The top of the mountain we were trying to hike is round and flat, but has very steep sides that makes it virtually impossible to climb except for in 2 places. Thing with mountain grouse is that it likes to be in places with easy escape, like the edges of this steep side.

This being early October far north of the artic circle and 750m above sea level you can make an educated guess as to the rest of the story. Guess again.

The exact location is N68 46 23.02 E17 27 08.97 As you can see on Google Earth there is a ledge that leads up on the mountain. That`s our normal route, also this time. On normal conditions safe and sound as it`s a 50m wide ledge but sloping at an increasing angle as you get towards the top. Last bit is roughly 15-20 degrees.

Below is the abyss, 100 m straight down. Darwin award material garanteed!

So here we were, early October and a fine fall day it was. Not much snow up until then, it had come and melted a few times.

Last 50m of the ledge was subsequently covered with snow, snow that had turned to a large part into ice with the melting and re-freezing.

I walked first, my mate Roger Karlsen more careful than me on this occation came after making himself a path by hacking out ice with a rock.

Me? I used my feet to stamp hard and with that break the surface of the ice to get some grip for the next step. My method was much faster than Roger, so much that by the time I had 1 step left he had barely started.

Now comes the part that deserves an honourable mention, the last step on this slippery surface I skipped the stomping through the ice, it was getting painful for my feet by then.

Needless to say I went sliding on my back at increasing speed towards the “Darwin award”. I turned over on my stomach and tried in vain to stop the sliding with my bare nails, they were not up the job and bent backwards. Painfull? I have no recollection!

This is the moment where I manage to prove that I afterall deserve to be in the genepool by taking my shotgun (make Lanber 12/70) and thrusting the barrel into the ice creating an anchor for me. I hang there until Roger came hacking down to save me.

This is as close as I`ve ever been to meeting an early end. Did I learn something? Thinking back on it now many years later it kind of sums up my personality: I do take shortcuts whenever possible.

Have I reproduced? Not yet but getting married in 6 months time :-)

Submitted on 01/04/2006

Submitted by: Andreas Hansen
Reference: Early october 1993

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

Greg said:
Neutral: Personal Account
Thanks for the story. The question is, do you now carry an ice axe, or are you still after that ever ellusive DA? ;-)

James said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
A gripping and (dare I say) painful tale, Andreas! I'm not sure if you are guilty of any REAL stupidity (basically, you just slipped on the ice as we all do; you just slipped in the worse possible place!), and your juaming your rifle in the ice showed quick thinking; nevertheless, your write-up was superb and your story kept my attention...for that I am voting to keep this as a personal account! Thanks...!

Jack said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
I've done both rock scrambling and technical climbing (although never on ice!). I haven't done any hunting in quite a few years, but I must applaud you for your quick thinking and using your prized shotgun as an makeshift break! Good story, Andreas.

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