The stunning weather continues…
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 26.01.26 | Haddalshornet | 611m | 103m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 27.01.26 | Sollia | 661m | 661m | Herøy/Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 28.01.26 | Kongsvollen | 683m | 200m | Hareid/Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 29.01.26 | Røddalshorn | 563m | 103m | Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 30.01.26 | Sneldelida | 633m | 104m | Ulstein/ Hareid, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 31.01.26 | Skavegga | 1075m | 254m | Gloppen, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 01.02.26 | Helleberget | 988m | 108m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Haddalshornet (611m), Jan 26 2026
Monday: The weather was still superb. It felt a little cold, which is a weird thing to say, given that the temperature was around -1-2 °C. But with a gentle draft, it adds up.
I wanted to hike Haddalshornet from Haddal. As such, the mission would be to find a safe route across the snow fields. The ice cleats wouldn’t do me any good in the steeper snow slopes, so I had to avoid them.
I took my usual off-trail route from the main road, which was a bit less annoying today, with a partly frozen ground.
Then it was just a matter of picking a route…
I hardly stopped for pictures on my way up. I was waiting for the right light, which wasn’t quite there yet.
It was easy to find a good route to the top, and so I waited up there for a few minutes until the light was right.
As for the snow – well, I wouldn’t be skiing on Ytre Søre Sunnmøre anytime soon…
And as for the Sunnmøre alps – well, one would have to go pretty high up, only to find snow very much affected by wind…
Finally, the light I had been waiting for, appeared…
I began my descent, initially determined to follow my ascent route. But that got too complicated, and so I headed towards my usual route – which is the steepest and had lots of snow. But I was able to safely manoeuvre down the mountain.
It wasn’t dark yet, but darkness was only minutes away. By now, the street lights were quite distinct.
And then it got dark…
I’m not sure if it was due to the wind, but my pictures didn’t turn out as perfect as I wanted them. But they’ll just have to do.
Anne had been on a daytrip (work) to Brenndalen in Olden and arrived just as I left home. She was probably hungry, so I’d better get back home and make dinner…
Trip statistics: 4,3km, 610 vertical meters, 2h:04m
Sollia (661m), Jan 27 2026
Tuesday: Just like on Jan 27, 2017, I headed from Tjørvåg, aiming for Sollia – the highest top on Gurskøy island. There wasn’t much snow today, and looking at the pictures from 2017, it was even less snow then.
I looked forward to visit Sollia for the first time in 2026, but I also envied Anne and her colleague – ice-skating on Hjørungdalsvatnet and Grimstadvatnet on Hareidlandet, as part of their field inspector work.
Today was a good day to do the route from Tjørvåg, as the ground was for the most part frozen, and the lower part is normally quite wet. The path was just a river of ice and so the path didn’t do me any good. After a while, I just abandoned the path altogether and just followed the terrain where it was easiest to walk.
The weather was still gorgeous…
After a while, the sky got that nice, pink color…
When I got lake Holmevatnet in view, I decided that I would cross it on my way down. I have skied across this lake but never hiked across it.
It was getting darker by the minute, but the headlamp wouldn’t have to come on before I reached the top.
I was wondering how long this weather would last. With just a few exceptions, I’ve had good weather for almost 40 days straight (Sogndal, Brønnøysund and Sunnmøre). I don’t want to look at the forecast. I’ll take each day as it comes.
And then I was on top. For the 113th time.
I didn’t stay for long and continued down to lake Holmevatnet.
I had ice cleats on while crossing the lake, but it would have been less slippery without. Either the cleats need sharpening or the ice was too hard for the cleats to get a grip.
It was a nice hike. I was not worried at all about the ice not being safe. It looks safe all around, these days.
Once across the lake, I too a couple of pictures towards Ulsteinvik before putting the camera in my rucksack. Great hike!
Trip statistics: 9,5km, 665 vertical meters, 2h:29m
Kongsvollen (683m), Jan 28 2026
Wednesday: Anne and her colleague were back at lake Hjørungdalsvatnet to chop wood for bird breeding purposes in the nature preserve. Which meant that she would not be interested in joining me for an afternoon hike.
I decided to hike Kongsvollen from Ringstaddalen. But when I got to the trailhead, I got a bit concerned about the amount of hard snow below Hundelaupsvatnet. I then decided to hike from Løset instead.
The “Bukketrappvegen” road through the cabin area was incredibly icy. Even with ice cleats, I was Bambi on ice and had to walk outside the road. Eventually, I got onto the path and got my entire ascent route in view.
It was yet another gorgeous day, but it was a little bit cold (-7 °C at the trailhead)
The meadow was icy and there were long sections where I just had to hike outside the path.
Finally, I topped out on the ridge on Kvamstua and had most of my ascent route in clear view.
The ridge was easy to hike. The snow was for the most part hard and carried my weight.
In the winter season, this part of the afternoon is holy to me. I’m just not allowing anyone to book meetings in my calendar after 3pm.
It was beginning to get dark, and I took a few pictures while going up.
I was never worried about “Bukketrappa” – the steepest section of the ridge. There was so little snow that it was just as easy as when hiking in summer. However, there was one cornice that I had forgotten about. With a little bit more snow, that one could have been tricky. But I had brough my ice-axe and had no problems today.
And then I was up!
It felt nice to be all alone up in these mountains this afternoon. I almost felt a little bit “cool” when I began my descent with my headlamp on. I was quite certain that if anyone had seen my light, they would have been following my descent – at least in the upper part of the mountain.
Anne was probably a little bit worried and called me when I was down on the meadow. She was preparing dinner and I looked forward to getting back home, take a shower and enjoy a nice meal. I am a lucky guy!
Trip statistics: 8,6km, 600 vertical meters, 2h:30m
Røddalshorn (563m), Jan 29 2026
Thursday: I was not feeling well at all. I really, really wanted to hit the bed after work, but I also knew that I would not be able to properly relax if I skipped my daily hiking. And so I decided to hike Røddalshorn.
From experience, I knew that once the blood pump got going, I would get a break from whatever was bugging the body. I hoped that would happen today as well.
And it did. Already after 20 minutes, I felt much better.
So, instead of hiking directly up to the top, I decided to do a round-trip hike and aim for the pass between Røddalshorn and Storetua.
To get to the pass, I had to pass lake Simavatnet and due to the solid ice, I hiked across the lake.
My body felt slow and weary, but I was able to also enjoy the hike.
I just wish I could do a lot more ice-skating, but not on the expense of hiking…
The pass was still “far” away and I considered shortcuts up the mountain. These routes would have been easy enough without snow, but with the hard snow, I just had to go with the original plan.
I was tired by now and looked forward to reaching the top.
And finally, I got the top of Røddalshorn in view.
A little bit later, I was on top of Røddalshorn and enjoyed a short, but nice break.
There wasn’t a whole lot of snow, but it could actually be possible to do some bad skiing down this mountain!
Some other day…
Trip statistics: 6,4km, 490 vertical meters, 1h:56m
Veten (522m), Sneldelida (635m), Jan 30 2026
Friday: I got an appointment at the Doctor’s office at 11am. He heard me out and agreed to my plan of giving me a wait-and-see prescription for antibiotics. Maybe there was some Placebo in play here, because I felt better after having gotten the prescription and was able to have a productive working day.
But the working day got a bit shorter than usual, as I drove in to Ulsteinvik to pick up the medicine. Once there, I decide to do my daily hiking and “get it over with”.
I decided to pay Sneldelida a visit and drove out to Flø. The plan was just to follow the mountain road upwards, but when I got Veten in view, I decided to go to Veten first, follow the high ridge to Sneldelida and return along the mountain road.
It’s been a long time since I hiked Veten. I enjoyed myself. I wasn’t feeling too bad and listened to a podcast.
One thing about Veten – everytime you think you’re almost up, you’re not…
No complaints though. I had some marvellous views…
From the top of Veten, I had Skolma, Signalhornet and Sneldelida in view. I decided not to visit the hump Smørkinna along the way.
The moon was there with me – all the time. That was nice.
The sky was fine and the weather was still totally OK.
When I got Sneldelida in view, I felt good enough to commit to going to Sogndal the next day. So, this would be the last hike on Sunnmøre for a little while.
Sneldelida also has a “when you think you’re up…” element.
But finally, I stood on top on Sneldelida, and could look forward to a 5,3km descent.
I had started so early that the headlamp would probably not be used, but I still got that nice red glow in the horizon.
It was indeed tempting to continue towards Skolma and return via Ytreflødalen, but that would mean I would get home quite late. And for a body out of order, this hike was long enough as it was.
Then I headed back down.
It got properly dark when I was 10 minutes away from the car. I stopped for a final picture, returned to the car and drove back home for dinner.
I decided to not get started with the antibiotics and wait and see what “this thing was”
Trip statistics: 10,4km, 720 vertical meters, 2h:47m
Skavegga (1075m), Jan 31 2026
Saturday: After a not-so-good night, I got up 8am and began the preparations for traveling to Sogndal. There’s always so much stuff to bring, being prepared for just about any activity – hiking, skiing (cross-country, skating, Randonnée), ice-skating, biking, glacier travel, etc.
At 10:30am, I was on my way. I had an idea about hiking Orkja along the way, but it was the last day of January, and I hadn’t been skiing this year. So, the new plan was to ski Skavegga, from the top of the road across Utvikfjellet.
I decided to follow the road to Støyvastøylen. It runs a bit in the wrong direction, but I had never followed it before and was eager to see if this was a good idea.
It wasn’t. The road descended 35 vertical meters, so I would definitely not come back this way. Moreover, there was hardly any snow on the road.
When I got Skavegga in view, it was clear that it wasn’t just the road that was lacking snow…
I found a line of snow that would give me a half-decent descent, which was the most important thing, having chosen to bring the skis. I could just as well have hiked this mountain.
It was a bit windy and cold, and I had dressed up like I’ve never dressed up before, in mainland Norway.
The snow was partly soft, partly hard as rock. The descent would surely be interesting…
Skavegga isn’t a very exciting mountain, but it offers great views, all around.
Finally, I had the – not very distinct – top in view. The high point is only marginally higher than other humps on the summit plateau.
I was happy about reaching the top. My body was weary and I just wanted to get to Sogndal and rest.
I kept the skins on, while crossing the plateau.
Then I got started on the descent. The soft snow was very nice to ride through. The hard snow was awful.
When I got down from the mountain, I put the skins back on and ascended 35-40m up to the main ridge. Then I took the skins off and had an OK descent back to the trailhead.
It was nice to get to Sogndal. Anne was chopping up trees that she had gotten from somewhere, with her chainsaw. I spent some time in her outbuilding, stacking up wood that she had just dumped there.
I was supposed to join her in listening to a talk by Karen Kyllesø – the youngest person to ski the south pole, but I was just too tired. Besides, I had previously listened to her in a podcast. It’s great to see the young generation embarking on great adventures!
Trip statistics: 10,7km, 555 vertical meters, 2h:20m
Helleberget (988m), Feb 1 2026
Sunday: It was not what I would call a good night’s sleep. I spent all of it in a chair, trying to shake a muscle-based headache. At 7am, I hit the bed. At 9am, Anne left for her Sunday morning bath with the local “Polar plunge crew”.
I drove down at 9:30am to pick her up.
After breakfast, we drove up to the Hodlekve skiing centre to ski Helleberget. It’s one of the easier ski-trips in this area.
There was much more – and better snow than when I was here a month ago, skiing to Blåfjellet.
After a while, we left the Høgehaug route and sat course for Helleberget.
Anne had mountain skis. I had Randonee skis and I was interested in the perfect descent line. I decided to follow the ridge towards Helleberget, while Anne wanted to ski across Skavatnet.
Before we left the Høgehaug route, we met a group of foreigners (maybe Dutch?) and their skiing abilities were notably poor. So, when Anne passed a bunch of igloos, she assumed that the group we met had something to do with it.
Following the ridge wasn’t such a great idea. There was no track I could follow and there was a surprising amount of powder snow. Moreover, this would not be a great line for descent.
As I got closer to the mountain, I could see spindrift. It wasn’t that cold – maybe -7 or -8 °C but with the wind, it could get quite chilly up there.
I had a strong feeling about the dune jacket coming out of the backpack before we were up.
Anne and I reached the entry point for the upper hillside at the same time.
The snow on the upper mountain was partly nice, partly affected by wind.
My nose was already freezing cold, and the dune jacket came on.
And then we were up!
I took a couple of pictures and then I was more than good to go…
We decided to take Anne’s route down.
Then we made a bad decision and continued skiing towards the bridge by Reipå. That wasn’t very fun. We should have sat course for the Høgehaug route and enjoyed a better track back to Hodlekve.
Back home, we could rest for a little while before driving down to the local cinema for the premiere of the “Kraken” movie. It was yet another movie in the disaster category (“Tunnelen”, “Skjelvet”, “Nordsjøen”) and it didn’t exactly take my breath away. But, definitely not a bad movie!
After the movie, we enjoyed a nice dinner and dessert at the Malin restaurant.
Trip statistics: 7,4km, 420 vertical meters, 2h:01m
