Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

A³ (Avalanche course, A gorgeous weekend and Auskjeret),
Feb 9-10 2008


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Storbua and Dyrdalstinden

Storbua and Dyrdalstinden (Click for larger image)

Avalanches ...

should be regarded with proper respect. The Sunnmøre region is definitely avalanche country, and now that I was made aware of an upcoming avalanche course, I signed up. I definitely needed to raise my own awareness on the topic. The introductionary course was sponsored by Sunalp, Rongve Intersport, Arena Overøye and Mammut. The course was arranged as a 3 hour seminar in Ålesund on Friday, Feb 8, and hands-on exercises at Overøye Feb 9-10. In addition to avalanche search & rescue techniques, we also had a visit by a Sea King helicopter from the Norwegian Air Force 330 Squadron and demonstration of a certified rescue dog from Norske Redningshunder in action.

Friday, Feb 8 2008

I attended the seminar along with my buddy Terje. Christer Lundberg Nes (IVBV/UIAGM/IFMGA) gave us an "avalanche 101" presentation while Jarle S. Bjørdal from Ørsta/Volda Skredgruppe presented their group - an organization under the Norwegian Red Cross. What I took away from the seminar was that moving around in the Sunnmøre mountains in winter seemed like a tremendous hazard. Terje had the same sensation. Driving a car suddenly seemed free of risk. Sunshine was bad, rain was bad, wind was bad, cold weather was bad and fresh snow was bad. To be fair, staying away from slopes steeper than 30 degrees, and outside the avalanche courses was still regarded fairly safe, but hey.. this is Sunnmøre!

15 minutes was probably the keyword from the talk. That's the time - under snow- you have to make it to the positive end of the statistics. Your buddies are your only way out of the mess. The rescue teams mainly bring out corpses. That said, there are of course miracles...

Saturday, Feb 9 2008

The weather forecast had promised a miserable weekend, but Saturday morning was just gorgeous. To get into the right mood, I drove from Ålesund to Overøye with the car roof in the trunk. The temperature was close zero deg. C. at Valle, but I was properly dressed for the outdoors. Thus, I was in a jolly mood when I arrived Overøye.

The group rendevouzed at the parking 11:00AM, and we were organized into smaller groups. The first part of the day focused on search and rescue techniques. This was nothing but promising. The instructors were well prepared and, of courses, skilled. Practicing was fun. It wasn't the first time I've used avalanche transceivers, but I acknowledged the fact that you're just as good as what you have trained for. Digging up "bodies" was also interesting. Nothing is left to coincidence. There's a well-founded approach to everything.

It was fun to get to know others in the group. It seemed that most of them were die hard skiers from the Ørsta & Volda region. I was for sure a newbie in this type of group, but that was OK. I've grown past terrible on skies, and somehow manage.

The Sea King arrives

The Sea King arrives (Click for larger image)

 

After lunch, we got a visit from the 330 Squadron. Very interesting. We had an hour long Q & A, and I'm sure this was the day's highlight for many of us, as this is a crew you don't run into every day. Full of knowledge about the Sea King specifications, navigational capabilities, rescue techniques (I learned that the basket was not found on board Norwegian rescue helicopters!), and more, the day continued with a demonstration of a rescue dog.

The rescue dog was called Millie and her owner presented herself as Kristin Dyrkorn. A member of the Red Cross group had been buried and it was Millie's task to find this person. The dog radiated "Let's get to work, damnit" while Kristin gave a talk. After the talk, it was time to go to work. For a brief moment, Millie searched the outskirts of the simulated avalanche area before going full-speed towards the buried person. After a crazy dig, the finding was properly marked. Very impressive.

The day had been gorgeous from its beginning to its end. At 16:30PM, we called it a day, and I drove, convertible style, back to Ålesund, where a cold beer was awaiting.

Sunday, Feb 10 2008

A grey morning, but with a promise. We met at 10:00AM and the day was almost just as beautiful as the day before. Today we focused on measuring slope angles, digging snow profiles and practicing search & rescue. In addition, part of the plan was simply to have fun. In other words, to go skiing. Downhill. Fast & furious.

My only furious side is when I ascend something, and I traded my lunch break for a visit to Auskjeret. Due to a very hectic start of the year (job wise), I hadn't been above 1000m elevation. I took the ski-lift up to 760m and continued upwards 13:00PM. One hour later, I was standing on top of Auskjeret, 1340m. I noticed two other skiers about to summit Øverøystolen. Apart from that, nothing. I was alone up here, and it felt good.

Skiing conditions weren't all that great after yesterday's sunshine followed by below-zero temperature during the night, but it wasn't all bad either. 20 minutes after leaving the top, I joined my group on Øverøynakken, and went right to work. After a good round with the shovel, I had dug a 1,75m deep snow profile. The conclusion was that the snow was solid as rock. There would be no avalanches today.

16:00PM, I left the course with a very positive feeling. The organizing party had put a lot of good work into this, which I hereby would like to honor. What I took away from the weekend was a will to pay NOK 3000,- for a personal transceiver beacon and a whole lot more attention while roaming the Norwegian mountains in winter.  All instructors gave a very positive impression. A special thanks to Christer for a job well done and to Kjetil Leknes - my group's instructor.

Pictures from the Feb 9-10 weekend

Slideshow, all pics

Feb 9: Search & rescue

1. Overøye region (500KB) 2. The Overøye trek (253KB) 3. The group (259KB) 4. The group & the surroundings (660KB) 5. Searching using transceiver beacons (323KB) 6. Searching using transceiver beacons (321KB) 7. Searching using transceiver beacons (286KB) 8. Systematicially digging (242KB) 9. People taking their turn (295KB) 10. We have a finding (165KB) 11. Search & rescue by group (303KB) 12. Search & rescue by group (295KB)

Feb 9: In-between...

13. The Kickassmobile (365KB) 14. Nonstinden (276KB) 15. Fokhaugtinden (200KB) 16. Dyrdalstinden (278KB)

Feb 9: The Sea King arrives

17. The Sea King approaching (234KB) 18. The Sea King approaching (245KB) 19. The Sea King approaching  (107KB) 20. The Sea King approaching (133KB) 21. The Sea King approaching (280KB) 22. The Sea King approaching (317KB) 23. The Sea King approaching (268KB)

Feb 9: Everything you want to know about the Sea King..

24. The shades get deeper and deeper (496KB) 25. Øverøystolen (226KB) 26. The crew presents themselves and the helicopter (288KB) 27. Christer - the man in charge (324KB) 28. The medic, the mechanic and the rescue officer (295KB)

Feb 9: Millie the dog

29A. Off to see a dog (199KB) 29B. Meet Millie (327KB) 30. Fokhaugtinden & Dyrdalstinden (176KB) 31. Kristin gives a talk (195KB) 32. Millie wonders what takes so long (129KB) 33. Millie in action (147KB) 34. Ba-bu, ba-bu .. (179KB) 35. Millie digging (206KB) 36. I wonder if the missing person got his nose licked (130KB) 37. The volunteer (128KB) 38. The volunteer (320KB)

Feb 9: Recco demonstration & wrap-up

39. Fokhaugtinden (239KB) 40. Jarle Steinar presents the Recco system (168KB) 41. Jarle Steinar presents the Recco system (221KB) 42. A beautiful end to the day (213KB)

Feb 10: Day two. Angles & slopes

43. Come on, day! (229KB) 44. That is more like it! (199KB) 45. Checking the transceivers (212KB) 46. At the top of the trek (233KB) 47. Measuring slope angles (244KB) 48. Measuring slope angles (221KB)

Feb 10: Skiing. Just plain fun.

49. And off we went (294KB) 50. And how steep is it? (373KB) 51. Forest adventures (355KB) 52. A guy from (near) Brumunddal (244KB) 53. A wonderful day below Auskjeret (349KB)

Feb 10: More training & snow profiles

54. Locating several casualties (244KB) 55. A good rest (273KB) 56. A proper snow profile (193KB) 57. Kjetils sums up the snowfall for this season (129KB)

Feb 10: My lunch-break on Auskjeret

58. To Auskjeret (231KB) 59. Nearby peaks (889KB) 60. Approaching Auskjeret (463KB) 61. Skiers about to summit Øverøystolen (173KB)

Feb 10: Panoramas from Auskjeret

62. Wide-angle view from Auskjeret (364KB) 63. Wide-angle view from Auskjeret (813KB) 64. 50mm view from Auskjeret (1375KB) 65. 50mm view from Auskjeret (887KB)

For better panoramas, refer to this trip report from Auskjeret.

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