Skiing on Norway’s Constituion Day
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 17.05.25 | Krosshøe | 1628m | 223m | Lom, Norway | – | MAP |
| 17.05.25 | Rundhaugan Øst | 1512m | 101m | Lom, Norway | – | MAP |
Saturday: on Norway’s National (Constitution) Day, I woke up 5am with a sore throat, feeling crap. Which was not good, given that we had planned to drive all the way to Sognefjellet for a ski-trip. There was however no way that I would miss out on this ski-trip, which I had been looking forward to.
It couldn’t put my finger on my condition. I wasn’t sick, just completely exhausted – and dizzy! Should I drive? After a couple of minutes driving on the local roads, I concluded that I was only dizzy when I moved my body. Sitting still, driving a car was no problem.
Driving along Lustrafjorden on a sunny day in May is top notch. Continuing up to Sognefjellet is even more top notch. Neither slow-moving foreign buses, RVs nor tractors put me in a bad mood. And eventually, we reached our starting point – Sognefjellshytta (1400m).
The usual trailheads (Fannaråken, Steindalsnosi, etc.) were filled up with cars. Skiing to a mountain top on the National Day is a well-established tradition. The 2000m tops are always inviting, but not so much today, when I felt like crap.
The big question was: would Karma walk? 7 days straight, she has refused to come hiking with me. I have assumed that her – recently discovered – problem with the lower back was the main reason. If that were to be true and consistent, she would refuse to walk, even with Anne (mommy) present.
But no, she was super-happy. She hit the snow and rolled around like crazy.
The snow was way softer than I had expected, and Karma struggled a lot in the beginning. Soon, I realized that the snow was bad near terrain where there was no snow, and better on large fields of snow.
An inner voice was telling me that on a day like this – we should have been on our way to Store Smørstabbtind, or some other nice 2000m top. Heading for Krosshøe (which none of us had been to before) almost felt like “what are we doing here?”
I quickly shook this feeling off. We were here because: a) we wanted Karma to be with us (not sure how many more ski-trips she can join us on), b) I would get (at least) one new top and c) I was feeling crap and Krosshøe felt like max. on such a day)
The weather was nice, but it was cold and windy. I had the same outfit as I would have on a ski-trip in January.
The surroundings were breathtaking.
Jotunheimen is the largest mountain range in Norway, and we were in the western part of it. Still, one could spend an entire lifetime in these western mountains and probably not get to do everything you want to do…
Krosshøe has 3 tops – all very modest and we came up to the middle one, which we didn’t think was the highest. But based on hoydedata.no, it is. We just cruised across it.
We thought the point with the trig. point was the highest, but it is probably not. As we visited both, it doesn’t matter much.
We found some shelter from the wind. Anne enjoyed a chocolate, Karma enjoyed her treats, and I enjoyed taking pictures…
Then we sat course for Sognefjellshytta…
Karma struggled a lot but never complained. I don’t know if she is in pain or what is going on. We have doubled her pain relief medication and maybe there’s no pain, just physical limitations as a result of the Spondylosis. She fought through the soft snow like she always has, and we never heard any sounds indicating discomfort.
Back at Sognefjellshytta, we moved the car into the shade and put Karma in it. Then we continued towards Rundhaugan 1512m. I hoped this could be my second top with prominence 100m or more for the day, but the prominence was exactly 100m on peakbook.org and I suspected that someone had rounded the prominence significantly up on this top.
In any case, I was not feeling better or worse and wanted the ski-trip to last a bit longer.
We were now following the prepared tracks, which probably lasts well into the summer. Norwegian cross-country skiers often gather here in the summer, for training.
On our way to our goal, we passed a huge rock. I can’t just pass huge rocks without giving it a go. This very rock wasn’t very challenging, but it required a couple of climbing moves.
It’s not in Anne’s nature to seek these challenges, but when we’re together, she knows that this kind of activity prevents us from getting too old, too soon.
Then we sat course for the top.
The 1512m top on Rundhaugan is less than 1 on the wow-factor scale, but it IS a top with a prominence of 101m. The first thing I did when I returned to Sogndal, was to locate the pass – 1411m near Fantesteinen.
We agreed to call it a day and returned to Sognefjellshytta.
Anne went in to check if they had anything to eat and they did! The waffles tasted heavenly. I almost cried. I was still dizzy and wondered what the heck was going on, but I hoped that it wasn’t anything a good night’s sleep wouldn’t cure.
The drive back to Sogndal was very nice. They should really call this road the “Postcard Road”.
Back in Sogndal, I got an hour of much needed rest while Anne improvised a nice barbeque. I felt a bit better after the rest, and we enjoyed a nice meal.
Trip statistics: 10,1km on skis, 495 vertical meters, 3h:17m.
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max/Samsung Galaxy) from the trip:
