A nice Saturday in Ørsta…
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | MAP | |
| 06.01.24 | Sandhornet | 909m | 471m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Saturday: The weather the first week back home after Christmas vacation had been just great and this Saturday was no exception.
I decided to ski Sandhornet in Ørsta, but I wasn’t sure how easy or hard this would be for Karma. I expected that there would be tracks, but would they be firm or soft?
There were already a lot of cars at the Brudevollen trailhead, but the parking wasn’t full. The snow down here was firm and Karma couldn’t stop rolling.
The temperature was -15 deg. C., and I hoped the suit Karma was wearing was enough. It was -11 deg. C. colder than when we left the house on Gurskøy…
The snow was also firm when we took the short-cut between the forest roads.
But once we left the forest road for good, the snow was much softer. The tracks were leading us onto a route that I’ve never skied before.
Karma worked hard, but she wasn’t really struggling yet. So far, so good.
But soft snow also meant good skiing conditions. Good for daddy. Not so good for kiddo…
There was not much else to do than to enjoy the views…
Eventually, we had Sandhornet in clear view. The snow was still soft, but the tracks helped a bit.
It was clear that the snow was much harder on the upper mountain.
When we reached the top, the place was a bit crowded.
I hung out in the outskirts for a few minutes, hoping the group would take off.
They didn’t, so I had to join them.
It was nice to be up here, but I was getting cold. Should I put the dove jacket on? I figured if Karma could do without, so could I. We wouldn’t be staying for long.
Just a few pictures and then we would be off.
I chatted briefly with a guy and the topic was avalanche danger. I said I wouldn’t be going in steep terrain with this kind of snow. A wind-packed layer on top of butter-soft snow. He looked at me like I was stupid and asked me if I knew that the danger level was 1 (the lowest).
I said I hadn’t been looking it up but repeated that I didn’t like the snow conditions. The wind-packed snow was undisputed and in steep terrain there would be both cornices and danger of the wind-packed layer breaking off.
Then another guy shouted at me – “I agree with you”. He came over and I learned that he was actively engaged in a local avalanche rescue group. He said he couldn’t understand why the avalanche danger level was set to 1. The other guy shut up and left.
I was quite happy. I don’t like it when people look at me as if I’m an idiot. It’s not as if this was my first rodeo…
It was time to get down. I always hate descending the upper part, because I don’t want Karma to run towards the cornices and so I feel most comfortable having her on a leash. It’s not easy combining skiing and guiding a dog. Eventually, I could release her, and she would just have to find her own way down the mountain.
I tried to stay as close as possible to our ascent route so that she would understand that following the tracks would be the best option for her. Eventually, she took the point.
Back in the forest, the snow was soft – which meant hard work for Karma but big fun for daddy.
This was not my first ski-trip this year, but now I was really looking forward to more Randonnée skiing. It had been a good first week and the week wasn’t over just yet…
Trip statistics: 9,5km, 795 vertical meters, 2h:35m
