Easter break – part I
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 23.03.24 | Markeliåsen | 1027m | 33m | Sigdal, Norway | – | MAP |
| 24.03.24 | Holmevassnatten | 1258m | 230m | Sigdal, Norway | – | MAP |
| 24.03.24 | Drotninggutunatten | 1235m | 37m | Sigdal, Norway | – | MAP |
| 25.03.24 | Gråfjell | 1466m | 37m | Sigdal/Flå, Norway | – | MAP |
| 26.03.24 | Tollevsrudvarden | 1144m | 166m | Flå, Norway | – | MAP |
| 26.03.24 | Point 1092m | 1092m | 51m | Sigdal, Norway | – | MAP |
| 27.03.24 | Kvelvsanatten | 1076m | 80m | Sigdal, Norway | – | MAP |
| 27.03.24 | Langlifjellet | 1048m | 40m | Sigdal, Norway | – | MAP |
| 27.03.24 | Steinfantnatten | 1076m | 50m | Sigdal, Norway | – | MAP |
| 27.03.24 | Springhaug loop | 980m | – | Sigdal, Norway | – | MAP |
| 28.03.24 | Toveåsen | 1101m | 78m | Sigdal, Norway | – | MAP |
Markeliåsen (1027m), Mar 23 2024
Saturday: Our Easter break was officially ON, and 9:30am, we got into the car and drove from Sogndal to eastern Norway. We had rented a cabin in the western outskirts of Norefjell – above Eggedal.
The choice of Norefjell was simple: We (or I) were like usual late in searching for available cabins. With not too many options left, we were looking at areas where a) there would be some tops that we hadn’t done before, b) good tracks for cross-country skiing and c) cabins with a decent standard.
The “Hyggeli” cabin at Springhaug (above Eggedal) looked like a nice cabin and skisporet.no presented a number of cross-country tracks. More importantly (for me) was that Holmevassnatten and Gråfjell would be new tops for me. I had visited the 2 other pf100 tops on Norefjell (Ranten and Høgevarde) back in May 1998 (!) and I hadn’t been there since.
The weather across Hemsedalsfjellet wasn’t good, but better than I had feared. We had visibility and the road was – for the most part – free of snow.
When we got to Eggedal and followed the road to Springhaug, there was snow on the road from the very beginning. Lack of snow would not be an issue this Easter, and if the forecast was correct – there would be plenty of snow…
My low energy from the day before was still there. The 4 hour, 210km drive was a struggle. When we got to the cabin, the owners were still there. Nice folks, and they gave us a quick tour-de-premise before leaving.
They told us that they had bought the cabin from Unni Lindell – a successful Norwegian author – best known for her crime novels. I assumed that a number of them had been carved out on in this very cabin. Without any form of comparison, I got inspiration to catch up with my blogging here. While she (probably) sold millions of copies, I have like 10-20 occasional readers. But hey, writing is writing although I try to keep my blogging factual…
While I really wanted to go to bed without any plan of getting out of it, I realized that this would be the first day in 2024 where I didn’t go on some kind of hike or ski-trip. I had a beer, while contemplating how my evening would look like. The beer gave me some energy and I decided to ski Markeliåsen – a non-significant hump not too far from the cabin.
Anne had taken Karma for a short ski-trip in the cross-country tracks, but I need (if possible) some kind of high point to tag my activities to.
Markeliåsen was just a 2,1km ski-trip from the cabin. I followed the cross-country track running next to the cabin and then I did some off-track skiing before I followed the car road (now closed) up to Markeliåsen.
To my surprise, a ski-track started on the summit ridge and a couple of minutes later, I was on top of Markeliåsen.
As I didn’t feel like returning the way I came, I checked out skisporet.no and found that I could ski around Kisteåsnatten and come down in the valley down to my right. And so I did.
Maybe this was the turning point, because I felt better in the evening. The weather forecast for the coming week was a miserable study, but how bad could it really be? Time would show…
Anne was a sweetheart and made dinner. I could just relax and enjoy…
Trip statistics: 6,9km, 290 vertical meters, 1h:06m
Holmevassnatten (1258m), Apr 24 2024
Sunday: On our first full day at Springhaug, Sigdal, the morning weather was quite alright and so we decided to ski up to Holmevassnatten. This nice weather window was nowhere to be spotted on the forecast, so this was “borrowed time” in every aspect.
We got onto the cross-country track next to our rented cabin and followed it upwards.
There were lots of people in the tracks, mainly because the annual Holmvassløpet was taking place today. This is a popular ski-trip from Haglebu to Tempelseter. My plan was therefore to keep Karma on a leash, but first I wanted to let her do the things that dogs do in the morning – within the usual perimeter where I have control of her. It’s not like she would be taking off anywhere, but I want 100% control.
Immediately after, someone told me that dogs had to be kept on a leash all year around up here. Apparently, there were reindeer and grouse close by. It is close to impossible to make someone else understand how hard you’ve trained the dog but one thing was for sure – I didn’t want to have the dog using the track as a toilet and I certainly had no intention to following her – looking for “the spot”.
The prepared track was easy to follow, but where were we supposed to leave it? We decided to follow the track to its highest point and go off-trail from there.
The snow didn’t fully support Karma’s weight, but we found rock-hard snowshoe tracks going up the mountain. Bonus!
The snowshoe folks had stopped on an outcrop just below the high point, but the snow was easy enough for Karma on the summit ridge. We proceeded up to what I assumed was the high point.
The weather was still OK, and I proposed that we returned via Drotninggutunatten. But first, we had to make sure that “our hump” was indeed the highest hump up here.
Once we had been to all the humps, we sat course for Drotninggutunatten. I struggled with getting a mental understanding of the map vs. the actual terrain. Drotninggutunatten appeared much closer than I thought it would, based on the map.
But it is what it is, and it didn’t take long before we were approaching Drotninggutunatten.
It was just a hump, but the name was cool!
We decided to return to the track via the 1177m point southwest of Drotninggutunatten.
Then the plan was that I would ski down to Hellebekk – to get some payback for bringing Randonnée skis on this trip – while Anne and Karma would return the way we came.
But then the weather suddenly deteriorated, and visibility wasn’t good enough to make a run down the forest interesting. So, I joined Anne and Karma instead.
Trip statistics: 8km, 390 vertical meters, 2h:10m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the trip:
Gråfjell (1466m), Mar 25 2024
Monday: The forecast was accurate – this was a really grey day. As such, it would only be appropriate to visit Gråfjell (Grey Mountain) – the highest point on the Norefjell massif.
We followed the same route as we followed to the foot of Holmevassnatten the day before.
But this was a mountain we had to cross and eventually, we could enjoy the long descent down to Flætjenn. Only 5km to go!
I was not in doubt that we would reach the top today, the only question was how bad the weather would get?
The weather got gradually worse the higher we got, but fortunately there was no wind. Just snow with some rain in it.
Gråfjell came closer and closer…
There was one hill at approx. 1260m that looked very steep when looking up and almost flat when looking down. The effects of fog and confusion!
Karma had long lost her “mojo” and was now just tagging along…
Finally, we got the summit in view. What a relief! The weather was bad, and we had a long way home!
Although the track didn’t run across the summit, it was close, and the route was marked with sticks.
Not only did we get a new top, but we also got a new top with a prominence of more than 600m (which is the Norwegian version of 2000 ft. prominence)
We got off the mountain and skied non-stop down to Fiskeløysinga.
It almost felt like Easter down there. Norwegians don’t sit inside even if the weather is crap.
Since it was the official waffle day, we had to get some.
And the staff also gave Karma a plate of yesterday’s batch.
The weather was a bit lighter now, and we could head back to the cabin with energy inside.
We could even see Gråfjell now…
But before we could enjoy the comfort of the rented cabin, we had to cross the Holmevassnatten plateau.
It was nice to see the weather got a little bit better…
We even had some blue sky. It didn’t last long.
All in all, a great ski-trip! Mission accomplished!
Trip statistics: 19,9km, 705 vertical meters, 4h:16m
Tollevsrudvarden (1144m), Mar 26 2024
Tuesday: This morning began in a good way, but it wouldn’t stay like this for long.
Looking at the map, I discovered Tollevsrudvarden being a top with a prominence of 100m+. It was outside the area I had figured that we could day as daytrips. But only “just outside”. I got all fired up and proposed this as today’s goal.
The only “problem” was that it would be a long ski-trip in bad weather. After the long ski-trip to Gråfjell the day before, Anne really wanted something easier. But when she noticed my enthusiasm, she decided to give it a try.
So, off we went.
The first task was to get to Sandvassdammen – a 3,8km trip.
From Sandvassdammen, we would be skiing 3,4km straight up the valley until the next junction.
This track hadn’t been prepared since the last snowfall, but it wasn’t a huge problem.
But the weather – which wasn’t good when we headed out – got gradually worse. I could see that Anne had a bad day and asked if she wanted to turn around. She said yes but would ski up to the next junction.
I have to admit – this was a long valley!
But eventually we got to the junction. I had a strong feeling that bringing Karma to Tollevsrudfjellet would not be a good idea and Anne said she could take Karma home with her.
Determined to reach the top, I headed out – thinking I had Tollevsrudfjellet ahead of me. Which was a bit odd, as I knew that there would be another 3,4km leg until the junction where I planned to leave the track. And this mountain didn’t look so far away.
That’s because it wasn’t Tollevsrudfjellet. It was an unnamed mountain I had to cross. That was slightly demotivating, especially as the weather got worse and worse. But as long I could avoid strong winds, it would be OK.
When I got Tollevsrudfjellet in view, I didn’t look forward to leaving the track. I knew very well that I would be as good as blind up there. My eyes do not work well in this kind of weather and there are no glasses that help.
I left the track at Småtjernnatten and just aimed at the next bush I could see, trying to keep straight lines. I knew that would help if I didn’t see my tracks, coming down. Then I could follow the GPS track, knowing the terrain was OK.
I had no sense of the terrain. When I thought I was moving upwards, I could feel the skis glide downwards. And vice versa. But in general – I was going up, and after 2,3km I finally reached the cairn – suddenly coming out of the fog. I was happy!
I was so focused that I forgot about taking pictures going up and down the mountain. Not that there was anything to take pictures of…
I was fortunate enough to see my tracks all the way back to Småtjernnatten and managed to find a good route down to the track.
I was very happy to be back on the track. The only hurdle ahead of me was the distance back to the cabin – some 11km.
On my way across the unnamed mountain, I visited the 1092m high point. If the prominence had been < 50m, I would have skipped it. But it was 51m, so I just had to do it.
From the top, I could see the meadow where Anne and Karma turned around – only 1,1km in straight line, but it looked like 10km!
I was very, very happy when I reached the long downhill west of Kisteåsnatten. Finally, some easy skiing.
The only downside was that at the bottom of the hill – I had 100 vertical meters back up to the cabin. I admit I was a bit tired when I got there…
Trip statistics: 25,9km, 800 vertical meters, 5h:05m
Kvelvsanatten (1076m), Steinfantnatten (1076m), Mar 27 2024
Wednesday: Anne decided to spend the day inside the cabin, and I was free to go on with whatever I wanted to do. I figured I could visit some of the tops we had passed the day before. The prominence of these tops was ~50m, but definitely of interest. I decided that this much off-track activity would just be a huge struggle for Karma and left her with Anne.
I decided to begin with Kvelvsanatten, and I had a 4,7km ski-trip ahead of me before I could be at the foot of the mountain.
The fog was so thick in places that I struggled to see the ground before me. With this fog, it would be impossible to reach the mountain tops in a safe manner. But fortunately, the thickest fog went away, and the only issue now was flat light.
I headed up in the pass between Kvelvsanatten and Langlifjellet.
I then found a safe route that took me to the top of Kvelvsanatten.
With the first top “in the bag”, I was quite happy.
Then I headed over to Langlifjellet. The prominence was < 50m, but as I was up here…
The light was hopelessly flat, but the terrain was overall easy – despite the steep drop to the east.
The bad weather we had! My FB feed was being flooded with sunny pictures from all parts of Norway, except from eastern Norway. Oh well. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. We’ve definitely had many nice Easter breaks in eastern Norway while there was crap weather back home.
Back on the track, the snow became a problem. It stuck like glue to the skins, but fortunately, I had brought extra pairs. Most skiers I saw, going up the valley stood still – trying to scrape the snow from their skis.
My last top would be Steinfantnatten. Due to the snow issue, I headed over to the nearest open car road and followed it almost to the top of Steinfantnatten.
There was nothing to see up there, except for the cairn.
Now I had to think about the return route. I had a couple of options but decided to ski along the car road back to Sandvatndammen. My best pair of skins had dried up some and they were working again.
As such, I went for a longer route back home – via Flætjenn and the plateau below Holmevassnatten. Visibility was really poor below Holmevassnatten, but as long as I could see the next stick, it was OK.
Trip statistics: 19,7km, 695 vertical meters, 3h:55m
Springhaug loop, Mar 27 2024
Wednesday: I rested some after the long ski-trip, but now I started to focus on my “other thing”. When we rent cabins for Christmas or Easter, I always try to do 100km of skiing. In 4-5 days, 20km/day isn’t much along the tracks, but as we aim for the tops, a lot of the distance is off the tracks. As such, 100km is a round an acceptable number.
My total in 4 days (and one late afternoon) was 80,5km and so I decided to give myself a slightly easier Thursday by going for the 3,4km Springhaug loop.
I was originally thinking about taking my skating skis but in the end, I took my mountain skis w/short and narrow skins and was happy about the choice. There was just too much uphill. I’m not in shape for skating 120 vertical meters uphill.
I completely forgot that I had bought new cross-country skis with built-in skins. They would probably have been perfect.
I am a very lucky man. I can go on nice trips with Anne and when she wants to stay indoors, I can still go on nice trips alone. And then she serves me wonderful meals in the evening. I certainly don’t mind the dishes…
Trip statistics: 3,4km, 120 vertical meters, 0h:31m
Toveåsen (1101m), Mar 28 2024
Thursday: With the girls all rested up, it was time to go on a ski-trip again. I had been looking long and hard at the map to find an interesting destination and ended up with Toveåsen. The prominence (primary factor) was 78m and as such decent, albeit not 100m.
It would be a relatively long ski-trip, but it would also ensure that I reached my goal of skiing 100km from our rented cabin.
When we headed out, the weather wasn’t too bad.
And when we got view of Holmevassnatten, we thought this would be an OK day in the tracks.
But then we entered thick fog…
… and minutes later, we were out of it and had really nice weather!
Now, we’re talking! We could easily appreciate this!
The only question was – would it last?
Of course, it didn’t. When we sat course for Toveåsen, we headed into thick fog again.
After a while, we were once again out of the fog, and had the foggy Toveåsen in sight.
We left the track close to the point where Anne and I had parted two days earlier, when she took Karma back to the cabin and I proceeded to Tollevsrudvarden.
This was a gentle forest, so there were no difficulties in heading up the forest.
There are two 1100m contours on this top. We had to visit both to make sure we had been to the highest. In retrospect, the southernmost of the two humps is the highest.
We took the same route back to the cabin.
When we reached the area around Flætjenn, we could see blue sky again, but once we sat course towards the cabin, we headed into fog again.
But hey, all in all – a really nice trip!
Afterwards, I did a 3km round in the Springhaug loop, and my tally was now 105km on skis from and to the cabin.
Trip statistics: 18,3km, 495 vertical meters, 3h:32m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max/Samsung Galaxy) from the trip:
