Holy cow, what a CRAP weather…
| Date | Peak/Place | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| 31.01.2022 | Rambjøra | 132m | 109m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| 01.02.2022 | Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| 02.02.2022 | Skåla | 184m | 497m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | |
| 03.02.2022 | Eikenakken | 123m | 123m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| 04.02.2022 | Rambjøra | 132m | 109m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| 05.02.2022 | Storehornet | 196m | 74m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| 05.02.2022 | Igesundhetta | 216m | 216m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| 05.02.2022 | Hornseten | 190m | 152m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| 06.02.2022 | Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
Rambjøra (132m), Jan 31 2022
Monday: So what weather would we get now that 3 weeks of storms had passed? The weather early Monday morning was fairly OK and I began to dream about some good hikes. Then I checked the forecast…
And sure enough, the snow came.
Feeling a bit tired after work, I decided to settle for a trail maintenance session on the Rambjøra trail. A snowfall is actually a good time to cut branches hanging over the trail. And there were quite a few and so all in all it amounted to honest work.
Eventually, the shower passed.
I almost forgot how beautiful it is just after a snow shower has passed. I better treasure the moment, as the next shower is surely around the corner.
Once back home, I had to trade the spinning bike workout with shoveling snow in the front yard…
Trip statistics: 4,5km, 150 vertical meters, 1h:48m
Huldrehornet (271m), Feb 1 2022
Tuesday: It continued to snow and rain all day long. After work, I didn’t feel hiking at all but eventually “manned up” and went for the Huldrehornet forest, from my house.
As expected, quite a lot of snow had fallen up in the forest and I guess it’s just a matter of time before I need to put the skis on. But skiing with snowfall + wind in the darkness is not my idea of fun. We’ll see how the weather turns out in the coming days.
It was a bit unpleasant on top. It’s amazing how different things are once you reach a top here on the coastline, no matter how low the top is.
We took a different route down it was nice to get back to a warm house and get on the spinning bike while watching another episode of “Magnum P.I.” I just enjoy the remake big time…
Trip statistics: 4,9km, 280 vertical meters, 1h:30m
Skåla (184m), Feb 2 2022
Wednesday: Sick and tired of only going to low, local tops. But the snow showers are really nasty and while I could go skiing by myself, it’s no fun knowing the dog is alone back home. Besides, the snow depth is relevant for Karma now.
Today’s goal was Sandvikhornet (352m) from Tjørvåg – which should be doable in terms of snow depth and there was also an “escape route” in case it would be really ugly on top.
As we had some unpleasant snow showers in the beginning of the hike, we stood a chance of being in the clear on top.
But before we had even begun ascending the ridge, Karma stopped. There was just no point in having a “good talk” about it. She never stops, unless there is a good reason.
So, I hoped that she would be willing to hike across Skåla instead. She was. And it helped (probably for the both of us) that it cleared up on our way.
Karma seemed to have good time. Skåla is a windy place so there was not too much snow to struggle in.
It was impossible to find shelter for the camera to take a good picture on top, so I had to settle for a handheld shot.
We had some nice light on the way down to Stokksund, but it didn’t take long before the next shower came along. On the way back to Tjørvåg, I met a senior citizen shoveling snow and we had a good and long chat. He referred to Skåla as “the mountain” – which helped a little bit…
Trip statistics: 5,2km, 230 vertical meters, 1h:32m
Eikenakken (123m), Feb 3 2022
Thursday: The plan today was to ski Røddalshorn solo and build a trail for Karma when the weather improved. But, as my working day came to an end, I was tired and the weather was just miserable. It was raining and the wind was strong. I would *not* have a good time up there and certainly not on the way down. Moreover, my NOK 4000,- headlamp now has a wire connection problem. Can’t trust it to work.
Oh well. Back to the lowlands and the forest…
I drove to Eika island to hike Eikenakken. I do enjoy the off-trail hiking in this forest. Maybe not with the snow depth that we have now, but the chance of getting ticks is low. This island is tick territory!
It was super-annoying to look towards Blåtind. The mountain looked calm and nice, but as the wind sounded like Judgement Day in the forest, I could only imagine what it was like up there…
It was much easier to move in the forest than in the open space and even if the daylight was fading quickly, the snow helped. There ARE a couple of steep ridges in this forest.
After reaching the top, we did some more off-trail hiking, we got bored and went to down on the road that crosses the island and followed it back to the trailhead.
Trip statistics: 4,6km, 270 vertical meters, 1h:28m
Rambjøra (132m), Feb 4 2022
Friday: I was not in my best shape today, and finally getting out the front door was a huge win. CRAP weather was awaiting us, but when Karma realized that we were heading for Rambjøra, she was on fire! I have no idea why she loves this hike so much, as we have never spotted any wildlife there. Perhaps it’s just because it’s a short hike? Hmm…
Even if I had felt quite alright today, I would still not have aimed for any higher top. The weather was just miserable. I can’t remember this much consecutive crap weather since I moved to Sunnmøre in 2006. If this is the new standard in winter, I will move. For sure!
Trip statistics: 3,4km, 150 vertical meters, 1 hour
Igesundhetta (216m), Hornseten (189m), Feb 5 2022
Saturday: After a really bad night’s sleep, I had a relaxing morning – watching a) Norway win 2 Olympic Gold medals and b) hail showers spray paint the house. Feeling a little better, I found that now was a good time to walk the dog. Due to the weather, I wanted to stay in the lowlands and decided to take “tour de Bergsøya” – a repetition (with some variations) of the hike I did back in March 2020.
After just 5 minutes, on the path towards Storehornet, the weather was not pleasant.
But, the shower didn’t last long and we continued towards Storehornet and Igesundvarden. The path was icy, but not very slippery.
On top of Igesundvarden, it looked like we would be in the clear for a little while longer.
But when we reached the top of Igesundhetta, I noticed another shower on the way in. I also noticed that the wind had slowed down a bit, which meant that the snow shower would be just that.
Next stop was Fosnavåg, and we followed the ridge across Storhornet (no, not Storehornet) and Litlehornet.
I enjoyed the walk, and Karma seemingly did to. From Nørvågvegen, we hiked up the steep forest path up to Heida and then up to Hornseten.
We took a different route back to Heida and followed the popular hiking trail down to Sunnmørsbadet and then back to the car at Myklebust.
As the weather had “improved” during the day, I had some hopes about a change coming up. But no. Back home, the wind and the rain again took turns on beating up my house.
I also managed to get 25km on the spinning bike – now trying to have 100km per week as average.
Trip statistics: 9,5km, 700 vertical meters, 2h:35m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Huldrehornet (271m), Feb 6 2022
Sunday: I got up 7:30am, walked the dog and then got ready to do 30km on the spinning bike – starting 08:00, at the same time as men’s 30km skiathlon in the Winter Olympics. After 57 minutes, my exercise was over and so was the chance for any Norwegian winning a medal.
After breakfast, it was still sunny (!!!) and I looked forward to – finally – hike Blåtind (the highest top on Hareidlandet island – 697m). Then the bad news lined up. First, the car wouldn’t start. Again! Aarrgh!
So, I decided to hike Rjåhornet (600m) from home. And then it began to snow.
Up in the forest, I was shocked about how much snow there was. There was hardly any snow back home, and that’s normally a good indicator of how it’s like in the mountains. It was clear that Karma struggled and so we had to settle for Huldrehornet instead. At times, I had snow up to my knees.
It was good to reach the top. My legs were a bit tired. Could it have something to do with the morning exercise?
On our way down, it cleared up and we had a nice walk down the forest.
The snow looked really nice and if can get the car started, I promised myself to go on a ski-trip later on…
Epilogue: The car did start, but there was now a really bad snow storm. I drove up to Leikongeidet, but I couldn’t even see the mountain. I decided to call it a day and go home and work on 2021 reports instead…
Trip statistics: 5,5km, 280 vertical meters, 1h:,40m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the trip:
Some of those hills are very low by Norwegian standards things like 123m!Bit less than the highest I’ve been this year;Goldsborough,149m,a village in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park in north east England,but tomorrow ( if I get up on time!) I’m hoping to go up Pontop Pike(312m)a hill near Newcastle.The highest I’ve been in Norway was Mt Ulriken (643m) just outside of Bergen,highest in Europe ,Mt Triglav (2864m), Slovenia and on Earth, Mt Lebanon (3090m) obviously in Lebanon, Asia!That snow looks quite good as we hardly get any.Norway seems to have a fairly mild climate compared with Sweden and Finland and I suppose that the mild air from the Atlantic hits the cold continental air from Russia around there turning into snow?When I was in Stockholm about 3 years ago the harbour was frozen solid.Happy hiking!
Nice to hear from you again, Kevan. At least we have Mt. Ulriken in common. I lived in Bergen for 7 years and visited this top ~900 times. The gulf stream is the main reason for the mild climate, but there are huge local variations. I have the Sunnmørsalpane mountain range a 20-minute drive to the east and while we have “everything and nothing” on the very coastline, they have full winter. btw – I compiled this page which summarizes some of my best hikes. Needs and update, though.. https://fjordpeaks.com/2020/04/14/memorable-trips-and-climbs/
Thanks I shall have a look at that.I was up in Narvik about 1995,a mammoth journey; Oxford (where I lived at the time) to North Shields (trains),ferry to Stavanger,trains to Fauske via Oslo and Trondheim,bus/ferry to Narvik,trains and ferries back to Oxford via Kiruna,Boden, Stockholm, Copenhagen,Hamburg,Koln, Brussels and London.What a trip through; England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and France.The snow in Narvik was very deep in April and you’d sink in to your knees if not further but it wasn’t that cold about 2c at midday in April.I tried to go up a mountain outside of Narvik who’s name I can’t remember but it was around 900m I gave up due to the snow and people skiing down making it too dangerous! Probably around 2005 I went up Jezerski vrh(1660m)in May in Montenegro and the snow was really deep and it was very hard work sinking in up to my knees and the strange thing is I got really sunburned although not so strange really as it’s the same latitude as Rome and in May but a lot higher than Rome in altitude!Roman latitude but not Roman altitude!
So we have Jezerski in common too! https://www.westcoastpeaks.com/Peaks/lovcen1.html (my former blog). Sounds like you’ve had some really good travels!!
I have been up some in the Drakensberg in South Africa too as I use to live there when I was younger.The highest being Majuba Hill (2221m if I recall?) it’s called Hill but is a pretty substantial mountain.There was a battle on it’s summit during the First Boer War and Majuba is Zulu but I don’t know what it means.I’d guess in Afrikaans it’d be Majuba Berg or perhaps Majuba Kop…. Majuba Head although I’m guessing that kop is also used for head in Norwegian just like in Dutch and German?