A very memorable weekend on Strynefjellet
- The good life on Strynefjellet
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location |
| Breiddalseggi | 1635m | 485m | Skjåk, Norway |
| Stavbrekknovi | 1614m | 44m | Skjåk/ Stranda, Norway |
| Søre Stavbrekknovi | 1552m | 62m | Skjåk, Norway |
| Oppljosegga | 1571m | 361m | Skjåk/ Stranda/ Stryn, Norway |
| Djupvassegga | 1546m | 196m | Stranda, Norway |
Videseter, July 13
Friday; Videseter is a hotel located along the Gamle Strynefjellsveien road (closed in winter). Further up the road lies Stryn Sommerski center, at the foot of Tystigbreen glacier. I’ve never been up this road before and when Anne suggested that we could spend the weekend here, I was extremely positive about the idea. Not that I reckoned we would go skiing in mid-July, but there were definitely some interesting mountains in this region.
I met Anne at Videseter on Friday afternoon. We checked in, took a look at the dramatic waterfall next to the hotel, enjoyed dinner and looked forward to nice weekend in the nearby mountains.
There was absolutely no wow-factor about the room, but the hotel itself was quite nice, with lots of history.
Pictures from Friday:
Breiddalseggi (1635m), July 14 2018
Saturday; Videseter was completely wrapped in fog, but we had high hopes that we would find sunshine on Strynefjellet. And if we did, then we would go for a hike on Breiddalseggi.
To our delight, the weather on Strynefjellet was just gorgeous!
The initial plan was just Breiddalseggi, but I had a secret hope that Anne would get energy from the beautiful terrain and come along for a round trip hike across Stavbrekknovi and Søre Stavbrekknovi. I decided to hold back this proposal until we had gained some altitude.
There were no paths, but the terrain was easy enough for off-trail hiking and the goal got gradually closer.
This was clearly a good year for the Ptarmigans, and we saw plenty of them…
We finally reached snow, and inspired by Karma’s excitement whenever she gets a chance to take a good roll, we gave it a try ourselves…
We reached the top of Breiddalseggi 1h:07m after heading out. Very nice to be up here!
The snowy white Stryn mountains were quite a sight…
By now, Anne had agreed to the round trip and we sat course for Stavbrekknovi, which is quite an amusing name. Freely translated, it would be something like “Pole breaking peak“.
Along the way, we tried to have as much fun as possible…
1h:05m after leaving Breiddalseggi, we arrived on the top of Stavbrekknovi. We actually had to use our hands to get to the top rock…
The views were not bad from this top, either…
After a short stay, we continued to the unnamed top 1552m south of Stavbrekknovi, which peakbook.org refers to as Søre Stavbrekknovi.
We got there in less than half an hour, with fun terrain along the way.
From Søre Stavbrekknovi, we went north until we found a snow field that we had set our eyes on upon ascent – from the other side of Nordre Kupa (the valley). The descent went fine, but we had to cross the river and slippery slabs. There was basically just one point which seemed to offer a fairly safe crossing, and soon after, we were on the “good” side of the river.
Down in the valley, Anne wanted to test the cold water. I followed – somewhat unwillingly, but I don’t want to be the chicken…
Further down in Nordre Kupa, we crossed the river numerous times, having a hard time deciding which would be the best side to be on.
Eventually, we reached the trailhead and concluded that we have had a mighty nice round trip hike!
Before returning to Videseter, we drove up to Stryn Sommerski to see if there was skiing terrain. We concluded there wasn’t…
We then returned to the hotel and enjoyed the valley view before going to dinner…
Trip statistics: 12,3km, 860 vertical meters, 6 hours
Pictures from the hike:
Oppljosegga (1571m), Djupvassegga (1546m), July 15 2018
Sunday, and the weather wasn’t as gorgeous as the day before. We decided to continue where we “left off” the day before and nominated Oppljosegga as our target. This top is one of the very few tops in Norway that is on the border of 3 counties; Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane and Oppland. Definitely a must-do hike!
My secret plan was to include Djupvassegga upon descent, but I waited a while to mention the idea to Anne. For her, Oppljosegga was more than enough to handle, with her unstable energy level. It’s really sad. This hike would have been a walk in the park for her, 3 years ago.
After checking out from Videseter, we drove up to the foot of Grasdalen valley and parked there. We joined a couple who were heading for a cabin by Grasdalsvatnet.
We parted after a while and Anne and I aimed for a distinct ridge that would take us up to the high ridge.
The ascent was hard for Anne, but as the summit got closer, it seemed that her energy level was boosting.
We reached the top 1h:40m after heading out. I had planned the group picture on top during the ascent…
After a good rest on top, Anne agreed to go for a round trip hike across Djupvassegga. It would be a mere 200 vertical meter ascent, in addition to the horizontal distance.
It took us a little more than one hour to get to the top of Djupvassegga. I was quite happy, as I now only had 9 peaks to go before reaching my annual goal of 100 new peaks (with a prominence of 100m or more). Given the fact that we were in the middle of July, it seemed like a stood a pretty good chance of meeting my goal…
We took a break by a viewpoint cairn west of the summit and could enjoy some amazing views…
The descent from Djupvassegga was much steeper than it seemed on the map, and if it hadn’t been for small cairns, this could have been a tedious affair. I was quite happy when we could conclude that the steep part was behind us.
We continued down to lake Grasdalsvatnet and minded the time. It was 2pm, we had 3km to go and a 2 hour drive back to my place on Sunnmøre. The final in the world cup soccer final started 5pm and we both really wanted to see it. Anne was really tired, but pushed as hard as she could.
The time was 2:51pm when we returned to the car, and we arrived back home 10 minutes before the final started. We didn’t get the result we hoped for, but congratulations to France – clearly being the best team of the match!
Trip statistics: 12,2km, 930 vertical meters, 5 hours
Pictures from the hike:
