anorak, long wind trousers, wind mittens and warm headgear are good outer clothing. Put them on in good time. Stand with your back to the wind and help others put on their clothing. Use a survival bag for additional protection. Learn from the locals Local people often can tell you about avalanche train, wind and snow conditions and good choices of route. Use map and compass Always have and know how to use map and compass. Before departing, study the map and trace your route to gain a basis for a successful tour. Follow the map, even when weather and visibility are good, so you always know where you are. When visibility deteriorates, it can be difficult to determine your position. Read the map as you go and take note of points you can recognize. Rely on the compass. Use a transparent, watertight map case attached to your body so it cannot blow away. Take bearings between terrain points on the map that can guide you to your goal. Use the compass to stay on a bearing from a known point. Don't go solo If you trek alone, there's nobody to give first aid or notify a rescue service in an emergency. Yet there isn't always safety in numbers. A large party is inadvisable, particularly if its members are unequally experienced. A party never is stronger than its weakest member. Turn back in time; sensible retreat is no disgrace If conditions deteriorate so you doubt that you can attain your goal, turn about and return. Don't try to defy weather, as others may risk their lives to rescue you. If you change your goal, be sure to notify the cabin that expects you. If you start a tour in windy, uncertain weather, go against the wind. Then it will be easier to backtrack if need be. Conserve energy and build a snow shelter if necessary The stronger the wind, the tougher the trekking. Suit speed to the weakest member of the party and avoid sweating. If you go in single file, turn often to ensure that the others follow, more so in bad weather when it's hard to hear voices. Remember to eat and drink frequently. Physical activity increases the body's need for liquid intake, even if you don't feel thirsty. Insufficient food and drink lead to lethargy, and you can become discouraged. Start building a snow shelter before you are exhausted; a few hours is enough to build a snow trench or snow cave. When you have surplus time and energy, practice building a shelter; the experience gained can be valuable. A survival bag can provide emergency shelter.

http://www.gd.no/artikkel.asp?Artid=185522 Dette temaet vart diskutert her for ei tid tilbake: https://www.fjellforum.no/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&controller=topic&id=3729

It is possible to hire a satellite phone or an emergency beacon in Norway, but it is not a common thing to do. Mainly only people going to very remote areas, sailing on the oceans or traveling to unstable countries tend to bring such communication equipment. Some of the guides in Jotunheimen may carry a sat-phone or an emergency beacon I belive, but I am not sure how many?. Tourist huts do not offer sat-phones or beacons for rent, and I am not sure people would be prepared to pay the cost (lets say €100 a week for a wild guess). A private company, Neratek (neratek.no), has sat-phones for rent, but at a rather high price. Also some individuals rent out their phones and beacons. In mainland Norway only a tiny fraction of mountaineers do carry a sat-phone or a beacon I think. Mabye a tiny fraction of tourists also do travel with a sat-phone, esessially thoose who need to stay in-touch everywhere. As an example, on Iceland I met a Dutch photografer on vacation bringing an Iridium 9505 sat-phone. The reason is partly a cost issue I belive, tough it has been alot cheaper to aquire and use the last years. Also I think people is not really aware of the benefits and added safety you could get when bringing either a sat-phone, or even better, an emergency beacon. However, I also see that most people dosn't need one, even when walking in the mountains. Fore thoose walking alone it might be a very wise thing to carry. In 10-20 years time, one can asume that a normal cell-phone also has got an emergency option by satellite, hopefully? There are really only two options for hand-held sat-phones at the time beeing, where only one offer very close to a global service: Iridium Nearly global coverage (except 2-3 countries like North-Korea) using 66 satelittes in polar orbits (Low altitude satelites). Expensive phones ($1000-$2000??) and no roaming agreements with gsm-networks, so you have to have a direct subscription to this service. Rather cheap calls, international flate rate $1-$2 a minute depending on call-plans. Prepaid availeble as well. The best choice at sea, at the poles and souronding areas and elsewhere when coverage is the main priority. Globalstar 48 sattelites in low orbit as well, but not polar orbits. Roaming agreements with most main GSM operators in europe (as far I know), so no direct subscription is needed if you do not want to. Romaing charges: $2-$3 a minute in europe. With direct subscription: $0,5-1,5$ in europe depending on plan (Elsacom). This is a "bent-pipe" type of network. Better coverage in some areas because of multiple satelitte coverage, but only within 60 degrees north og 60 degrees south. Single satelitte coverage between 60-70 degrees north/south. Limited coverage on the oceans and SEVERAL countries are not served. A lot cheaper phones ($500-$1500??) and roaming is the main advantage. (Thureya offer hand held sat-phone services from 2 geostationary satelittes, mainly in the middle-east and asia. GSM roaming) Just a notice for norwegian globalstar users: Chess discountinued their globalstar roaming this year without telling anyone... (as part of the "moving") Luckely I got another sim-card aswell. I would recomend a basic Telenor mobil or Netcom subscription (not prepaid or restrictions like "young talk") A typically hand-held sat-phone is just like the first GSM phones in size, but with a bigger antenna. I've used both Iridium and Globalstar networks. Last year I bought a Ericsson R290 globalstar phone for a long solo ski-trip. When used in "the field", theese phones must be handeled with care, a waterthight box is recomended. Depending on the topography and satelitte orbits, it may take some time to get on the network. When using Globalstar in Norway it takes typically from 0-20 minutes before getting coverage, slightly more in the northern parts. In a very deep valley or other places with limited view of the sky, it might take a bit longer. Iridium should be somewhat faster to log on, espessially in north of Norway. Another issue is that emergency numbers do not work on theese sat-phones! So you have to use alternative telephone numbers to get in touch with the police or medical assistance (remember country codes, like +47 for Norway). Emergency beacons (EPIRB - PLB) 2 american and 2 russian satelittes in polar orbits as well as 4 (?) geostationary satellites do pick up signals from emergency beacons. Essensially a small box with just one button. Press it and you will alert the nearest SAR centre whereever you are. If the beacon has got an internal GPS, it will pinpoint your location and brodcast it. If not, the satellites in polar orbits will calculate your position. If having geostationary coverage, the system will pick up the signal at once. With only coverage from polar orbiting satelittes, which often is the case inbetween mountains, it may take 0-2 hours before picking it up. Theres also a homing signal which a search helicopter could use to trace the exact position. It is very easy to use and designed to operate under extreme conditions, so no worry about batteries, water or things getting broken. Much more reliable than a sat phone, but only for use in an emergency. With a sat-phone you could get advices and also tell what the situation is like (e.g. easier for to priority when several SAR at one time) and also report if you just is late due to the weather. Prices ranging from $500 to $1500 I think. In addition a licence fee, about 500NOK (€60) a year, for devices registered in Norway, free in most other countries. Global coverage. Setting of an emergency beacon would trigger a quick and huge rescue effort, at first with helicopters. Just a reminder: Setting of a false alarm will be heavely fined and you would be responsibile for rescue expences When traveling on remote parts on the norwegian islandgroup Svalbard (with Spitsbergen as the biggest island), the authorities insist that you carry an emergency beacon. They also highly recomend a sat-phone (Iridium). The SAR teams on Svalbard also use sat-phones activly when operating (in addition to VHF)

The local news paper Gudbrandsdølen Dagningen (GD) has published an article with some more info from the press conferance. http://gd.no/artikkel.asp?Artid=185357 I'll translate thoose parts which is new information (do also read the last post on page 2 of this thread) Out of the expected gear in the backpack and the fact that she didn't eat breakfast or prepare a lunsj packet at Spiterstulen, the police mean that the missing dutch girl might not be so far away from spiterstulen The man, who lives in Oslo, just desided that he wanted at real moutain trip and entered the car very early in the morning with Lom as destination. Four or five kilometers from the (Lom) centre, he picked up Marijke Vervoort. The two came to Spiterstulen around 10 o'clock the same day. After checking in, the meet again a half an hour later to start the hike towards Galdhøpiggen. The polish has explained that Marijke turned around about half-way, while he continued upwards. This was the last time he saw Marijke. Neighter the polish did summit Galdøhøpiggen and he returned to Oslo, by Valdresflya, the same afternoon Unfortunately didn't Marijke say anything to the polish about where she wantet to go later, just that she had plans about walking in Jotunheimen for approximately a week, according to Lensmann Steinar Angard. Out of witness explanations it reveals that Marijke Vervoort was well equiped, but not enough for sleeping out (in the mountains, my remark) Two directions has been pointed out as the most interesting during the last days. It's mostly the strech from Spiterstulen towards Leirvassbu and Gjendebu. There will also be a search in the area at Hellstugbreen, where theres ongoing glacier messurments. There have been put up an amout of sticks, which can be confused with sticks for walking paths. -We're working out of the theory about that the missing person is in the vicinity of Spiterstulen. Even tough there have been used large resources both on the ground and in the air, the police (lensmannen) mean that it is not so strange that they haven't forund the missing person even tough she may be in an area they allready have searched. -We talk about a terrain which easily could conceal a person, says Angard. -Is there still hope to find Marijke Vervoort alive? -Vi havn't got any other information, bu we all see that the time is about to run away from us. Angard says furhter that the tourist-companies have sharpen their own rutines in the light of the Marijke case. Now the mountain tourists in a stronger way will be asked to note they're next stay on the check-in form Most important information in bold

(Read the posts at the end of page 2) In this post there is a copy of some pages in the german edition of the travelguide "Lonely planet Norway" Edit: Just a copyright remark: The pages belong to Lonely planet and will be removed when not relevant for this thread Edited 09.10 2006: Lonely planet page copies has been removed beacuse they are no longer highly relevant in this thread, as indicated when posted. --------- A quick read-trough give me the impression that Spiterstulen-Gjendebu-(possible boat to Memrubu)-Bessegen-Gjendesheim would be the most interesting hiking trip to do. Gjendebu's season this summer is 23 June – 17 September, so it was closed around 4th of june. When not serviced, there are a self-service hut. Normally this kind of huts are often locked with a "DNT standard key" and this one is marked as locked, but I know by own experience that this hut wasn't locked this winter, so it could have been open. Anyhow, one could easily get the impression that the huts generally were serviced in Jotunheimen at the time, due to the fact that Spiterstulen was fully served, and therefore not worrying about the possibility of closed tourist huts. As the above NRK article states, one theory is that she could have misstakenly turned up towards Hellstugubreen, instead of Urdadalen. It's only about 2km between thoose two tracks, so a wrong turn here might be possible I think. -----------

http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/hedmark_og_oppland/1.625419 A quick english translation: The polish man contacted the Oslo police today and he has been questioned since 4pm this afternoon. He explained that he traveled from Lom to Oslo 3rd of june, and since hasn't had any contact with the disappeared doctor. Marijke Vervoort was last observed outside of Spiterstulen tourist hut in Lom, early in the morning 4th of june this year. She got lift with the polish man and they also went hiking together in the mountains before he left for Oslo. The police says they belive in his explanation, and that he is out of any suspicion regarding the disappearing. The Polish has also put forward picture evidence showing he was in Oslo at the time when the female doctor disappeard. Continued search The police had hoped that the polish had information which could have been usefull in the search for the dutch woman. But he has explained that she did not tell him about where she planned to go after they seperated. The search will continue with police dogs until friday. On theory is that the woman might have gone in the wrong direction towards Gjendebu and got lost in Hellesuggbreen (a Glacier) where there now will be a search.

http://gd.no/artikkel.asp?Artid=185355 The polish man has contacted the police, this news report says. Press conference at 20.00 More: http://nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/hedmark_og_oppland/1.625419 http://www.nettavisen.no/innenriks/article664583.ece

NRK reports that the Lom police have scheduled a press conferance at 20.00 this evening: http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/hedmark_og_oppland/1.624532 GD today report that electronic traces will be collected to get in touch with the polish man http://gd.no/artikkel.asp?Artid=185219 I think this will include credit-cards, mobile phones etc. Marijke did buy a map according to the police. I think its either the map covering central parts of Jotunheimen (Turkart, 1-50.000) or " Galdhøpiggen" (Turkart, 1-25.000)

ca 102!

As mentioned, some news article tells that she wrote a question-mark in the guestbook under the field "next stay" (Bestemmelsested). In found this one: They're directly (first hand) quoting this piece of information from the police. Just speaking for myself: Sometimes I write questionmark in similar guestbooks. My reason is 1) There may be several possible destionations for the night, 2) I will sleep the next night in a tent, 3) Have not desided where to stay next There is also thoose situations when I plan to hike to a peak (or another place), but then return and go somewhere else (by car forinstance). I do think its a quite common thing to do. ---- I would recomend using the english language in this thread, but do not hesitate to post in Norwegian or another language if you feel like doing so. Moderators on this board might add a (brief) english translation to your post

First of all, I want to express my sympathy to friends and family of Marijke Vervoort in this difficult time. Well, I can just asume that the local police did get a court-approval for collecting electronic clues in this case. The next step would be to contact the two main mobile operators (Telenor mobil and Netcom) and get at list of log entries for that mobile subscriber. (All of the Dutch mobile operators do have a GSM/3G roaming agreement with both Telenor Mobil and Netcom, so the phone would normally choose the network with the strongest signal at any given time.) The log entry would presumely contain information about the home network, sim card identity (the subscriber), the imei code (phone idenity), cell id/bts station, timestamp, type of communication (call/message), outgoing or incoming phone number and some more information. In this case only the cell id/bts station would be interesting. That information would only tell you the location of the given Base Tranciver Station, and depending the setup, mabye a weak indication of the direction the call originated from. A GSM type BTS (900 MHz) would normally only cover an area of 1-35km, in some cases up to 60km. The newspaper article state that the last log entry (a phone call) was made on june 3th, before coming to Spiterstulen, therebye this "location" information would be of no help. In order to trace a mobile phone somewhat more accuratly, it must be switched on and be logged on to a network. Even in this case, the positioning would be quite unclear, beacuse of the likelyness of just a singel BTS signal present, but would hace indicated a distance +/- 500meters in a circle drawn from the BTS. Comparingly, in a city with several BTS signals present, the accuracy would typically be pinpointed to +/- 100-200 meters with few error margins. There is also some other possible log-entries from a GSM phone. Due to visiting another network (roaming), the roaming network will check the status of the subscriber in the home network several times a day, and when turning the phone on (location update) as normal. This will update the registers (VLR - Visitor loction register, HLR - Home location register: Both internal databases in a GSM network to keep track of the subscriber). I do not think it is normal to gather this information when investigating a case, but if it is possible to timestamp the last update position update message in VLR, it might be very usefull information! According to this page: http://swpat.ffii.org/pikta/txt/ep/1222/834/ (search for "timestamp"), the HLR saves a timestamp when getting a location update from VLR. However, VLR dosn't alway relay this message if the user havn't moved to another "area". The information in the VLR seems like temporaty data, and I'm not sure how long it's stored. In this case, a search in Telenor mobil's/Netcom's VLR/HLR database at the relevant MSC's could be relevant. Also, at the dutch mobile operators HLR/MSC, one could certainly get the timestamp from the last location update. It might just turn out to be from june 3th, just meaning that the phone not having been in contact with the network since then. Since there is so few clues in this case, I would recomend the above searches (I'm not a proffessional in this matter, just writing as a private person) If we imagine for somewhat reason that Marijke left with a car from Spiterstulen, and the phone was swithed on, these register updates might have occured when getting coverage again, but there would be no normal log-entries I think (only "active" connections will be logged, like a call or a text message). I will also mention that if someone sendt a text message to this phone on june 4th for instance, the above possible register information would likely be of less relevance. Thats because such a message would be recived once getting coverage again, creating a log entry, which didn't occur. The dutch mobile operator knows this, as such a message would still be waiting in their "short text message centre" for delivery. I asume that you would need a dutch court approval to get that kind of information. The mobile coverage in and around Jotunheimen do vary depending the topography (high mountains, deep valleys etc). Some places there have been improved coverage the latest years, but much of the mountains areas dosn't have any signals at all. The excetion being the higher parts of peaks and summits, which sometimes get a line-of-sight to a base station (gsm). In the area Spiterstulen/Visdalen, there are no GSM base stations. The closest station I think is located at Juvasshytta/Juvass sommarskisenter (a tourist hut/summer ski centre) aproximetly 1800 meters above sea level and 5km north-east of Spiterstulen turist hut. This station give a very strong signal to Galdhøpiggen (the highest peak), but only the higher parts where one mostly have a line-of-sight. However, this summit is also coverd by a BTS quite far away (somewhere in the Lom area I guess). Other base station are mostly located nearby the main road. Coverage maps are availible on the internet: Telenor mobil: http://telenormobil.no/dekninginnland/index.do Netcom: https://netcom.no/privat/kundeservice/dekningogutland/kart.html Telenor mobil's map indicate a "outdoor" signal at Spiterstulen, but it may be to weak, or even not present at all, due to the fact that coverage is theoretical calculated. I did not get a signal there a year ago. ------------------------------- One of the News articles stated that she had a copy of Lonely planets guidebook for Norway. It would be interesting to know what kind of information is printed there about Jotunheimen, as it seems that it was one of her main sources of information. Another key point would be to find out how she got to Spiterstulen. If she hitchhiked ut to the mountain hut, the driver might have information of her further intentions. When using the road, and parking at the hut, you have to pay a fee. I think also you write down the register plate number, so it would be quite easy to contact most drivers. I'm sure the police looks into these matters as part of the investigation I find it quite unlikely that someone would go to e.g Galdhøpiggen or Glitterind without planning their next stay. Marijke did pay for the stay at Spiterstulen, so it seems like she was going "somewhere" the next night. -Going the marked route to another turist hut. Unlikely if she didn't have a map and most people not familiar in the area would ask for information in that matter (is the hut open, snow conditions, length etc) -Getting transportation out of the walley having "a plan" on where to go and stay. If the driver was a foreign tourist, he might not have gotten the news about her dissapperance and therefore not telling the police. Or thoose scenarios Astrid H mentioned in her post just above this one.

Nei... Har akkurat kjøpt nye telemarkski! Håper å svinge innom eit sommarskisenter i ferien for å nyte snøen enda nokre dagar. Men det er gode sjanser for at dette var sessongens siste bortover-skitur. Kanskje eg burde telle antall dager på ski dette året?

Som administrator dukker det stadig opp eposter med spørsmål som like godt kunne ha vore posta på forumet. Nokon som kan hjelpe til med eit turforslag til vår svenske venn Marie? Hej! Jag blir alldeles matt av all info på nätet!! Kan någon hjälpa mig med ett förslag på tur i Norge i augusti. Tåg + buss från Göteborg på en torsdag, vandra fredag med övernattning där det finns middag på kvällen och vandring på lördag med övernattning med middag och sedan buss/tåg tillbaka till Göteborg på söndag..... Vi är medelgoda vandrare i medelåldern vill njuta av naturen men även ha det lite bekvämt. Tack på förhand! Hälsningar Marie

Då var turen unnagjort! Meir om sjølve turen her: http://breogfjellsport.no/bre/articles.php?s_id=7&articleID=420 Frå Svartedalshorga på Nordre, tok vi nedover den omtalte snøfonna. Heilt øvst var det litt bratt, så vi gjekk eit par hundre meter vest, før vi tok nedover snøfonna. Det vart gradvis brattare, men det var kun den slusjaktige snøen som var utfordring. Lengs nede var det imiddlertid merkbart brattare eit stykke, så vi gjekk til fots. Bekken var delvis open og vi holdt avstand til denne. Det var gått nokre små ras frå fjellsida i nedre delar av fonna og det var nokre små blokker der enda. Vi vurderte det imiddlertid til å vera greit å passere. I Kvitnadalen var det greit å gå i kanten av vatnet. Isen såg også ut til å vera brukbar. Frå øvst i dalen, tok vi opp flanken mot Midtre-Folgefonna. Her var det ei fonn heilt nedst som gjorde det noko brattare enn det først såg ut til, men enkelt og greit å ta seg opp. Stykket frå Midtre-Folgefonna og opp til Holmaskjær var lettgått. Vi runda rundt ein kolle i 1400 meters høgde, kjørte ned på breen og tok slakaste veg oppover igjen. Det ser ut som om det er lite bevegelse i breen ned frå Holmaskjær og det var ikkje antydning til sprekker.

Turen gjekk frå Reisete til Holmaskjær, over Nordre- og Midtre Folgefonna. Vèret var vekslande, men ein dag med strålande sol. Les meir om turen på breogfjellsport.no

For ei tid tilbake fekk eg ein epost frå Tor Brekke med bilder av Breifonn: Jeg ser det er blitt kommentert i Fjellforum at Breifonn er i ferd med å forsvinne. Jeg vedlegger to bilder jeg har tatt med 30 års mellomrom fra samme sted, som viser at dette så absolutt er tilfelle. Det første bildet ble tatt i september 1975, det andre i oktober 2005. Takk til Tor Brekke for bildene (http://www.tor-brekke-id.net/)

Har brukt denne radioen på tur i vinter: http://www.clasohlson.no/ext.asp?art=381227000 Passe stor, har høgtalar, FM, AM og SW. Uttak for hodetelfoner. Bruker to stk AA-batteri. Manuell innstilling. Grei pris var det også. Bruker lite straum, så det blir få batteriskifte. I løpet av 112 dagar bytta eg batteri 1 gong... Den fungerer bra, brukbar lyd og god på dårlege radiosignal. Store fjellområde i Norge er utan fm-radiodekning, men mellombølge (AM) fungerer gjerne nattestid. Dette fordi signalet blir bedre reflektert i atmosfæren når sola er nede, men dette varierer. Det kan gjerne vera gode forhold eit par timar, for å så bare bli støy. Kvitsøy, 1314 Khz, er desidert sterkast og det fekk eg inn f.eks. i Indre Troms og i Børgefjell. Oversikt over mellombølgesenderane: Kvitsøy 1314 kHz Vigra 630 kHz Røst 675 kHz Ingøy 153 kHz Har også prøvd kortbølge littegran (sw) for å få inn BBC. Då bør du ha med ein frekvensplan slik at du slepp å søke gjennom alle bånda. Frekvensen og kvaliteten varierer veldig Liker du eksotiske radiokanalar, så er det ofte mykje å velge mellom! Edit: Frekvenser for BBC-kortbølge: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/faq/index.shtml Ikkje til å bli heilt klok på, det er antyda at frekvensane for Midt-austen ofte kan mottas i Skandinavia. NRK ser ikkje ut til å sende på kortbølge lenger.