Fivelstadnibba, Sep 3 2017

The day after the shock…

Peaks visited:

Peak Height PF Location
Fivelstadnibba 1209m 319m Stranda

 

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Fivelstadnibba

Fivelstadnibba is a characteristic peak, located above Fivelstad in Nibbedalen valley, Stranda municipality, Norway. I’ve been thinking about this peak for many years, and I always thought that I would also visit the neighbor peak Sætredalsfjellet – once up there.

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Sætredalsfjellet seen from Fivelstadnibba

My girlfriend Anne fractured a spine her back the day before. She participated in the “Over Stokk og Stein” competition in Ørsta, and I was about to sail down a 4m rope when she lost control of her grip. She fell badly, and I was standing right beside, without a chance to do anything. It was quite a shock. For the both of us. She was taken to a the hospital in Volda, x-rayed and MR’ed. Fortunately, the prognosis was that she would get well again, and she was dismissed the day after.

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The day before – Anne falling to the ground

While waiting for news at the hospital, I started talking to a man who lives at Fivelstad. I took the opportunity and asked about the Fivelstadnibba trailhead and if there was a path up the valley. He gave me all the details I needed for when I had the opportunity.

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My route up and down Fivelstadnibba

The opportunity came already the day after the accident. Anne’s only task for the next 6 weeks was to take it very, very easy – in her corset. The weather was gorgeous and I figured she could do fine a few hours without me. Sætredalsfjellet would have to wait to some other day.

I drove from Gurskøy to Volda, along Austefjorden, through Kvivstunnelen, up Honndalen and up Nibbedalen. It’s about a 1h:20m drive. I found the trailhead right away (N62.09786 E6.76649) – a tractor road close to RV655 in Nibbedalen. I followed the tractor road for 0,2km, then turned north – towards a gate.

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Through this gate, right to the Gapahuk, then left up to the other gate

After the gate, I turned right and headed up to a “Gapahuk“, then north approx 0,2km to the gate on the other end of the field. From this gate, the forest path along Sætreelva river was marked.

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On the forest path

The path led us (the dog and I) up to a viewpoint at approx. 650m elev. Here I met a family who told me that this spot was a popular destination. I told them I was heading for Fivelstadnibba, and they recommended me to deep into the Sætredalen valley before I started my ascent.

I chose to not listen to their advice, as the mountain side ahead me looked quite OK. Not that I recommend my route to anyone – it’s very off-trail, rugged and with lots of rocks, but I don’t think there is any easy way up this mountain.

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Straight up here…

Progress was good, Karma was really thirsty but found a tiny snow field where she could cool off. After a while, we got onto the ridge, where we had a good overview of Nibbedalen.

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A nice viewpoint

1h:20m after heading out, we reached point 1198m, which is the south top on this mountain. The drop down to Nibbedalen was awesome.

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Don’t move…

The main summit is 300m to the northwest, and the hike over there was easy.

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The main summit – behind Karma

There are higher peaks in almost all directions, so the views get quite obscured. But it doesn’t matter when the nearby peaks are of the gorgeous sort…

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Some of the Sunnmøre alps, seen from Fivelstadnibba

After a round of pictures, it was time to descend. Should I play it safe and retrace my steps or find a different route? I chose the latter, and took a southeast course down the mountain. This turned out to be a very good route, although I was probably quite lucky to avoid the many obstacles (slabs, cliffs) surrounding me.

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Back in Sætredalen. Sætredalsfjellet above.

We were back at the trailhead before 3 hours had passed, and I had get back home to see if my sweetheart needed my assistance. I actually returned here one week later, this time to visit both the peaks on the Sætredalsfjellet massif.

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Below Fivelstadnibba

Pictures from the hike: 

 

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