Norway tourism offices remove pictures of Trolltunga cliff after Australian woman’s fatal fall

NORWAY is removing pictures from its tourism website of people posing dangerously on the iconic Trolltunga cliff after death of Kristi Kafcaloudis.

Australian woman’s death prompts photo withdrawal

NORWAY is removing pictures from its tourism website of people posing dangerously on the iconic Trolltunga cliff after an Australian’s death there.

Kristi Kafcaloudis, a 24-year-old Monash University student from Queensland, died on Saturday after reportedly losing her balance and falling 700 metres from the “troll’s tongue” ledge while preparing to pose for a photograph.

Innovation Norway spokeswoman Marianne Mork said it was the first known fatal accident at Trolltunga.

Aussie student Kristi Kafcaloudis - who plunged to her death off a cliff in Norway while having her photo taken Trolltunga is a piece of rock jutting horizontally out of a mountain about 700 metres above the north side of the lake Ringedalsvatnet in the municipality of Odda in Hordaland county, Norway

Ms Mork said tourism offices, including Visit Norway, offered a wide range of information about security in the Norwegian mountains, but “unfortunately, accidents do happen”.

“It can — as we have recently seen — be extremely dangerous. The walk up there is also pretty hard, and many tourists are not prepared for that part either.” The number of people who completed the four-hour trek to Trolltunga increased from 500 in 2009, to 40,000 last year, and images appearing on social media seem to have raised the bar for dangerous stunts for photos.

“Visit Norway have decided to remove some of its pictures featuring tourists posing on the tip of Trolltunga, in order to not inspire others to pose the same way,” Ms Mork said.

“Our opinion is that many people underestimate the danger.”

The move comes a day after Trolltunga Adventures owner and guide Thomas Ruud called for action to improve safety at the tourist spot, saying an incident such as Ms Kafcaloudis’s death had been a long time coming.

“Last couple of years, people have started to bring tents because they want the sunset and rise, and people drinking and getting out on the cliff,” he said.

“This is why we have been waiting for something like this to happen.” Mr Ruud said it would be impossible to install fences, because the whole valley was a 700-metre drop.

“But I think more needs to be done about this, or I am sure it is going to happen again.”