Afternoon hikes and ski-trips
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Lidaveten | 592m | 439m | Volda, Norway | WCP |
| Leinehornet | 366m | 366m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Hornseten | 190m | 152m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Rødlandstua | 355m | 287m | Skodje, Norway | WCP |
| Storevarden | 430m | 430m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Hasundhornet | 533m | 93m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| Veirahaldet | 1206m | 173m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP |
| Melshornet | 807m | 564m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP |
| Skarphornet | 698m | 195m | Volda, Norway | WCP |
Jan 22 2018 – LIDAVETEN
Another week, and with this amount of snow, I was still looking for tops where someone else would have broken the trail before me. I figured Lidaveten would be a good candidate.
But, my usual route runs from the main road just outside Eiksundtunnelen, and people don’t usually hike from here. But the snow wasn’t very deep here, so it was OK. I followed a tractor road up to Eidheim, went through the forest – the first part free of snow, the second part with deep snow. After passing the lavvo, I joined the forest road and then the ridge route. To my delight, people had been up here before me.
I really like this route. Lidaveten looks mighty steep, and the first part of the forest IS actually quite steep. And with the ice here and there, I had to be careful. But, we made it up and down without a single fall!
Jan 23 2018 – LEINEHORNET & HORNSETEN
Storm in the mountains, very windy on the coastline and the last thing I wanted to do, coming home from work was to do a hike. But lifestyle is hard to change, so Karma and I ended up on Leinøya, ready to hike Leinehornet along the west ridge.
From the top, we went down the south ridge, and then followed an icy path almost all the way back to the starting point.
Back at the car, the “score” was 3,8km and 355 vertical meters. Not quite satisfactory, so I drove to Bergsøya for a quick hike across Hornseten.
The Bergshaugen trail was a challenge. I fell on the ice next to the car before the hike had even begun. Ouch! The trail was all icy, and it didn’t take more than 5 minutes before I fell again.
Conditions improved when we left the trail and headed up towards Hornseten. From the top, I decided to take a different – and hopefully – less icy route back to the car. That went quite OK, but when we reached the road, I fell again. And this time, it was really, really painful!
Jan 24 2018 – RØDLANDSTUA
Working in Ålesund today, rain and much warmer weather. Hiking off-trail was out of the question. Even skiing would be a challenge. On days like this, you can rely on people having broken the trail to Rødlandstua! The problem today was that the rain had melted the snow in the lower forest, leaving an icy trail…
Things got better when we reached the ridge. The snow was soaking wet and didn’t carry our weight, but it was still better than the ice!
Looking towards Haram, I wondered how it was like to be on those tops…
I considered extending the hike to Varden, but the snow was just hopeless. So, I concluded that this was all the hiking we would do today!
Jan 25 2018 – STOREVARDEN
This Thursday was really miserable, but I was determined to get to the top of Storevarden on Nerlandsøya island.
I don’t think there is much to say, except: icy road, icy path, rain and fog on top…
Jan 26 2018 – HASUNDHORNET
This hike from Garsholhaugen was aggravating and beautiful at the same time. Aggravating, because the snow didn’t carry our weight, and beautiful because we were in the middle of two snow showers. So much weather!
Jan 27 2018 – VEIRAHALDET
The plan was to travel to Nordmøre this Saturday, and return with 3-4 new tops. But on Friday night, the prospect of driving 3,5 hours each way didn’t seem very tempting. Besides, off-trail skiing with a dog in this deep snow would not be fun. So, I decided to stay ON-TRAIL in the local region instead.
Veirahaldet offers nice tracks and slopes up to approx. 900m. The remaining 300 vertical meters follows a ridge, where I hoped the snow would not be so deep.
When I arrived at Bondalseidet skiing centre, I realized that the parking would be full today. Sunshine and fresh snow is a combination it is hard to resist. Still, I’ve never been the type of person who wants to hang out in the slalom hill all day.
To avoid being in the way of the majority of skiers, I decided to head up Nakkeløypa. As skiers came down in full speed, I had to be on constant alert. 45 minutes after heading out, we reached lake Storevatnet, where the 2nd lift was. Much less traffic up here.
At this point in time, I was not convinced that we would make it to the top. The wind wasn’t really that strong – as in gale force strong – but it was a cold wind and with the fresh snow blowing around, it could become difficult for Karma to see anything. But I would at least give it a real go!
I could see one person ahead of me, but not the person’s tracks. No wonder, given the snowdrift.
The snow depth wasn’t a huge problem for Karma, and every 5 minutes I stopped to clean her face. After a while, I started to believe that we would make it to the top!
After a little while, we could see the summit ahead of us. On the final ridge, there is a section where you have to be really careful, as there are cornices on both sides.
1,5 hours after heading out, and approx. 900 vertical meters, we reached the summit (picture on top of the page). I exchanged a few words with the guy who came up before us, but we could hear each other. Doesn’t really matter. We were just happy to be there, and enjoy the sensation for a couple of minutes.
The descent went far better than I had expected. Karma followed her own tracks, even if they could not be seen any more. Which meant that I didn’t have to focus too much about the navigation. She kept a good pace down the ridge, and I enjoyed skiing while the windpacked snow was still soft. It would not take long before sastrugis would form, making it very, very difficult to ski here.
Skiing down Nakkeløypa was utterly fun. There was hardly any traffic now, and as Karma held an incredible speed, we got down without being overtaken by other skiers.
By now, I had made up my mind. I would drive to Helgatun and ski Melshornet while Karma rested in the car.
Jan 27 2018 – MELSHORNET
I decided to ski Melshornet as fast as I could, and it took me 43 minutes from Helgatun to the top – including a few stops for pictures. Approx. 600 vertical meters. There were skiers ALL OVER the mountain, which wasn’t a big mystery – given the weather and the nice tracks.
It was quite windy on the summit, but not as bad as on Veirahaldet.
The wind hadn’t yet damaged the fresh snow, so I could ski off-trail in the upper part of the mountain. It was big fun, but when my muscles began to feel toxic, it was just a matter of getting down without a fall. 55 minutes after leaving the car, I was back with Karma. 1500 vertical meters in total this day, and I felt I could spoil myself rotten in the evening. Which I did. And Karma got extra treats too…
And yes – this is the same mountain I skied on Jan 16 (week 3)
Jan 28 2018 – SKARPHORNET
The plan today was to ski Skarphornet in Volda. When I opened the front door, the rain was pouring down. I lost a good part of the motivation right there and then. But staying home was not an option, so I got in the car and drove to Volda.
When I parked by the Volda golf course near Rotevatnet, the weather wasn’t all bad, and I could even see the top of Skarphornet (above picture). We would just see how far we would come.
It soon started raining again, and the snow stuck my plastic skins like glue. Hence, the ascent up the forest road to Botnasætra was extremely hard.
When we reached the top of the forest road, the make or break would be if the snow carried Karma’s weight. And, it actually did!
I had less problems with snow sticking to the skins when we got to the mountain ridge. Visibility was not good, but good enough. And the weather wasn’t really bad. It was just snowing. I started considering a round trip, but then the GPS made the “soon out of battery” beep, and with no spares I decided to go down the way I came up.
It was nice to reach the top. Karma got extra treats, as she certainly had deserved it.
The descent was not very enjoyable. The snow on the mountain was good for skiing, but visibility was bad. When we got to the forest road, the skis hardly moved at all. But when we returned to the car, after 9,9km of skiing, I had two treats awaiting; 1) hot dog at the local gas station and 2) a warm shower once home. None of these treats had felt particularly good without the effort.
Week 4 didn’t offer very good weather. Still, I managed to get 9 different tops, 4425m vertical meters and 49,5km of hiking and skiing.
