A very nice revisit to a very fine top!
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 06.07.25 | Vassdalstinden | 1277m | 667m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Sunday: The evening before, my good buddy Terje Bergset sent me a message, asking if I was up for a hike the next day. As Anne, Karma and I had a good hike to Skolma on Saturday, I had a feeling that both of them would appreciate an easy Sunday and so I replied that I was all game for a hike.
I proposed Vassdalstinden. First of all, because I didn’t think Terje had been there (and he hadn’t) and I hadn’t been there since 2009. It’s a pretty serious peak and so I very much looked forward to a revisit.
We met up in Ørsta and drove Terje’s car up to Vallasetra.
I remembered most of the route. Especially the first part of the route – from Vallasetra and up to Bukkedalen valley. It’s relentlessly steep and doesn’t let up.
Eventually, we arrived in Bukkedalen valley and had the mountain in view.
I could see that there was still a lot of snow up on the mountain. How would that play out? Terje wasn’t carrying much, let alone stuff you need for steep snow. I had brought an ice axe and a pair of crampons. In worst case, we would have to summit one at a time.
Terje was optimistic as always.
We had a lot of fun and easy scrambling.
There were parts were the normal route was covered by snow and so we had to scramble harder in order to avoid the snow. There were a couple of places high on the mountain that I didn’t look forward to, upon descent.
I hadn’t climbed to the top without the support of the “snow balcony” just below the top and I was curious how that would be like.
It turned out to be quite OK. I would argue that the lower part was more climbing moves than scrambling moves, but by all means – not difficult.
And then we stood on top of Vassdalstinden. Terje was a quite happy too!
I was a happy dude myself. It was really nice to be back.
We were somewhat cheated of a fantastic view, due to fog. But there were no complaints.
Eventually, it was time for descent.
The very upper part was easy enough, but then we came down to the point I dreaded most. I really struggled to climb down backwards, as there was seemingly nothing to hold on to. Terje did this without apparent problems and that stressed me a little. Eventually, I decided to climb down face out, and it felt a bit hairy, to be honest.
The rest of the descent was a no-brainer.
Back at the trailhead, Terje wanted to cool down in the river. I wasn’t really tempted.
A great day and a great hike! And many thanks to Anne for looking after Karma!
Trip statistics: 5,9km, 990 vertical meters, 3h:48m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
