About

NORTIND was founded in 1978, and became a member of the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IVBV/UIAGM/IFMGA) in 1982. As the IVBV/IFMGA only approves one national organisation in each country, NORTIND is the only representative of the international federation in Norway, and has sole responsibility for certifying mountain guides under the IVBV/IFMGA's international standards.

In addition to a committee of elected representatives, NORTIND has a board and secretariat headed by Anders Nordnes. He acts as the formal point of contact for the organisation.

Enquiries to the organisation should be addressed to Anders Nordnes at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

UIAGM – Union International des Associations de Guides de Montagne

IFMGA – International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations

IVBV – Internationale Vereinigung der Bergführerverbände

The international federation IVBV/UIAGM/IFMGA represents mountain guides throughout the world. There are more than 23 national member organisations from Europe, North and South America, Japan, Nepal and New Zealand. A number of countries have also been admitted as "candidate countries", and are working with member countries to qualify as full members.

The main areas of work of the IVBV are glaciers and ice, skiing and avalanches and alpine climbing. One sub-committee is working on canyoning, whilst another is looking at guiding and commercial expeditions in high mountain areas. Certification in the various member countries is based on IVBV's international standards, and is – with the exception of a few national variations – fairly similar in terms of content and level.

The IVBV's technical commission holds technical meetings a few times a year, to keep representatives from the member countries up-to-date. Over the past ten years, a system of exchanges has been developed, which sees members attending other countries' certification courses. An "Info point" has also been established, which allows people who work in the mountains to exchange experiences about conditions on different routes.

The IVBV's secretariat is based in Switzerland. The organisation's website address is http://www.ivbv.info/en/home.html

Information about the member countries: read more.

Norwegian mountain culture is based on the principles of leave no trace and the nature own dignity. Our members base their work on these principles. We welcome all foreign colleagues to work in our mountains and strongly urge all to respect and pass these principles forward to their guests. Leave no trace and respect the wildlife and flora.

The Norwegian climbing culture and ethics are based on the same principles. There is a «no bolt» ethic in the mountains and we have a long tradition for «clean» climbing. We encourages all visiting guides to follow this ethic and ask Nortind for advice before any bolts or permanent installations are established.

Most of our ski and climbing tours require to park and hike over private land. To keep a good relationship between landowners and skiers/climbers please follow the advices in the guide book, ask for permission, and/or ask the local mountain guides for advices. 

Norwegian Established Guiding Practices: 

Nortind’s guiding culture is based on the Norwegian outdoor tradition, national and international standards. These are the standard that Nortind strongly recommends.

Ski touring: 

6 guests pr. guide

Nordic skiing:

6-8 guests pr. guide

Rock climbing and alpine climbing:

1 guest pr. guide, long and complex climbs

2 guests pr. guide, most routes

3 guests pr. guide, short and/or tours with little climbing 

Glaciers:

6 guests pr. guide on complex tours

Please contact us for help or assistance in an emergency or challenging event!

President: Leif I. Magnussen +4795751814

Or

 Vice President: Jørgen Aamot +4790078131

Maps

All public maps are available online and can be downloaded free of charge. Here are some of the resources:

http://www.norgeskart.no/?_ga=2.61661292.1922671966.1521376295-133365369.1521376295#!?project=seeiendom&layers=1002,1015&zoom=4&lat=7197864.00&lon=396722.00

https://www.ut.no/kart/

https://www.kartbutikken.no/norge-serien

Guidebooks

Skitouring :

https://www.ffshop.no/topptur-c-14_49.html

Climbing/mountainering

https://www.oslosportslager.no/produktkategori/klatreforere-klatreboker-4-2551.aspx

https://www.vpg.no/avdelinger/produkter/klatring/f%C3%B8rere-og-b%C3%B8ker/klatref%C3%B8rere-innland

Avalanche forecasting

In Norway the avalanche forecasting is founded by the government. They are published on a daily basis from 1st of Dec to 31st of May. There are different regions all over Norway and they will differ in size. Most of them are quite big compared to Europe so you need to evaluate the local conditions and weather to get a precise situation awareness. 

Avalanche forecast is located at:

http://www.varsom.no/en/

Avalanche maps:

https://temakart.nve.no/link/?link=bratthet

RegObs is an app and website to register avalanches, weather, snow and incidents. The app is linked with the phone GPS and will give you exact position and an avalanche map. You can also view last days observations in your area.

The Reg Obs app is available for iPhone and Android.

Weather

www.yr.no

www.pent.no

www.windy.com

Emergency and Rescue

Search and Rescue (SAR):

Call 112 

Medical situation that don’t require rescue:

Call 113 

Fire:

Call 110

The police is responsible for all SAR operations in Norway. They alert the different resources depending on the situation. If the situation requires specialists like helicopter and/or volunteers, will the mission be handed over to the Joint Rescue Coordination Center for coordination and control.

All rescue in Norway is free of charge,but its still important not to take advantage of the system if the situation can be solved on site. 

Rescue helicopters

The rescue helicopters are run by the Norwegian military. Its a quite big helicopter (Sea King) and are located at 6 different bases where 2 of them are located in north and 4 of them in the south. They are all equipped with a hoist and will require a big landing area. Be aware of the downwash.

Ambulance helicopters

These helicopters are mainly used as an ambulance but has the capacity to conduct SAR missions in the mountains. They are smaller than the rescue helicopters and they don’t have a hoist. The ambulance helicopters can still conduct SAR missions in steep terrain with a fixed line. Their night and weather capacity is more limited than the rescue helicopters.

Volunteers

The volunteers are an important resource in the Norwegian SAR system. Volunteers specialists will conduct rescues of climbers and in avalanches. They are not part of the professional rescue service (but cooperate with them), and will not be on alert like the professionals. Their response time will be longer and depending on the location of the accident/incident.

In general the response time for SAR missions will be longer in Norway than Europe. The long distances and unpredictable weather will often result in a minimum of 1 hour waiting or longer if the mission has to be conducted on foot. Be prepared and equipped so you are able to handle a situation. 

I NORTINDs formålsparagraf (§2 i Vedtektene) står det at vi har til hensikt å formidle tindefriluftsliv i tråd med norsk og alpin friluftslivstradisjon. Norsk friluftslivstradisjon har sine røtter i Romantikken – en protestbevegelse mot en brutal industrialisering – akkurat som det alpine friluftslivet (jf. borgerskapets organisering av Alpenvereine og dannelsesreiser til fjells). Det vil også si at vi deler verdiorientering med verdens første naturvernbevegelse – kjøl og ror for tenkning og handling.

Fri natur er mer verd enn markedsprisen. Fri natur har iboende verdi. Det har mennesket også – senere bekreftet av FNs menneskerettighetskonvensjon. Å formidle tindefriluftsliv i tråd med norsk og alpin friluftslivstradisjon – jf. vår formålsparagraf – vil si å levendegjøre Naturverd og Menneskeverd

Å levendegjøre Naturverd og Menneskeverd krever at vi iscenesetter verdidannende læring i møte med livsfaren i fri natur og inviterer til deltakelse og medansvar. Å fornekte livsfaren er livsfarlig. Som profesjonelle, arbeider vi ut fra at fare ikke er farlig for den som farer várlig. For at dette ikke skal forbli tomme ord, fremmer vi deltakelse og medansvar ved å sette i scene 'ferdrådet' under mottoet: Ferd etter Evne! Ferdrådet er ikke over før erfaringene fra fjellferden er delt – en iscenesetting som prioriterer læring i fri natur fremfor abstrakt instruksjon. I vår yrkesrolle som kursholdere, så vel som 'høgfjellsførere', er vi i følge forbundets formål iscenesettere av verdiorientert læring. Det er en åpenbar veg til en naturvennlig fremtid – både for  den enkelte og for samfunn på kollisjonskurs med fri natur.

Stetinderklæringen

Vi har etter hvert forstått
at vår levemåte har skjebnesvangre konsekvenser for natur og mennesker og dermed alt liv på jorden.

De utfordringer vi står overfor som enkeltmennesker og som fellesskap, er ikke bare av økonomisk og teknologisk karakter. De handler om verdier og om vår grunnleggende selvforståelse som mennesker.

Vi erkjenner at

Natur og menneske utgjør en helhet og et skjebnefellesskap: Naturen er kulturens hjem
Livet handler om de forhold vi er vevet inn i:
Alt liv er liv i avhengighet
Naturverd og menneskeverd er på det nærmeste forent: Det vi gjør mot naturen, gjør vi mot oss selv

Det finnes intet annet liv enn det sårbare og derfor alltid truede liv Engasjementet for naturen er også et engasjement for økt rettferdighet: Vår levemåte rammer særlig den fattige delen av jordens befolkning, urbefolkningene og generasjonene som kommer etter oss

Vi vil

Arbeide for en fornyet forståelse
av forholdet mellom natur og menneske

La denne forståelsen prege våre valg, både som enkeltmennesker og som fellesskap

Finne gleden ved å leve naturvennlig:

Det finnes ingen vei til naturvennlighet, naturvennlighet er veien!

Menneskets muligheter er store, både til å skape og legge øde. Vi vil i denne skjebnetid vise ansvar og forplikte oss
til en tenke- og levemåte som tjener livet.

Jeg/vi vil arbeide for å innfri Stetinderklæringen!

 På årsmøtet til NORTIND i 2022 ble det vedtatt at foreningen slutter seg til Stetinderklæringen.