Afternoon hikes and ski-trips
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Melshornet | 807m | 564m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP |
| Ursfjellet | 563m | 213m | Skodje, Norway | WCP |
| Rjåhornet | 598m | 105m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Stedjeåsen | 624m | 121m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP |
| Storehaugfjellet | 1173m | 990m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP |
| Store Haugmelen | 1172m | 974m | Sogndal/Luster, Norway | WCP |
MELSHORNET, MAR 5 2018
Monday; this day turned out quite different than what I had expected. My colleague Tim had watched some of my videos on Facebook, and wanted to participate in one – where he runs down a mountain on his home-brewed sledge. He proposed Tuesday and Wednesday as options, but it was most practical to do this already today.
He wanted to go to Veirahaldet (1206m), but I figured we should start this new “joint venture” under some control, so I proposed Melshornet. I didn’t think his sledge would be any good in the powder snow, and on Melshornet, there is an autostrada – perfect for sledges.
We met at Helgatun after work and headed out. I had left Karma back home, as I didn’t want her chasing Tim on his sledge. Tim’s not a sprinter on skis, but he doesn’t stop. It took us one hour exactly to reach the top. I normally do this route in 40 minutes, so I was quite happy with the pace.
Now it was time for the “grand finale“. Tim took off in powder snow, in direction of Grøthornet. I had problem keeping up with him. “Fortunately”, he fell off and had to start over. When we got to the next hillside, he ran down, full speed, in a different direction than I had planned, and I had no chance of keeping up with him.
Back on the “autostrada”, I was back in control until he made a sudden turn to the left – when I was almost on his side. I hadn’t noticed the prep monster coming up the track, but he had. For the rest of the descent, we had a slight misunderstanding. I was in front of him, filming backwards. But he braked, thinking he might run me over. So the filming wasn’t as good as it should have been. Moreover, I had got some dinner grease on the lens, so it was all a bit “cloudy”. But here’s the (HD) clip, if you want to watch.
The trip: 6,8km, 590 vertical meters.
Pictures from the ascent:
HULDREHORNET, MAR 5 2018
Still Monday; I returned to Karma, who had a slight “why did you leave me alone?” look on her face. I was kind of hungry and eager for dinner, but first things first. I took Karma up to the local mountain Huldrehornet and she seemed content with the short hike. It was a nice round trip walk, though, where I had to use the headlamp from the top and down.
The trip: 3,2km, 250 vertical meters.
URSFJELLET (VASSTRANDEGGA), MAR 6 2018
Tuesday; working in Ålesund today, and given the wonderful weather, I wasn’t sure where to go after work. There were several options, but I didn’t want to drive that far, this early in the year. So I decided to go for Ursfjellet, which I attempted one week earlier. Due to an evil, cold wind, I turned around then, just after entering the mountain plateau.
Today, there was no wind, and the top would surely end up “in the bag“. Again. I visited this mountain numerous times while living in Ålesund (2006-2008). We went up the road from Vasstranda, and followed our old tracks up to Vasstrandfjellet (531m). From here, Ursfjellet was just 1km away, to the northeast and there were tracks which made life easier for Karma.
I hadn’t imagined that a descent from Ursfjellet would be particularly fun, but I was plain wrong. I was BIG fun – hopefully captured on this video clip (HD):
The trip: 9km, 580 vertical meters.
Pictures from the ascent:
RJÅHORNET, MAR 7 2018
Wednesday; the stunning weather had passed and it was back to the “everyday” life, with hikes to the local mountains. Today, I decided to visit Rjåhornet again, and I thought I would be heading into a snowfall. But the weather stayed the same all the way, which was a big bonus!
I descended the route towards Djupvika, then went off-trail down to Stemmedalsvatnet and for the first time, I crossed our drinking water.
The trip: 6,4km, 590 vertical meters.
Pictures from the trip:
STEDJEÅSEN, MAR 8 2018
Thursday; I wasn’t planning to go to Sogndal until Friday – when Anne would return after her 3-week stay in India. But the weather forecast said snow, and I decided to take the drive on Thursday afternoon. I was in bad shape, with tension headache all night and all day. After having rubbing my back on a tennis ball all day (I had to call in sick, for the first time in years), I felt: a) like hit by a truck and b) somewhat better.
I reached Anne’s place around 6pm and went directly up Stedjeåsen with Karma. One can always rely on the winter trail, and it was just as excellent as it’s normally is. I hoped the hike would shake off the rest of the tension in the back, and at least, it didn’t get worse.
The trip: 5,2km, 550 vertical meters.
Pictures from the hike:
Friday; Ain’t it typical. After struggling with tension headache on the left side, the body decided to balance it out and on Friday morning I woke up with a splitting headache on the right side. I still managed to work effectively throughout the day (with occasional workouts with the tennis ball), but there was no energy to go hiking. And there wasn’t much time either, as I had to pick up Anne around 6pm at the Sogndal airport.
It was very nice to finally see Anne again. Fortunately, I felt a bit better and her jet-leg came in useful 😉
STOREHAUGFJELLET, MAR 10 2018
Saturday; another stunning weather day and Anne and I decided to return to the airport for skiing. Anne would ski to Lingesete, while Karma and I went up and down Storehaugfjellet.
It was a brilliant trip all the way up, and even better down. I met up with Anne again, she decided to enjoy her tea by a tree, and Karma and I went back up 200 vertical meters to enjoy some more skiing (and running).
A lot of good moments captured on this clip (HD):
The trip: 13,9km, 860 vertical meters.
Pictures from the trip (and afterwards):
STORE HAUGMELEN, MAR 11 2018
Sunday; this was a grey weather day, but that’s no reason to stay at home. We looked for a trip that would give me a ski-trip to a top I hadn’t been to in 2018, and where Anne could set up a campfire (only fire, no camp). Store Haugmelen came up as the first candidate, and provided that the winter road to Goro was open, that’s where we would go.
The winter road was open, and it was very convenient to start well into the forest, at approx. 500m elevation. The summit was approx. 6km of skiing away, and Anne planned to find a place to set up a fire near Syresete.
We parted near Syresete and Karma and I headed towards the Vassløysa cabins. There were ski-tracks, making the ascent easier for Karma. It was windy and the light was flat. But fortunately, we stayed in shelter until we started on the final ascent at around 950m. It was not so pleasant to be on the mountain, but we found shelter behind the cairn.
The descent was a bit miserable. Due to the flat light and wind-packed snow, I had to take it easy. I even had to use the GPS to find my tracks up the mountain. But down in the forest, skiing got more fun.
I quickly located Anne’s hideout, and it was really nice to get a dry sweater on, get a warm cup of coffee and something to eat.
The pictures from the ascent and some of the forest ski-descent has been captured on this clip (HD):
The trip: 12km, 780 vertical meters.
Pictures from the ascent:
Cool! Trying to decide what was the best 😉