“The missing men placed a call from a mobile phone on Thursday morning and said they didn’t know where they had climbed. Then the battery in the telephone died,” Västerbotten County police spokesperson Christina Neidebro told the TT news agency.
Rescue teams searched all day Thursday for the two men, both of whom are in their twenties and aren’t experienced climbers, but to no avail.
As darkness fell around 8pm, a helicopter involved in the search returned to base, while alpine rescue teams continued to look for the missing men, who were reportedly equipped with a tent and appropriate clothing for an alpine hike.
Overnight temperatures in the area dropped to around 0 degrees Celsius and with light snowfall.
As of Friday morning, however, the climbers were still missing, and rescue teams feared that incoming bad weather could further complicate the search.
“Bad weather is on the way, so we hope the helicopter can find them before it arrives,” police spokesperson Dan Andersson told TT.
The North Syter Peak has an elevation of 1,768 metres above sea level, making it the highest point in Västerbotten County.
South Syter Peak has an elevation of 1,685 metres.
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