Tomorrow the rapid-response teams of Iceland Search and Rescue will deploy for the central highlands for this year‘s tourist season. The teams, which will remain on-call in the highlands throughout August, are composed of 200 experienced mountaineers, all volunteers. This is the tenth year the rapid response teams are in service.
Growing traffic means more accidents
Jónas Guðmundsson, project manager of travel accident prevention at Iceland Search and Rescue, tells local newspaper Fréttablaðið that the goal is to cut down on response time in the case of emergencies in the Central highlands.
Jónas argues that increasing tourism and growing traffic in the Central highlands has led to a dramatic increase in the number of emergencies: „We formed the rapid-response teams when we noticed the number of emergencies in the Central highlands were increasing, and it was both costly and difficult to call in volunteers.“
Lives saved as hundreds of tourists are rescued every year
Last year the rapid-response teams responded to over 2000 calls for assistance, ranging from relatively minor, to very serious accidents. According to Iceland Search and Rescue more than 500 of these are classified as serious emergencies, including 100 accidents. The teams assist more than 4,000 travellers each year.
Read more: Channing Tatum and pals had to call for an emergency evacuation from Vatnajökull glacier
Jónas argues that the rapid response teams have probably saved several lives since they were formed. „It is safe to say that in some of these cases things would have gone far worse if there had not been rescue teams close by. Rapid response times are crucial in many cases.“
Conditions in the highlands remain difficult
Due to the cold weather this spring most of the highlands remain closed to motorized traffic, and many popular trekking paths remain blocked by snow. Jónas tells Fréttablaðið that the conditions this summer are unusual when compared to the past 10 or 20 years, but not if they are compared to the historical norm.
„There is much more snow than we have seen since the tourism bubble inflated a few years ago.“ Jónas points out that the trekking route over the Laugavegur, which extends from hot springs of Landmannalaugar to the valley of Þórsmörk in the southern part of the highlands, is still largely under snow.
Although the service is free, travellers should keep in mind that Iceland Search and Rescue are volunteers, and the operations are funded by donations.
Tomorrow the rapid-response teams of Iceland Search and Rescue will deploy for the central highlands for this year‘s tourist season. The teams, which will remain on-call in the highlands throughout August, are composed of 200 experienced mountaineers, all volunteers. This is the tenth year the rapid response teams are in service.
Growing traffic means more accidents
Jónas Guðmundsson, project manager of travel accident prevention at Iceland Search and Rescue, tells local newspaper Fréttablaðið that the goal is to cut down on response time in the case of emergencies in the Central highlands.
Jónas argues that increasing tourism and growing traffic in the Central highlands has led to a dramatic increase in the number of emergencies: „We formed the rapid-response teams when we noticed the number of emergencies in the Central highlands were increasing, and it was both costly and difficult to call in volunteers.“
Lives saved as hundreds of tourists are rescued every year
Last year the rapid-response teams responded to over 2000 calls for assistance, ranging from relatively minor, to very serious accidents. According to Iceland Search and Rescue more than 500 of these are classified as serious emergencies, including 100 accidents. The teams assist more than 4,000 travellers each year.
Read more: Channing Tatum and pals had to call for an emergency evacuation from Vatnajökull glacier
Jónas argues that the rapid response teams have probably saved several lives since they were formed. „It is safe to say that in some of these cases things would have gone far worse if there had not been rescue teams close by. Rapid response times are crucial in many cases.“
Conditions in the highlands remain difficult
Due to the cold weather this spring most of the highlands remain closed to motorized traffic, and many popular trekking paths remain blocked by snow. Jónas tells Fréttablaðið that the conditions this summer are unusual when compared to the past 10 or 20 years, but not if they are compared to the historical norm.
„There is much more snow than we have seen since the tourism bubble inflated a few years ago.“ Jónas points out that the trekking route over the Laugavegur, which extends from hot springs of Landmannalaugar to the valley of Þórsmörk in the southern part of the highlands, is still largely under snow.
Although the service is free, travellers should keep in mind that Iceland Search and Rescue are volunteers, and the operations are funded by donations.
