Plan B…
Peaks visited (Click on the Peak name link to go directly to the chapter):
| Peak | Height | PF | Location |
| Valanipa | 1231m | 161m | Vik i Sogn, Norway |
Today, the goal was to “bag” my first pf 100 top in 2019. And the chosen top was Fyrjaeggi (1205m) on Vikafjellet. It was supposed to be a short day-trip from Sogndal. Nothing complicated at all. Just ski a dam service road to the foot of the mountain, and … voila!
The weather was gorgeous, and I was convinced I was quite familiar with the terrain, as Fyrjaeggi was one of the very few tops left for me to do in this area. It should be a walk in the park.
We drove from Sogndal and took the Hella – Vangsnes ferry and drove up to the start of the Muravatnet mountain road on Vikafjellet.
The snow was just fine and carried Karma’s weight. We looked forward to a mighty fine ski-trip on Vikafjellet.
When we got to lake Vossavatnet, we forgot that the mountain road turned north and we proceeded straight ahead – up to the pass above the lake. We now had a good view towards lake Muravatnet and wondered if it was safe to descend here.
It looked quite steep, but it was the snow quality that mattered. It was quite hard, which meant there was a risk of a potentially long slide in case of a slip. I’m OK with steep terrain all by myself, but now I had a dog and a girlfriend with less robust skis than I had. By now, we realized we were not on the road and decided to find it and try our luck there.
We skied 1,4km to the north and found the road. Unfortunately, it vanished in a steep slope with hard snow. I’ve skied this road in winter before, but not with a dog. I had a bad feeling and Anne wasn’t over-enthusiastic either. The decision was easy. We’ll be back later in spring. On bikes. Today, we’ll ski Valanipa instead.
We skied Valanipa June 27 2015 (which was definitely late in the skiing season), on our round trip across Fossfjellet, Klantane and Valanipa. So, I couldn’t claim a new top today. But given the circumstances, I was quite happy. It was nice to be in the mountains on such a gorgeous day.
After an easy ascent, we reached the top of Valanipa. It was a bit windy on top but we sat down and enjoyed our lunch.
Valanipa doesn’t offer an epic descent, unless you go straight down the west face. Which we didn’t. Still, it was quite fun. The skis were flowing nicely on the snow – which got gradually softer by the hour.
The final kilometer was a small struggle in slight uphill, but it was actually just all good. It was a really nice day outdoors even if I didn’t reach my primary goal.
Trip statistics: 10,9km, 500 vertical meters, 3 hours
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the trip:
