Stranded skiers rescued after spelling ‘SOS’ with ice blocks

Two stranded skiers were rescued after spelling out the distress code “SOS” with ice blocks.

The man and woman, from Germany, clambered onto a floe — a large floating sheet of ice — after getting into difficulty while trying to ski 104 miles across a frozen lake that separates Finland and Sweden.

They had been camping on the Gulf of Bothnia, which is frozen for up to half of the year, before the ice around them broke up — sending almost all of their equipment into the water.

Two stranded skiers used ice blocks to spell the distress code ‘SOS’ after losing their emergency equipment. Jam Press

Finnish border guards received a distress call at around 6.30 a.m last Tuesday, according to the country’s broadcaster Yle, and they sent out a search plane and hovercraft.

The desperate couple then managed to get their attention by using chunks of ice to spell out the universal distress message after losing their beacon while waiting on the floe.

They had been trying to cross the frozen Gulf of Bothnia. Jam Press

The skiers, described as experienced outdoor enthusiasts, were rescued just over five hours later.

Coast guard officials said the tourists, who were skiing to Luleå, Sweden, were “of course cold” but unharmed, according to Yle.