An elderly man out hiking with his family over Besseggen, one of Norway’s most popular mountain trails despite its steepness, fell off one of the ridge’s narrowest portions. He’s believed to have died instantly after hitting his head on a rock.
Police received the emergency call around 11:30am that the man, reported to be in his late 70s, had fallen around 10 meters off the trail that runs over the the mountain located in Vågå, Oppland County. Police said no one in his party actually saw what happened, so it’s unclear whether he stumbled or lost his balance.
A rescue helicopter was sent to the scene but the man, a Norwegian, was dead on its arrival. Police were attending to family members and other survivors of the man.
Besseggen is Norway’s single most popular mountain hike for tourists and residents alike, with more than 60,000 people making the trek every year. Most take a boat over the lake below the ridge one way and hike back the other.
newsinenglish.no staff
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been corrected and cleansed of some clumsy formulation pointed out by an alert reader. Apologies, after another long day working from an extremely warm office.
