Huguvarden, Langvasseggi
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location |
| Huguvarden | 1462m | 172m | Skjåk |
| Langvasseggi | 1651m | 221m | Skjåk/ Stryn |
Continued from Easter vacation, day 9:
HUGUVARDEN
It was the last day of our Easter vacation, and we woke up this Sunday morning on Grotli Høyfellshotell on Strynefjellet. The plan for the day, the weather permitting, was to visit Skridulaupen. And from what we could see from our hotel room, the weather looked just fine.
We checked out of the hotel after breakfast, left the car at Grotli and skied in the direction of the cabins on the other side of lake Breiddalsvatnet, assuming that we would easily find the skiing route.
We took the wrong way and ended up in cumbersome terrain. But finally made it up to the dam, where we could have driven to in the first place. 20 minutes wasted, but OK.
We found the main route up the mountain, but had only skied for 5 minutes before the wind picked up and it began to snow. Hmm… was this how we wanted to spend the day?
We found that answer was NO to that question and turned around. We had skied almost across Breiddalsvatnet before we reassessed the situation. The weather was not THAT bad, and we didn’t have to go to Skridulaupen. We could go to Huguvarden instead. A significantly shorter trip, and the elevation (1462m) wasn’t too high either. So we turned around – again.
The slope up the mountain was gentle, the snow carried our weight and the weather wasn’t deteriorating. All good news.
Skridulaupen had a “fog hat” and I definitely wanted to be on top of that mountain to enjoy the views. We will be back…
At Huguvardtjørni (1278m), we left the Skridulapbu/Skridulaupen route and headed towards Huguvarden via the ridge.
We arrived on Huguvarden 2h:35m after leaving Grotli. It was very nice to be up here, although our plan was a different mountain.
We followed our tracks down the mountain and back to Breiddalsvatnet. The total distance was 17,5km and Karma was tired. While the snow had carried our weight, with skis on, the situation was different for her. 4 hours on snow is a bit of an effort, but she is of course a very fit dog…
We returned to the hotel, the car and continued our journey towards Vestlandet (western Norway). I had taken for granted that Huguvarden was my last top this Easter. And what a Easter vacation in terms of new tops! 17 pf100 tops in 10 days. 17 new tops was the total so far this year before Easter!
But as the weather had radically improved for the better, Anne suggested that I could ski another mountain while she enjoyed a book and the sunshine. It didn’t take me long to consider the proposal, and a new plan came to life.
LANGVASSEGGI
We parked near the entrance to the tunnel. I had a folding chair in the car, which came in useful now. Anne could sit outside in the sunshine and enjoy her book while I went up Langvasseggi. Karma would sit this one out. Literally…
I followed ski-tracks across Langvatnet and up the mountainside. I didn’t know if these tracks would take me to the top, but I hoped they would…
After a while, the tracks changed course and went in the right direction. I still didn’t know if I would end up on Langvasseggi or Oppljosegga. Not that it mattered. I would be happy with any top up here today.
After a while, it was quite clear that the tracks would lead me up Langvasseggi. It was a gorgeous day and I enjoyed every minute of the trip. I tried to keep a good pace up the mountain, which wasn’t easy under the HOT sun.
This late in the afternoon – and on the last day of Easter, I thought I would be alone up here, but I met two groups of skiers heading down the mountain.
When I got to the point I thought was the top, I had 500 meters still to go. But at 3:35pm, I could claim my new top #18 this Easter.
Langevasseggi is located on the Skjåk (Oppland county) and Stryn (Sogn og Fjordane) border. I had no previous experience with Strynefjellet, but in the last two days I had been to three tops and seen a number of good routes to other tops that I look forward to exploring.
But now it was time to return to Anne, and I looked forward to 700 wonderful meters of descent.
I returned to the car 4:13pm, 2h:13m after leaving it. The trip was 10,6km and the vertical gain was 720m. The total skiing tally for the day was 28,1km and 1370 vertical meters. Enough exercise for one day, and I looked forward to some relaxing hours in the car, on our way home. It was indeed a memorable Easter vacation!
Pictures from the Huguvarden trip:
Pictures from the Langvasseggi trip:
