Marijke Vervoort funnet / Marijke Vervoort found

[old_hand]

Besseggen (so the rather spectacular Besseggen Ridge) was - according to information that later emerged from The Netherlands (see the other, long thread) - indeed on her itinerary. Not so strange, of course, considering that this was her first visit ever to Jotunheimen.

It seems to me that you are assuming she had an accident while on her way still, from Spiterstulen, towards the Besseggen Ridge (or "direction south-east"). And there is no evidence, it seems, that - on the contrary - she was on her way back towards Leirvassbu or Spiterstulen/Lom already. A week later (on Saturday) she was expected in Oslo. Maybe it wouldn't have made sense at all to return nórth, and leave Jotunheimen again via Lom if you could leave it on its southern side as well (and travel to Oslo).

It's none of our business I'm afraid, but it would certainly be interesting to determine just about whén (meaning a date) this accident happened. Also because "we" here are not sure at all if she knew anything in advance about huts still being closed and the absence of a number of bridges.

In that respect I'm reminded of Ragnar's reply in the other thread, his technical reply regarding cellphones and the electronic traces that they can leave behind. It was the first thing that the Lom police announced: that they were checking out any possible "electronic evidence" or "traces" (cellphone, creditcard). Taking into account the lack of coverage for the mobile phones in Jotunheimen in a great many places, perhaps they've still been able to establish a bit of her whereabouts.

On the other hand, their search-pattern (and the pattern re. search-area's that the Dutch covered a little while later) seems to indicate that she was never believed to have reached an area really far away from Spiterstulen. Walking the Besseggen Ridge itself, I suppose (but that's mere speculation re. the altitude) would probably gain contact again with the cellphone network. Next question: what type of cellphone did she have, what batteries, what age, and how long would it be detectable with the batteries not being re-charged (no electricity around)? A related question: she probably had a watch, but did it show dates as well and was it waterproof? You see, so many questions and police will now have several answers re. such facts, but what is the use? There must be só many potentially dangerous spots on all those trails, especially when you start climbing or whenever you would try to cross a river, all alone.

[Tom]

I guess she died the same day, or at last the day after, she left Spiterstulen.

[old_hand]

I guess so too Tom, in the first place because - as far as I know - nobody ever reported seeing her anymore. And from the accounts of her arrival in Lom and later in Spiterstulen with her trip to Galdhøpiggen, she seemed to be a woman who would easily make some contact and chat a bit with people she would meet on a trail. And they would remember her...

By the way, it doesn't really surprise me she turned back halfway during the attempt to climb Galdhøpiggen. I mean, it can't be thát easy - Galdhøpiggen - if a real Khumbu-Sherpa was employed for many years as a guide on that mountain, the tallest mountain in northern Europe.

Ang Dorjee has been to the top of the world 11 times, where temperatures at 29,035 feet on Mount Everest easily reach minus 100 degrees with the wind chill.

Source

No need to feel ashamed or in bad shape if you don't manage to reach the summit of Galdhøpiggen,

if you ask me...

[vertikal]

I see it as little possible that she could have reached Besseggen.

First, it's a long way from Spiterstulen, demanding at least 12 hours walk to Besseggen. In case she must have made an overnight stay somewhere.

Second, if you have reached Besseggen you definitly wouldn't turn around there and start walking against Memurubu / Spiterstulen again. If you have walked so far already the only goal from Besseggen is Gjendesheim, just 2 hours walk down. Any accident on Besseggen wil NOT put you into Gjende.

I still see it as the best guess is that she fell into one of rivers that streams into Gjende from north, that is Muru or Storeå. This must in case have happend the night after she left Spiterstulen og maybe the next day.

[Tom]

Old hand,

Yes, if she met someone and talked to them along the track, they would have remembered. If they were norwegian they would have heard the news about her later. I think a very large proportion of the norwegian population knows about this case, and especially those who have interest in nature. However, in early june there are still half-winter in Jotunheimen, and not many people at all along the tracks. So it is quite possible that she have walked for many hours without meeting even a single person.

[Ragnar]

In that respect I'm reminded of Ragnar's reply in the other thread, his technical reply regarding cellphones and the electronic traces that they can leave behind. It was the first thing that the Lom police announced: that they were checking out any possible "electronic evidence" or "traces" (cellphone, creditcard). Taking into account the lack of coverage for the mobile phones in Jotunheimen in a great many places, perhaps they've still been able to establish a bit of her whereabouts.

As I understand from news articles, they did not find any traces from her mobile phone (normal log entries) after her dissapperance. If they had found anything, it would have impacted the search area, and it would have been reported clearly (I think).

Walking the Besseggen Ridge itself, I suppose (but that's mere speculation re. the altitude) would probably gain contact again with the cellphone network. Next question: what type of cellphone did she have, what batteries, what age, and how long would it be detectable with the batteries not being re-charged (no electricity around)?

She could have recharged her phone in Lom and at Spiterstulen. How long the battery would last is a tricky question, as it varies alot dependig phone modell and battery capacity. I guess maybe 1-3 days at least in standby mode if it was fully charged. However, as an experienced hiker she would have known about poor coverage in the mountain areas and turned the phone off to save battery for later use i my opinion. If it indeed was switched on at all times, it might gained coverage on the route between Gjendebu and Memurubu and around Memurubu itself, if she indeed did go there. Knowing that there would be coverage some spots along the Gjendebu-Memurubu route might have been hard to figure out.

The base stations nearest are located at Gjendesheim cabin itself, both Telenor mobil and Netcom gsm900. Looked like a slightly different antenna direction for the two stations, but both pointing approx. to the west as I recall. Besseggen also has mobile coverage when there is a line of sight to gjendesheim. I've heard that it is possible to call from Memurubu, so if she reached a closed hut there, she could have called. No coverage at Gjendebu though (but that hut had a open quarter as mentioned earlier)

[Tom]

Jeg tviler veldig sterkt på at hun har vært innom Gjendebu. Gåtens svar er nok å finne i området Memurutunga-Muru. Eneste alternativ jeg kan komme på, er hvis hun har gått stien langs vannet mot Gjendesheim og falt uti et sted det er vanskelig å komme opp. Men det er, igjen, veldig usannsynlig. Jeg tror den frådende Muru har krevd enda et offer.