A “classic” Constitution Day
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 17.05.24 | Søraustre Småholtindan | 1360m | 151m | Fjord/Rauma, Norway | – | MAP |
| 17.05.24 | Austre Småholtindan | 1573m | 212m | Fjord/Rauma, Norway | – | MAP |
Thursday: In the afternoon, we drove to Valldal and checked into Valldal Fjordhotell. As the Constitution Day was coming up (the day after), Anne had proposed we went for a memorable ski-trip and at this time of the season, Trollstigen is always a very good place to go.
Given a) working day and b) a long drive to Valldal, I wasn’t able to find time for a hike today. It was the first day in 2024 I skipped a walk. But it was also nice to “break the circle”. Stuff like that could easily become obsessive.
In any case, we had a very nice evening in Valldal!
Anne had to (of course) go for a swim.
Afterwards, it was time for dinner…
We enjoyed dinner inside…
…while Karma was observing us from the outside…
Friday: Constitution Day and our goal was Søraustre Småholtindan, as we had already done Ringshornet – back in 2011. Plus – I had already done Alnestinden and Finnan back in 2006.
There was plenty of snow left and it seemed to carry Karma’s weight.
We put a suit on Karma to prevent sunburns. She’s been suffering from a strange form of hair loss on her back. It’s almost naked skin where there used to be plenty of hair.
We started out from Slettvikane, and we were not the only ones on the mountain today. But there were few here, compared to Alnestinden high up in the valley. The Trollstigen road wasn’t open yet, but it was open all the way up to Alnesreset. Several die-hard skiers from Molde took the long detour via Valldal just to be able to ski the Trollstigen mountains today.
It was such a beautiful day…
The logical thing to do – if you’re looking for a nice ski-trip – would be to go to Alnestinden or Ringshornet. But we want new tops, and we hadn’t been to any of the Småholtindan tops before.
We’re not exactly young anymore, we still have the same love for the mountains…
Eventually, we reached the top of Søraustre Småholtindan.
Anne was generous enough to suggest that I could take the trip to Austre Småholtindan while she and Karma waited. I gladly accepted the offer!
I had some navigation problems, descending to the pass. But eventually, I found a good route.
Going up Austre Småholtindan, led me into terrain which was a good mix of steep and OK. It was actually quite borderline for me.
Eventually, I reached the top and chatted with another guy, coming directly up from Slettvikane.
I spent a couple of minutes enjoying the views before returning to Anne and Karma.
The descent was OK, although I felt it was a little bit steep in the upper part. Karma was watching me closely.
She was very happy when daddy returned.
While I was away, Anne had changed into her National Costume (or is it Regional Costume as the various regions of Norway have different costumes?)
In any case, I noticed that the flag I had grabbed back home was the same flag as I brought to Greenland’s highest peak back in 2004. It was 20 years ago today! (Sergeant pepper taught the band to play…).
Our Constitution Day tradition is for Anne to ski down a fine mountain in her National Costume. And we would not be breaking that tradition today!
You have to be Norwegian to get the gist of it…
I don’t have a “bunad” – which is the Norwegian word for the National Costume. But it doesn’t ruin my day…
On the way down, we met a good friend of mine – Trond – and his spouse Bente. A very nice encounter!
Anne returned to the trailhead without taking a fall, messing up the costume.
After the trip, we drove up to Alnesreset for the purpose of sightseeing and more pictures of Anne…
Passing Alnestinden, we could see numerous skiers – on their way down…
Then it was posing time…
This is truly a stunning area. No wonder why it’s one of the most popular tourists places in Norway…
Afterwards, we headed back to Gurskøy. When we passed Slettvikane, I could see my tracks down Austre Småholtindan. It was just a few meters that felt steep. The rest was OK.
For the first time, I’ve taken the Liabygda – Stranda ferry. We were hoping to find a place serving sour crème porridge, but it was too late in the day. In the end, we had to settle for Kebab in Hellesylt…
Trip statistics: 10,1km, 1180 vertical meters, 3h:53m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the trip:
