Very nice, but terrible snow conditions…
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Eidskyrkja | 1482m | 1037m | Volda | WCP |
Saturday; nice weather, somewhat sunny but with a haze. I woke up early and decided to pay Eidskyrkja a visit. This is the highest peak in the municipality of Volda, and is always a nice ski-trip – especially after the toll road up to Skinnviksætra has opened for after winter closure.
Karma and I headed out 10:45am and I could see a number of other skiers higher up. I always get “inspired” from seeing others in front of me, and today was no exception. I normally do this ski-trip in less than 1,5 hours, which is considerably faster than the average. Having been up here more than a dozen times, there wasn’t much new things to discover, so wondering how many skiers I could pass, was the biggest thrill…
The snow was really soft, but the track up the mountain carried Karma’s weight. As there is very little trees or bushes, I expected her to get bored, but she seemed quite eager, staying in front of me all the time.
And finally, I started to catch up with other skiers. First, I passed two, then one, then four and then three more before I topped out on the glacier. On top were five other skiers and two of the left when Karma and I arrived on top. This time, it took us 1h:25m to reach the top (1140 vertical meters across 9,5km)
I chatted a bit with the three other skiers – Swedes – on a “tour de western Norway”. They seemed to have good control over the mountains that would offer a good run down. Most of them could be seen from up here…
On that note, I also looked very much forward to a good run down from Eidskyrkja, but after one minute of skiing, I realized that this was NOT the day for fun skiing. The skies stuck to the snow like glue. It was only in the steepest part of the glacier, I was able to get some speed. And poor Karma, the track did no longer carry her weight. She struggled from 1482 meters above sea level and back to the trailhead at approx. 350m.
Arriving at the trailhead, the time was only 12:49pm, and it felt strange to have done such a high mountain so early in the day. But the good news was that I had so much left of the day to do things at home, which I had postponed for so long. Like washing the car. Like cleaning the house. Like giving Karma a hair cut, cutting her nails, cleaning her ears, etc. All in all, a most excellent day!
The trip: 9,5km, 1140 vertical meters.
Pictures from the hike:
