Another week with some fine skiing
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Høgåsen | 240m | 240m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| Liafjellet (east top) | 527m | 14m | Ørskog, Norway | WCP |
| Haddalshornet | 611m | 103m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| Nihusen | 438m | 340m | Skodje, Norway | WCP |
| Høgehaug | 980m | 10m | Sogndal | |
| Blåfjellet | 1401m | 151m | Leikanger/ Sogndal, Norway | WCP |
| Vorfjellet | 1209m | 179m | Luster, Norway | WCP |
Løkeberget (579m) – did not summit, Jan 28 2019
Monday: I started this hiking and skiing week at lake Snipsøyrvatnet on Hareidlandet island. The plan was to ascend Løkeberget on skis.
It started out nice and easy along the service road to lake Hammarstøylsvatnet.
There were only two problems; bad weather was moving in, and the snow was too deep and icy for Karma.
At 260m elevation, I gave up. Even if bad weather wasn’t coming along, this was way too strenuous for Karma. I mean, she would have followed me until eternity, but there was absolutely no fun in it, for either one of us…
Trip statistics: 3,4km, 230 vertical meters, 45 mins
Høgåsen (240m), Jan 28 2019
Monday: I didn’t want to go home without having been to a top, so I drove to Åsen on Dimnøya to hike Høgåsen. We had a smooth ride up the forest, but when we reached the top, we were in the middle of an inferno.
It was just not a nice Monday…
Trip statistics: 3,2km, 220 vertical meters, 45 mins
Liafjellet east top (527m) , Jan 29 2019
Tuesday: After work in Ålesund, I met up with my colleague Fredrik at Moa. Together we drove to Solnørdalsvegen (from Sjøholt) to ski Liafjellet. Fredrik had only background in cross-country skiing and from slalom slopes. He had never skied to a mountain with Telemark or Randonee equipment. I lent him my Randonee skis for the occasion. For me, it felt odd to put the old Telemark skis back on.
After a slightly cumbersome section through the lower forest, the terrain opened up. We were heading into the darkness, but had sufficient daylight during the ascent.
Fredrik had never skied on skins before, and after the trip, he told me that this was the highlight of the trip…
The snow was perfect for skiing, almost powder quality. Which meant that Karma had a huge struggle in following us up the forest.
As such, we agreed that we would settle for the east top – only 1m lower than the west top.
When we reached the east top, it was pitch dark and the descent would be assisted by our headlamps.
So how did Fredrik do on the way down? Well … it will take a few more trips before he’s fully comfortable with this type of skiing. But he had overall big fun, which is the most important thing!
This was my 3rd trip with Fredrik. The first went to Sukkertoppen with our team at work, and the second was a memorable scramble on the amazing Fingeren peak.
Trip statistics: 6km, 435 vertical meters, 2h:15m
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the trip:
Haddalshornet (611m) , Jan 30 2018
Wednesday: I will mostly remember this ski-trip for the epic bad skiing conditions.
Karma and I started out from Indre Haddal. The forest part allows for skiing up, but for certain, not for skiing down.
Above the forest, there was hardly any snow left.
Then we headed up to the upper part of Klungsdalen valley, where it was windy as hell. The snow in the upper valley could best be described as Sastrugis…
My original plan had been to ski down the west flank, but given the bad skiing conditions I soon decided to return along our ascent route. At least, I knew what we were in for.
We reached the windy summit and performed our normal rituals (daddy taking pictures and Karma waiting for goodies)
The descent went better than feared. It was dead dark by now, and my headlamp only revealed the very nearby surroundings, but I knew the area quite well from previous trips.
But the forest part was really bad, and eventually I had to take the skis off and walk down.
Trip statistics: 6,3km, 600 vertical meters, 1h:50m
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the trip:
Nihusen (438m) , Jan 31 2019
Thursday: After work in Ålesund, I drove to Skodje to ski Nihusen. My good friend Torill Berg had told me to feel free to park by her mother’s house. As the trailhead parking hadn’t been cleared of snow, I happily accepted the invite. As I prepared to head out, Torill’s brother and her mom came driving up.
I hadn’t met him before and I said “you’ll probably wondering why a stranger has parked here?“. “I guess we’ll soon find out“, he replied and I had a good laugh from this quick reply. Once I said my name, I was treated like close family. He had heard about me. I guess Torill had only told him about the fun part of “hell week” in northern Norway in 2007. Torill and I have climbed both Romsdalshorn and Stetind together. We’ve done amazing stuff together. Friends for life.
Then, Karma and I headed up the long forest road from Indreberg.
The snow on the road was just perfect and I SO looked forward to ski down here.
After the end of the forest road, the pitch up to the top is pretty steep and it was a struggle to get to the top on skis. But, I managed. Karma followed the footpath and reached the top without totally blowing her steam.
After a short stay, it was time for descent. The trip down the steep section felt like “Hawaii skiing“, but I managed to get down to the forest road without falling flat on my face.
The forest road was heavenly to ski. The only complaint is that it isn’t very steep, so I didn’t really get the speed I wanted.
This was also the first time I tried my new GoPro Fusion. When I returned home I learned that I hadn’t enough memory on my computer to combine the front and rear videos. Bummer!
Nevertheless, it was a very nice ski-trip!
Trip statistics: 5,7km, 380m vertical meters, 1h:24m
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the trip:
Høgehaug (980m), Feb 1 2019
Friday: After work, I drove to Sogndal to spend the weekend with my girlfriend Anne. As she was out on a Park Ranger mission, I had time to do a quick ski-trip.
I drove up to Hodlekve (just above Sogndal) to ski Høgehaug. It was pitch dark when we left the parking in Rindabotn.
I didn’t expect to see anyone on the mountain, but after I while, I saw two headlamps. They were (of course) our friends Vibeke and Leif, who could report slightly hostile conditions on top.
Karma and I were in shelter most of the way, but it was indeed windy on top. But it was not bad measured to the wind back home. Leif comes from the same area as where I live, and I guess he has just forgotten how it’s like out on the coastline.
After returning to the trailhead, I drove down to Sogndal and arrived at Anne’s house just as she returned from her afternoon work outdoors. Perfect timing. The family reunited and the weekend was ON!
Trip statistics: 9,1km, 400 vertical meters, 1h:25m
Blåfjellet (1401m) , Feb 2 2019
Saturday: Anne wasn’t up for any skiing today and suggested that I could go on a ski-trip while she would look after Karma. I gladly accepted the invitation and drove up to Hodlekve to ski Blåfjellet. My parking ticket from the night before was still valid.
I decided to try a new route up the mountain and followed the Høgehaug route until I reached the Red Cross box. Then I headed into the birch forest, aiming for Storakupa. I had been to Blåfjellet several times, but I had never been in these parts of the mountain.
I wasn’t the only one who had chosen this route, and I could follow tracks all the way into “the bowl”.
Above Storakupa, the wind had wiped out most tracks, but the snow was now so firm that no tracks were needed. And soon, I had the two summits in view.
The westernmost top is the highest (1401m) and is located in Leikanger. The east top is located on the Leikanger – Sogndal border. However, these municipalities will merge in 2020, so Blåfjellet 1401m will soon be a Sogndal mountain top. Most people go to the east top, and I was all alone on the west top.
I decided to more or less descend along my ascent route and shot some video clips along the way down. The circular effect comes from the GoPro Fusion camera:
Trip statistics: 9,3km, 805 vertical meters, 2h:09m
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the trip:
Røvhaugane , Feb 2 2019
Saturday: Once back in Sogndal, Anne wanted to go for a walk and suggested Røvhaugane. It turned out to be a really nice round trip hike and I cursed myself for not recording the hike on my GPS.
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the hike:
Sogndal , Feb 2 2019
In the evening, we took a walk along the Fjordstien trail. I brought my camera of course…
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the walk:
Vorfjellet (1209m) , Feb 3 2019
Saturday: Today, we drove to Gaupne and then up the Engjadalen to ski Vorfjellet. I was rather pessimistic about finding any tracks up the mountain, but Anne had good hopes.
The last (and only) time we skied Vorfjellet was in 2010, when we skied up the south ridge. Today, we followed the recommendations from two skiers we met at the entrance of the toll road. The recommendation was to ski up to Navarsete and then ski up to the south ridge.
There were indeed tracks up the mountain and Karma had a fairly easy ride up the mountain.
The snow quality wasn’t superb, but we were pretty sure that we would be alright, upon our descent.
Eventually, we reached a trig. point and a signpost saying “Vorfjellet 1209m“, and I was sure that we had reached the top.
But no, the high point was still 300m to the east/northeast. I *hate* this type of misinformation.
But shortly after, we could surely claim the high point…
We had some pretty darned good views from up here.
We decided to descend the same way we came and the descent offered SOME sections of nice skiing.
I made a video clip from the pictures of the ascent and video from the way down. Captured by GoPro Fusion (but not with the 360 deg. result…)
Another very nice week had come to an end, where the skis were the skis were the primary means of upwards and downwards progress…
Trip statistics: 7,9km, 700 vertical meters, 2h:40m
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the trip:
