UK skiers die in Norway

A man watched his son and his friend freeze to death on a Norwegian mountain range before being rescued by a Red Cross patrol which stumbled upon the group by chance.Rupert Wilson, 48, of Drumnadrochit, Inverness-shire, is being treated in hospital for hypothermia in Bergen where his condition was described as stable.His 18-year-old son Peter and friend James Ross, 50, from the village of Evanton in Ross-shire, were found dead by rescuers who happened to be on exercise in the Hardangervidda mountain plateau in the south west of the country.Inspector Sigmund Vestrheim of Bergen police said it was a miracle that Mr Wilson survived in such extreme conditions.He said: "He was very cold and nearly unconscious. To survive up in the Norwegian high mountain plateau in those circumstances and conditions is next to impossible".The Scots had set out on their trip on Friday and were found near a glacier, just two miles from the safety of a cabin.The Norwegian Trekking Association said it had advised the men on Thursday not to risk the ten-hour journey between Finse and Kjeldebu and Norwegian Red Cross spokesman Bernt Apeland also said the men were not adequately prepared.Hardangervidda is Europe's largest mountain plateau, and is home to thousands of reindeer and a large national park that is a popular tourist attraction.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

ITN | March 12, 2007

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