Aadne live under skredfjellet. Now he tells what happened the next day when four people disappeared in the avalanche

if we (Dagbladet): on Wednesday morning put five fjellglade people in a car and drove from Lyngseidet and up to the if we in the state of minnesota. In the car sat three Finnish men, a Swedish man and a Swedish woman, and the trip took about an hour. The plan was to go the 1442 meters high Blåbærfjellet. A popular destination for climbing mountains on skis. Several of skituristene were experienced mountaineers and had recently been through a course in ice climbing.

Entourage parked the car at the Olsrud, which is the starting point for most people who take toppturen. The weather was good that day. At the tree line stopped the Swedish man. He would rather stay in the edge of the woods to frikjøre in the natural half pipe-one that goes down from the steep mountains and into the forest.

On the way up the steep mountain were the four taken again by a local skier. He continued on to about 1000 meters in height before he turned and ran down again. When the Finnish and Swedish friends continued toward the top, they had probably no guess that the surface they walked on was nedsnødd overflaterim. Then came the drønnet of the enormous amounts of snow that came loose and propelled down the mountainside.

Local guide

It is four days since the avalanche took turfølget of four. Aadne Olsrud look out at the parking lot where the helicopters have landed, where the pit crews and the press have been collected since Wednesday. Now all have gone home. The rescue operation is over. The Status of the operation was on Friday changed to search for casualties. The only thing that is back is the nedsnødde car that turvennene used to get to if we.

LEFT: Only the car that his friends used to go to the Blåbærfjell stood again when the police, redningsmannskap and the press had left the in the if we on Friday. Photo: Private Show more

Aadne Olsrud lives right under Blåbærfjellet that is classified as a complex mountain to move on. He is skredobservatør for NVE/RegObs, fjellguide and local guide. Ever since the accident he has been online the rescue operation as a guide for police and experts from the NVE. While the rescue operation continued, he kept himself away from media attention, but now he wants to help tell the whole story of those dramatic days. Olsrud have the families in mind, and believe they deserve to get to know all about what happened.

AVALANCHE: Four people are still missing after a huge avalanche on the Blåbærfjellet in if we in the state of minnesota. Innsatsleder Roald Berntsen explains why it is so difficult for letemannskapene to search for the missing. Video: Øistein Monsen Show more

When I got the phone call that the four were missing I jumped on the scooter to look for them, but it was too steep up the mountain. Down the road came a person running toward me. It was he who had notified the police, says Aadne Olsrud, who took the medtatte the man and got him water and chocolate.

Beat the alarm,

the Swede, who had run the ski at the tree line, told to Aadne Olsrud that he was worried about his friends that are not answered on the phone. He went after them, but at a little over 1000 meters of altitude, he saw ski tracks after his friends disappear into an area where there had been a large avalanche. He could not see that it went to the track out on the other side of the landslide and called the police.

Eight people went up on the Blåbærfjellet on Wednesday, but only four came vividly back, says Aadne Olsrud.

AT the scene of the ACCIDENT: Aadne Olsrud has assisted the police and the NVE as a guide in the days after the skredulykken on Blåbærfjell. Photo: Øistein Norum Monsen/Dagbladet. Show more

There are few who know Blåbærfjellet as Aadne Olsrud. He has been on the mountain more than a hundred times and volunteered to assist the police. The same evening he was with a helicopter up to get the overview of skredområdet, but it is plunged into darkness and difficult to see the extent of the landslide. Together with a commissioner, he tried to drive a snowmobile up the mountain on the other side of the valley, to check if it is possible to see skredområdet with binoculars, but without success. Dense blowing snow hampered visibility.

– It is frustrating not to get done something matnyttig in the situation, " says Olsrud.

Bad weather

the Day after the weather got worse. The snow fell and the helicopters could not fly up to the avalanche. Skredfarenivået was the same as the day before. Level 3.

Three skredeksperter from the NVE came up and together we set ourselves down and made a plan. It was put together several computer models to try and predict the conditions on the mountain, " says Olsrud. He works with regularly to collect data to the NVE about the skredforhold and snow to be able to notify about the conditions in the if we which has become a popular destination for tourists.

the Same night went to a new, large avalanches on the Blåbærfjellet. The avalanche started at the top and slid down to the west of the skredområdet where the four friends were taken.

RA: The blue line shows where the ulykkesraset probably began. The red ring shows where the new slide went in the night to Friday. Illustration: NVE Show more

First, on Friday began the weather to play on the team, but værvinduet as was reported, could close quickly. Aadne Olsrud, Markus Landrød, Andreas Haslestad and Jostein Aasen from the NVE were moved up to the avalanche. The helicopter landed in a safe place at the skredtunga.

– the Assignment was to do a safety assessment of the rasstedet. When we arrived I got a signal on the receiving radio, and realized that they were not far away. I searched around a bit and had with me brøytestikker online a steel pipe to be able to clearly notice the site. After an hour the weather changed and it was difficult to get out. I and a to from the NVE decided to be back to search more for the missing, " says Olsrud.

SEARCH: One of the NVEs skredeksperter examines the snow at the skredområdet. Photo: NVE Show more Signals

at the same time as the Olsrud and the team from the NVE did their search and investigations, the hovering rescue helicopter over them. They picked up the signal from the two places that were marked.

When a person is buried in snow, there is a danger that the person innkapsles in the ice melt around. Then it may be much more difficult for lavinehunder to find, " says Olsrud.

OVERFLATERIM: NVE believes the likely cause of the avalanche is a nedsnødd layer with overflaterim. It is fragile and creating unstable snow conditions. Photo: NVE Show more

But once more should the weather put a stop for the rescuers. Both Olsrud and his colleague from the NVE had skis with him, and after having moved over skredområdet, they realized that the fog would make it harder to get down from the Blåbærfjellet. Finally, they had to realize that time had run out. Carefully they took down the mountain on skis.

It was the worst case scenario, but I know the mountain well, " says Olsrud.

called off

Down on the in if we evaluated the findings from the avalanche along with redningsledelsen and found that it was safe on the skredmassene, but that the areas around was too risky to move on. It was also recommended not to move around in the area on the ski.

MISTY: There is poor visibility at the top of the Blåbærfjell Saturday afternoon. Photo: Øistein Norum Monsen/Dagbladet. Show more

Then came the news that the action was called off. The police and medical management found that the chance of finding survivors after three days in the snow were equal to zero. The Status of the mission was changed to search for casualties. Redningsmannskap from the Red Cross and the Norwegian people's Aid packed up and left if we. The message from the police in Tromsø went out on that leteaksjonen would resume on Monday if weather permits.

– All the roads up to skredområdet is rasutsatt. It is too dangerous. Had it been prudent, as I had pulled up even to look. It could be done, is done, says Aadne Olsrud.

EXPLAINS the sequence of EVENTS: - the Snow was reported to be safe and fine up to 1000 meters of altitude, but it may indicate that the snow had a different character higher up the mountainside, says Aadne Olsrud. Photo: Øistein Norum Monsen/Dagbladet. View more crisis team in place

– The relatives have it terribly tough now, " says the head of Balsfjord municipality's crisis team, the mayor Gunda Johansen.

In the aftermath of the accident, the families of the missing come to the place to follow the rescue operation. Gunda Johansen and kriseteamet have followed them up as best they can.

– The status of the rescue operation was changed, is a kjempebelastning for the families, " says Johansen.

She tells us that they are realistic and understand well that you can't postpone letemannskapet for the dangerous terrain.

Kriseteamet is available for the families around the clock.

We show interpersonal care and also assists with practical things. They are in crisis, in alien surroundings, in a foreign country. There is not to much imagination to understand how painful this is for the families, " says Gunda Johansen.

NVE may have found the cause of the avalanche