The intrepid pair, who have not been identified, tackled the icy slope of frozen falls dubbed The Gausta Marathon in Norway but tragedy struck as a wall of ice and snow thundered into them
A British climber has been killed after he and a friend were engulfed by an avalanche while scaling a frozen waterfall in Norway.
The man died in the disaster on Friday but his body was only recovered yesterday as mountain rescue teams’ efforts were hampered by appalling weather. His pal – a man in his 30s – was airlifted to hospital by helicopter but his injuries were not believed to be life threatening.
The intrepid pair had tackled the icy slope of frozen falls dubbed The Gausta Marathon near Rjukan when they became trapped in a wall of ice and snow. Jørn Knustad, a climbing guide in the area, said: “The waterfall is about 17 rope lengths long and is the longest we have here. That is why it was originally named Gausta Marathon.”
The survivor, also British, was rescued on Saturday afternoon and flown to Ullevål Hospital after a descent which took teams “several hours”, officials said.
Mr Knustad said the area where the pair claimed is not popular with trippers because the waterfalls there take a long time to climb. He added: “It is unlikely that they were poorly trained – they would hardly have embarked on such a trip. A snow and ice avalanche is the cause of this incident.”
Temperatures have plunged to -6C in the region in which the disaster happened. It has also seen heavy snow, and more is forecast for the rest of the week. The Mirror has approached the Foreign Office for comment on the death.
It follows a similar tragedy in Italy which saw a British boy die in a skiing accident last week. The 14-year-old boy crashed into a tree while going down a trail in Cortina d’Ampezzo, which is in northern Italy. The youngster, who was wearing a helmet, was the tragic victim of “a matter of cruel bad luck,” authorities said.
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