Shortly after noon afternoon search and rescue teams received a distress call from a foreign traveller who had gotten lost hiking on Fimmvörðuháls mountain pass between Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull glaciers in South Iceland. The man’s cell phone was running out of battery when he called, but he managed to provide Iceland Search and Rescue ISAR with his location. Visibility in the area was none, as it was covered with a thick fog at the time.
According to the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service RÚV, the man’s description of his location and GPS coordinates, although somewhat unclear, indicated he was located just north of Baldvinsskáli mountain hut, the southernmost hut on the trail. A ten person search and rescue unit on 4x4s and snowmobiles headed towards the man’s location.
Read more: A guide to Iceland’s glaciers, what to do there & their claim to fame
However, when search and rescue units reached the location the man had provided they found no trace of him, prompting a larger search of the area. Thirty additional members of South Iceland search and rescue units were called in to assist in the search. Further units were called out when the rescuers continued to come up empty, bringing the total number of ISAR members participating in the search to 100.
Shortly after eight in the evening news came that the man had been found safe and sound where inside his sleeping bag. RÚV reports that when the man had discovered he was lost he had put up camp in a ravine close to Fimmvörðuskáli mountain hut near at the centre of the Fimmförðuháls trail, pitched his tent and retreated into his sleeping bag.
Shortly after noon afternoon search and rescue teams received a distress call from a foreign traveller who had gotten lost hiking on Fimmvörðuháls mountain pass between Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull glaciers in South Iceland. The man’s cell phone was running out of battery when he called, but he managed to provide Iceland Search and Rescue ISAR with his location. Visibility in the area was none, as it was covered with a thick fog at the time.
According to the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service RÚV, the man’s description of his location and GPS coordinates, although somewhat unclear, indicated he was located just north of Baldvinsskáli mountain hut, the southernmost hut on the trail. A ten person search and rescue unit on 4x4s and snowmobiles headed towards the man’s location.
Read more: A guide to Iceland’s glaciers, what to do there & their claim to fame
However, when search and rescue units reached the location the man had provided they found no trace of him, prompting a larger search of the area. Thirty additional members of South Iceland search and rescue units were called in to assist in the search. Further units were called out when the rescuers continued to come up empty, bringing the total number of ISAR members participating in the search to 100.
Shortly after eight in the evening news came that the man had been found safe and sound where inside his sleeping bag. RÚV reports that when the man had discovered he was lost he had put up camp in a ravine close to Fimmvörðuskáli mountain hut near at the centre of the Fimmförðuháls trail, pitched his tent and retreated into his sleeping bag.
