A young man missing from a ski resort in the mountains of Telemark was found dead Monday afternoon in an area hit by avalanche danger during the weekend. Heavy snow all over southern Norway has raised avalanche warnings, while Norwegians at lower elevations also continued to cope with mounds of snow in their yards and streets.
The 22-year-old man was reported missing on Sunday after last being seen on Saturday, when he set off alone to go skiing at the Rauland Alpine Center in Vinje, Telemark County.
More than 100 persons from the Red Cross, Civil Defense, the police and volunteer organizations have been looking for him since Sunday, along with specially trained dogs. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that they found one of the missing man’s skis Monday morning, while VG Nett reported the other ski found a few hours later.
The man was localized Monday afternoon and a doctor sent up the mountain to help bring him down.
Avalanche danger made search efforts difficult. On Monday police called for a helicopter with special cameras that can pick up signs of warmth in the snow. Bjørn Olav Eilefstjønn of the Telemark Police District told NRK the search had been centered in areas where avalanches had occurred.
No other serious accidents were reported after heavy snowfall dumped down on many parts of the country over the weekend. Thousands of motorists called for help after their cars skidded off roads and landed in ditches, though, while airline service and public transit were temporarily disrupted because crews couldn’t keep runways or tracks clear.
At the new Rygge airport south of Moss, passengers bound for Malaga in Spain had to wait five hours until their flight could take off. Oslo’s main airport at Gardermoen also reported some delays, while Oslo’s metro system cut its service by half, with departures every half-hour, to allow for tracks to be cleared.
Meteorologists continued to warn of bitterly cold temperatures throughout the week, possibly down to minus-20C, starting on Tuesday.
