– Terribly cold and chilled – VG

Mikael Holte Tøraasen (32) and five ski patrol colleagues dug out a young Swedish man on Wednesday who was taken by an avalanche in Trysilfjellet. Now he warns other ski tourists.

– He was terribly cold and chilled, but breathed and was conscious, says Tøraasen on the phone with VG on Wednesday night.

The 32-year-old has worked six winter seasons in SkiStar’s ski patrol in his home village of Trysil. Today’s rescue operation is the first time he rescues a human being properly, not just during an exercise.

It happened when a Swede was caught in an avalanche in Trysil on Wednesday morning. The boy, who is in his late teens, was buried about a meter under the snow 15 to 20 minutes before he was found and dug up.

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Mikael Holte Tørraasen says that he had just handed over an injured person and was given a ride to pick up his scooter when the message about the landslide came.

– He was taken in an off-piste area with avalanche danger 2. This means that it can be triggered by skiers. People think that landslide danger 2 out of 5 is small, but there is a certain risk when you drive off-piste, warns Tørraasen.

Swedish group of friends

VG has been in contact with two of the adult men who were with the Swedish young people on a trip. They confirm that the young people were a group of friends who were accompanied by some fathers.

The teenager who was taken by the landslide comes from Jönköping, writes Expressen. The joy must have been enormous when it dawned on him that he was saved.

– He got up and stretched his arms in the air of joy of being alive, says Andreas Joakimson, who also participated in the rescue work, to the Swedish newspaper.

He is himself the father of one of the comrades of the avalanche-stricken Swede, and describes the experience as shocking.

– We are many parents who have had a small debriefing here afterwards. You will be so happy and grateful that it went as well as it went, he says to Expressen.