Rjåhornet, Dec 16 2017

Birthday ski-trip

Peaks visited:

Peak Height PF Municipality WCP
Rjåhornet 598m 105m Herøy, Norway WCP

 

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Beautiful snow conditions on Rjåhornet

December 16th – and after snowfall all day, it cleared up in the afternoon. I just had to go skiing. After all, it was my birthday. And a birthday is not quite a birthday without a ski-trip. After some consideration, I decided to bring Karma. It would get tough, but it’s been a while since she had it tough. And I don’t want her to get fat…

The choice fell on Rjåhornet – probably the top I visit most often during a year. I chose to start by the fjord. For me, starting by the fjord brings an extra dimension to the trip.

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Starting point: Leikong – sea level

The forest part isn’t so much fun, and I could hear rocks scratching the skis. But with skins on, it’s tolerable. But I made a mental note to take it very careful upon descent.

As we got above the forest, I enjoyed the wonderful light. The upside of living on the rough coastline is that after rough weather comes nice weather. The transition is often pure magic.

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Rising above the fog is always very nice…

I don’t think the dog enjoyed this trip. Only snow. Nothing to smell. And it’s quite amazing that she doesn’t just sit down and say; “hey! this is NOT my idea of a Saturday afternoon!”. Her loyalty is astonishing.  I used to have a Dachshund. They’re a different kind, altogether…

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Faithfully on my tail…

As we got higher on the mountain, it became quite clear that the descent would be simply brilliant. The snow was just magic and the skis had stopped scratching rock a long time ago.

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Rjåhornet ahead

We reached the top just as it was getting dark. The camera doesn’t quite reflect reality, and from the pictures it seems we were out in broad daylight.

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The final yards

As expected, the descent was beautiful. The only downside was that I couldn’t do the whole mountain in one run, as I had to frequently stop and wait for Karma – struggling in the snow.

Just before Leikong, a snowball came flying my way. My girlfriend Anne was hiding behind a rock, just back from the cross-country track. She decided to spare her bad knee from a ski-descent today. But she “made up for it”, through a very nice dinner and dessert later on.

All in all, a very enjoyable birthday!

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The route

Pictures from the trip:

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