{"id":4051,"date":"2015-03-12T12:28:47","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T12:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/?p=4051"},"modified":"2015-03-12T12:28:47","modified_gmt":"2015-03-12T12:28:47","slug":"iceland-deadly-for-the-careless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/2015\/03\/12\/iceland-deadly-for-the-careless\/","title":{"rendered":"Iceland – deadly for the careless."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Summer?! by Stig Nygaard at Flickr.com<\/p><\/div>\n

It began and ended as these things usually do: Icelanders warning tourists who decide to ignore the warning and then almost die as a result.<\/p>\n

Three Finnish cross-country skiers on Vatnaj\u00f6kull met with Bj\u00f6rgunarsveitinn,<\/em> the voluntary rescue units, when one of them fell ill, and knowing there was a huge storm on its way the Bj\u00f6rgunarsveitinn did their best to try to convince the two remaining ones to leave on\u00a0the same ride (link<\/a>). The Finns refused, thinking they knew already how to deal with snowstorms. To be fair, in Finland they probably would have done just fine, but Iceland is no Finland and their stubbornness nearly killed them when the storm hit them, destroyed their gear and left them sitting helpless in a glacier blizzard.<\/p>\n

The two tourists in self-inflicted peril\u00a0quickly grew into one of the main topics\u00a0of the whole weekend because things like these happen all too often and Icelanders are both getting fed up with it and at loss at how to stop\u00a0this kind of thing from happening over and over and over again.<\/p>\n

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Snowstorm by Atli Har\u00f0arson at Flickr.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Here a storm does not mean that you just dig yourself in a snowbank and wait it out – with winds like ours digging yourself into snow won’t even be an option. A glacier storm in particular is something you shouldn’t toy with and confidence in cold climate survival will easily be your death; the only thing you can do in Iceland when you know a storm is coming is to go indoors, close the door and not venture out again until things stop flying around. That’s not a joke, things do fly around. In some areas the things flying around are large rocks and pieces of asphalt stripped off the road by the wind<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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A recent snowstorm<\/p><\/div>\n

Strong winds in Iceland toss cast iron garden furniture around like nothing. They chill you to the bone so fast that if you’re lost in the highlands, especially on a glacier, you may end up as sadly as the Swedish tourist who ventured onto S\u00f3lheimaj\u00f6kull alone just a few years back to take a few quick photos, got caught in a glacier storm (they can rise in a matter of minutes), got lost, fell into a crevasse\u00a0and froze to death before help got to him. When you’re out in the wilds the rescue units can only hope they’ll find you in time but alas there’s no guarantee they will, or even that they’ll ever find your body. Even if you’re eventually found it may be too late for you since it can take many hours to even get to the area where you went missing and bad weather will make searching for you even harder.<\/p>\n

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If you end up walking in one of these storms the wind feels like it blows right through you. There’s no cover anywhere.<\/p><\/div>\n

There are already web pages that try to inform people of the many dangers of Icelandic nature but especially with the recent boom in tourism it seems people don’t even glance at them. You’ll find tourists being swept into the ocean, having their car blown off the road, driving off the road because of ice, driving on to closed roads (never mind the signs and chains that say the road\u00a0is\u00a0closed) and then getting stuck there, in danger due to ignoring every warning they’ve received – these stories never end…<\/p>\n

Tourist dies in Iceland cliff fall<\/em> (link<\/a>)
\nMissing Tourist Died from Exposure on Glacier<\/em> (link<\/a>)
\nNew Search Prepared for Missing German Tourists<\/em> (link<\/a>)
\nAmerican tourists stuck on an iceberg after deciding to have a picnic on it<\/em> (link<\/a>)
\nTourist Saves Family from Icy Death<\/em> (link<\/a>)
\nSearching for Ido – the man whose memorial now stands on the Laugarvegur hiking trail<\/em> (link<\/a>)
\nTourist Rentals Pelted by Rocks, Cars Fill with Snow<\/em> (link<\/a>)
\nDanger! Danger!<\/em>\u00a0 – or the tourist who said: “Am I maybe doing something I shouldn’t be doing?”<\/em>(link<\/a>)
\nTourists Endanger Themselves at Gullfoss<\/em> (link<\/a>)
\nTourists Put Themselves in Grave Danger at Glacial Lagoon<\/em> (link<\/a>)
\nTourist Wades into Reynisfjara for Better Pictures<\/em> (link<\/a>)
\nTourist Family Laughs as Their Son Freezes<\/em> (link<\/a>)<\/p>\n

You know how long it took me to find the links above? 15 minutes of googling\u00a0after which\u00a0I simply decided to stop, somewhat overwhelmed at the sheer amount of deaths, damage and danger that could all have been easily avoided.<\/p>\n

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Lokad by David Gee at Flickr.com<\/p><\/div>\n

The worst? Whenever people end up in trouble the voluntary rescue units are sent after them, therefore just one person ends up risking the lives of many more. The two Finns called for help on Friday, and the nearest rescue unit center sent a group of people who otherwise would have spent a leisurely Friday evening after work into an absolute blizzard, knowing they were getting the same guys who had refused to leave just one day before. The unusual element of the story is that the Finns actually paid some part of the rescue (link<\/a>) but usually these rescues are completely free of charge regardless of whether or not you’re in trouble because you deliberately put yourself in it.<\/p>\n

Iceland has no army or a rescue unit outside of the voluntary ones. Bj\u00f6rgunarsveitinn funds\u00a0itself\u00a0by donations and selling things such as campaign key chains, fireworks at New Year and so forth. The units consist of trained workers who largely pay for their own equipment and gas. Everybody knows why these people are worth more than their weight in gold and it would be the underestimation of the year to say that Icelanders appreciate them – we absolutely\u00a0love them and hold them in huge respect.<\/p>\n

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Visibility – not so good.<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s no surprise many wish to change the\u00a0system that puts these people at unnecessary harm at their own cost. Since Icelandic law does not allow you to physically restrain anyone (no really, you’re at full liberty of getting yourself killed by the nature here), typical suggestion seems to be that if you endanger yourself deliberately\u00a0you should pay for your rescue yourself. Personally I would vote for this in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n

Web pages you should definitely read when traveling here<\/strong><\/p>\n

Safetravel.is (link<\/a>)
\nVegager\u00f0in for road conditions, important all around the year (link)
\nVe\u00f0ur.is for weather (link)
\nIceland warnings and dangers at Virtual Tourist (link<\/a>)
\nI Heart Reykjav\u00edk’s wonderful article which explains why the rules here are what they are (link<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

It began and ended as these things usually do: Icelanders warning tourists who decide to ignore the warning and then almost die as a result. Three Finnish cross-country skiers on Vatnaj\u00f6kull met with Bj\u00f6rgunarsveitinn, the voluntary rescue units, when one of them fell ill, and knowing there was a huge storm on its way the…<\/p>\n

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