Søre Raudfonndalstind, Oct 4 2020

Totally Epic!

Serious terrain, when a rope is not at play
Tops visited
Peak/Place Height PF Location
Søre Raudfonndalstind 1046m 58m Ørsta, Norway

Saturday: This was a big day for me. Finally, I were to complete the string of tops between Romedalen and Langedalen valleys in Ørsta. Provided that I would be able to reach the top of Søre Raudfonndalstind

The peaks between Langedalen and Romedalen to the left

Raudfonndalstindane consists of a bunch of tops, but there are three main tops – the north top, the south top and the middle top. Today, I was aiming for the south top.

Very few tops in this are are easy tops and I had a feeling about what I could expect…

The north and middle Raudfonndalstindane tops

We drove to Mosætra, and Anne, Karma and I followed the path on the east side of the valley river.

Heading out from Mosætra

All sorts of plans were on the table; 1) Anne and Karma would continue to Årskogdalen and I would pick them up later, 2) Anne and Karma would continue to Årsetdalen and I would pick them up later and 3) Anne and Karma would either wait for me in the valley or 4) return to the car.

Karma with Gopehornet in the background

We parted at Høgeheida. From here, I had ~450 vertical meters up to the ridge between Midtre and Søre Raudfonndalstind. It was a route I remembered from my previous hike to Midtre Raudfonndalstind (where Karma had to wait while daddy was scrambling his way to the top)

If these tops tickle your fancy, I could also reveal that the hike/scramble between Sveddalstinden and Nordre Raudfonndalstind was one of the most fun trips I’ve taken.

On my way towards the watershed ridge

I did remember that Søre Raudfonndalstind was quite steep, so I had brought an ice-axe. This turned out to be a very smart choice.

When I reached the watershed ridge, I wondered how I should ascend upwards. The grassy parts looked steep and so I decided to scramble up along the rocky part of the ridge. On my way down here (later on), I didn’t find the grass so steep after all – well acclimated.

White: My route up, yellow: my route down

After the first scrambling section, the route traversed over to a different ridge and shortly after, I stood on the first top. One down, three to go. To be honest, at this point – I didn’t think I would be able to get to the top (top #4). The terrain ahead of me looked ugly

My oh my…

Getting off top #1 required some caution, as I had to climb across a rock with loose parts.

No problem here, just had to be very careful

The descent into the saddle was also “interesting” as I wasn’t able to find handholds to get into the saddle without taking a short slide. No drama, though.

I was a little too short to be able to climb gracefully all the way down

Top #2 offered the crux of the route. I had to climb a short section where I would need to hold on to grass. The grass didn’t look solid, and I considered my future for a minute or two before I smacked the ice-axe into the grass and pulled myself up. No guts, no glory…

Here we go…

Getting down from top #2 was not so fun. There were no real footholds and I had to trust bush and roots.

Not difficult, but a bit nasty

When I reached top #3, I was most certain that the high point was out of reach. I had a super-narrow and exposed ridge ahead of me and I couldn’t see how I could get up to top #4 – the high point.

The high point zoomed in from top #3. “Mannen” in the background.

But the ridge was the easiest so far, as hand- and footholds were plenty.

This ridge was SO fun!

And then I noticed that I could just walk around the steep section of the high point and arrive on top from the back side. And then I was on top of Søre Raudfonndalstind! I called Anne and learned that she would be waiting for me down in the valley.

Oh yeah!
View from the top

Returning was a much simpler matter. The only place where I really had to focus was where I once again had to trust that my axe had a firm grip in the grass.

As mentioned earlier, I took a slightly different route down to the saddle between Søre and Midtre Raudfonndalstind and then I could pick up the pace and return to Anne.

I found her and Karma at “Vakjarhuset” – an old watchpost for – bears!

Reunited!

We returned to Mosætra along the path on the other side of the river and stopped by Bukkedalshølen to enjoy some fruit and the small lake itself.

At Bukkedalshølen

For me, this was a most awesome day in the Sunnmøre alps!

Approaching Vallasætra. Mosætra is just behind

Trip statistics: 11,5km, 780 vertical meters, 4,5 hours

Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:

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