Exploring new landscape below Sunndalsnipa
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | MAP | |
| 24.09.23 | Måsheidane | 870m | 53m | Volda, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Sunday: Today was the time to explore the terrain on the south side of Sunndalsnipa – with Måsheidane as the highest point. It would be a bonus to get to the top of Sunndalsnipa, but due to the weather forecast, I didn’t have high hopes. I was not interested in spending time on the waste summit plateau in wind and rain.
I stopped at Osdal and had a long and nice chat with a local farmer. Then I drove up to the sheep roundup place and parked there. 200m up the road, I found the path to lake Storevassdalsvatnet.
After a short, but steep climb, we reached the lake. It was really nice up here!
We followed a vague path on the east side of the lake, while I was thinking about where to ascend Måsheidane from.
I thought we would be alone up here, but after crossing the river on the below picture, I could see a couple of guys bringing sheep down the mountain.
Eventually, we reached lake Vassdalsvatnet and it was really fun to study Sunndalsnipa from this side. There were several routes that would be darn fun to try out.
But Måsheidane was the main goal and few minutes later, we reached the top. With Sunndalsnipa towering 500m above us, I didn’t really feel on top of the world, but I was very happy to be here!
Now that the main goal was in the bag, I decided to return via the west side of lake Vassdalsvatnet and aim for the normal route to Sunndalsnipa, topping out at 1000m. I figured that would be a good elevation to call it a day on.
Winter was on its way. There was fresh snow above 1300m.
I loved the terrain that took us up to Sunndalsnipa’s south ridge. I could have spent all day scrambling here…
Eventually, we reached the ridge, and we could enjoy a grand view towards the Sogn and Fjordane mountains.
Now, we had a decision to make. Continue up or go down?
I could already feel the rain in the air, so the decision was easy – down!
I had planned to descend the skiing route to lake Grøndalsvatnet and return to the car via the main road. But after passing point 722m, I decided to turn east – in the direction of lake Storevassdalsvatnet.
But, before getting all the way down to the lake, we turned south and descended the valley below Heidane/Liakollen. We found a path and so the descent was easy.
All in all, a really fun roundtrip hike!
Trip statistics: 10,6km, 955 vertical meters, 3h:11m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
