Several ICE-SAR units from South, West and Southwest Iceland participated in a massive search and rescue operation in the Central Highlands early morning after a foreign hiker sent a distress call from Landmannalaugar trail, one of the most popular and scenic highland trails.
UPDATE: Hiker rescued early morning did everything correctly: Faced swelling rivers, extreme weather
ICE-SAR received the distress call yesterday evening. Some 200 specialized mountain rescue units were sent to the area where the call originated. The hiker had been found at one after midnight. Weather conditions in the area were terrible, heavy wind, rain, and snowfall.
Camouflaged tent made search harder
The man traveling alone and was found in Jökulgil canyon, a long deep valley which runs to the east from Landmannalaugar highland center and oasis to Torfajökull glacier. The man had managed to pitch his tent, but was both cold and very wet when the rescuers reached him.
Jón Hermannsson, the commander of ICE-SAR in Rangárvallasýsla county told the National Broadcasting Service RÚV that the man was in real danger of dying of exposure. The weather was extremely bad. We were very worried, if he had been unable to pitch his tent to get some cover from the weather he would have begun to suffer from hypothermia due to the cold and the rain. There is snow in the mountains where he was hiking.
Finding the man was difficult due to the extremely bad weather conditions, and the fact that his tent, which was colored green, disappeared into the landscape.
A severe weather warning was in effect
Weather conditions in the southern part of the Central Highlands area were extremely difficult yesterday and early morning due to strong winds and rain. The Icelandic Meteorological office and ICE-SAR had issued urgent travel warnings advising travelers not to attempt hiking or bicycling in the area. The weather warning was issued late Sunday and was in effect from Monday noon until early morning today, Tuesday.
Read more: Severe weather warning for Central Highlands: No travel by foot or bicycling due to storm
Jón told RÚV that the hiker had either not understood or heard these warnings. He was alone and had apparently missed all the warnings. He either didn't have the equipment with him to keep up with weather forecasts and travel warnings, or the language skills to understand the warnings.
Several ICE-SAR units from South, West and Southwest Iceland participated in a massive search and rescue operation in the Central Highlands early morning after a foreign hiker sent a distress call from Landmannalaugar trail, one of the most popular and scenic highland trails.
UPDATE: Hiker rescued early morning did everything correctly: Faced swelling rivers, extreme weather
ICE-SAR received the distress call yesterday evening. Some 200 specialized mountain rescue units were sent to the area where the call originated. The hiker had been found at one after midnight. Weather conditions in the area were terrible, heavy wind, rain, and snowfall.
Camouflaged tent made search harder
The man traveling alone and was found in Jökulgil canyon, a long deep valley which runs to the east from Landmannalaugar highland center and oasis to Torfajökull glacier. The man had managed to pitch his tent, but was both cold and very wet when the rescuers reached him.
Jón Hermannsson, the commander of ICE-SAR in Rangárvallasýsla county told the National Broadcasting Service RÚV that the man was in real danger of dying of exposure. The weather was extremely bad. We were very worried, if he had been unable to pitch his tent to get some cover from the weather he would have begun to suffer from hypothermia due to the cold and the rain. There is snow in the mountains where he was hiking.
Finding the man was difficult due to the extremely bad weather conditions, and the fact that his tent, which was colored green, disappeared into the landscape.
A severe weather warning was in effect
Weather conditions in the southern part of the Central Highlands area were extremely difficult yesterday and early morning due to strong winds and rain. The Icelandic Meteorological office and ICE-SAR had issued urgent travel warnings advising travelers not to attempt hiking or bicycling in the area. The weather warning was issued late Sunday and was in effect from Monday noon until early morning today, Tuesday.
Read more: Severe weather warning for Central Highlands: No travel by foot or bicycling due to storm
Jón told RÚV that the hiker had either not understood or heard these warnings. He was alone and had apparently missed all the warnings. He either didn't have the equipment with him to keep up with weather forecasts and travel warnings, or the language skills to understand the warnings.
