Easter diary, Apr 9 2017

Torgeirkampen

Peaks visited:

Peak Height PF Location
Torgeirkampen 1190m 302m Nord-Fron
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Another nice day in the outskirts of Rondane

Continued from Easter vacation, day 1:

Today, we chose Torgeirkampen as the destination. We drove almost all the way down from Kvamsfjellet to Kvam, before following the road to Leinebakken. We thought we had to park at Fjellhaug (760m), but we were given to drive on the private road towards Leinsætrin.

Unfortunately, it had not been a cold night, but we hoped that it had been cold enough that the snow would carry our weight. It didn’t. So when we saw something that looked like tracks from snowshoes up the forest, we decided to follow them.

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Here we go, hoping for the best…

The tracks only helped us a tiny bit. The trip up the forest was a nightmare, and especially for poor Karma. At one point it got so bad that we considered turning around. But then I tried to walk beside her, holding her in her harness so she wouldn’t sink into the deep snow. Although strenuous for the both us, it worked – and we aimed for the southeast ridge, where we would either reach firm snow or no snow at all.

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Karma needed a timeout here…

Once above the forest, all was good and we had an enjoyable trip up the mountain.

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Life is good again…

After a while, we got Torgeirkampen in view, and right there and then, I didn’t think there was enough snow to allow us to make it to the top with skis on.

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Torgeirkampen ahead

But there was JUST enough snow on the ridge to make this a genuine ski-ascent. It was nice that reach the summit – having worked so hard to get here!

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On top of Torgeirkampen

We were of course concerned about the forest descent, but two things were in our favor; 1) we were going downhill and 2) we could follow our tracks. But first, we would enjoy skiing down the southeast ridge.

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The dessert…

Back in the forest, I had to put the skins back on the skis to control the speed along the very awkward track we made on the way up. I used all my force in every step to make a “tunnel” for Karma, trailing behind me.

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Karma, swimming down the forest

Anne had a hard time in the forest. She was tired after the strenuous ascent, and didn’t have the strength it took to control her narrow skis. Eventually, she gave up and proceeded on foot – throwing the skis in front of her. Sympathy!!!

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Keep the spirit up! We’re almost down…

In sum, this trip was 4km pure hell and 5,3km very nice! So all in all…

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Trip tracks

Pictures from the trip: 

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