Basically – Røddalshorn on skis!
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 16.02.26 | Hovdenakken | 474m | 176m | Hareid, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 16.02.26 | Ramnefjellet | 444m | 76m | Hareid, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 17.02.26 | Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 18.02.26 | Røddalshorn | 563m | 103m | Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 19.02.26 | Røddalshorn | 563m | 103m | Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 20.02.26 | Røddalshorn | 563m | 103m | Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 21.02.26 | Røddalshorn | 563m | 103m | Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 22.02.26 | Rundevarden | 333m | 333m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 22.02.26 | Rundebranden | 294m | 141m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Hovdenakken (474m), Ramnefjellet (444m), Feb 16 2026
Monday: Brønnøysund got at least 40 cm of fresh snow this weekend. Fortunately, my mom (80) had recovered quite well from the prolapse and is able to take care of herself. I was happy for her. She thought this could last a whole year. But in less than two months, she is functioning quite well and is desperate to go hiking again.
This inspired me to take a look at the local forecast and there were snow symbols throughout the week. It will take some getting used to, after 2 months of nice weather. I look forward to the skiing part but not shovelling snow. But most of all, as the world is going insane, it would help if the seasons don’t change as well. At least not right now…
After work, I stopped by the recycling plant to get rid of the old beds. I was just able to fit two 200×180 frame mattresses into the car, including some other stuff. Karma’s bed being one of these items. It was OK. I didn’t feel any sadness related to it. The memories are fond and forever. A single bed doesn’t change that.
As Hovdenakken is located close to the plant, I decided to do a round-trip hike there. I started down by the golf course in Hareidsdalen.
I like the forest part. But due to ice, I got astray from the path and got myself some new tracks up the forest.
I had been unwell all weekend, but I was feeling a little bit better today. But still, I had to stop numerous times. Actually, I was a little dizzy. Which was not very practical when I had to cross ice fields. But I reckoned that the dizziness would pass, and it did. It happens every once in a while. Not sure why.
On the ridge, the wind was cold and I had to put on another layer of clothing. The wind blew straight through my fleece jacket and 2 woollen sweaters. But it helped to put the dune jacket on.
And then I was up. There was a bit of color in the horizon, which was nice. But it would be interesting to see what the week had in store for us.
I then continued over to Ramnefjellet. I only did this to get 500 vertical meters (or more).
On Ramnefjellet, it was time to decide my descent route. In the end, I chose to hike the meadow on Hovdenakken’s north side. This is cumbersome terrain, but not so bad now that the ground was frozen.
After passing Risenakken, I went down the steep forest to get on the tractor road that would lead me back to the trailhead. Throughout the hike, I had been enjoying yet another episode of “National rap show”. 3 hours of fine music and very little talking. I haven’t listened to this weekly program in many years, so there are many more episodes I can enjoy on upcoming hikes.
Trip statistics: 7,6km, 565 vertical meters, 2h:12m
Huldrehornet (271m), Feb 17 2026
Tuesday: I watched it snow all day. By the time I finished work, approx. 20cm had fallen. My first task was to clear the driveway. That took about an hour.
Then I decided to ski Røddalshorn. I put the skis and the boots in the car, but then the weather got far worse. Definitely not weather for downhill skiing. So, I decided to hike Huldrehornet instead, from home.
As expected, there wasn’t a whole lot of snow in the lower forest. If I only had felt a little bit better, I would really have enjoyed this. But I was so tired.
Also as expected, there was a whole lot more snow in the upper forest. But as it was fresh snow, it wasn’t very strenuous to plough throw.
It was a little “annoying” to see that the weather had cleared up. It would have been nice to be skiing now. At least I think so. The only problem that there was no snow below the fresh snow. My already worn-out skis would suffer even more.
I did NOT consider going down and back up to get 500 vertical meters. Now I would just make a “deposit” from my “account”, which was already more than 2000m “above plan” (for 2026)
No, it was time to head back home, shovel some more snow, rest a little, make dinner and watch some Olympics on TV…
Trip statistics: 4,1km, 280 vertical meters, 1h:36m
Røddalshorn (563m), Feb 18 2026
Wednesday: I woke up to more snow. The total amount of snow outside my house was ~45cm. I checked the forecast. It was not supposed to snow again until late afternoon.
At 2pm, I decided to take a break from work and ski Røddalshorn.
I wasn’t sure if the road up to the trailhead had been cleared and so I parked at the Leikongeidet trailhead. I had to make my own track, but when I saw cars at the other trailhead, I expected to find good tracks higher up.
Because – making my own track would be hard work…
I mean – relatively hard. It’s only 2km and 400 vertical meters up. But still…
After a little while, I found the track and looked forward to following it all the way to the top. But – the track ended halfway up. Either it was too hard work for that someone, or there was another reason that I just couldn’t understand.
So, I had to make my own track up the mountain. I chose to set a track that I could curve around on my way down. The light was not optimal for my old eyes, and the contrast from the track would be of great help.
When I got to the top, I didn’t see any other tracks. I was perhaps thinking that someone had gone up the east ridge. It was windy and snowdrift may have covered other tracks. Or I was simply the first one on top after this snowfall.
In any case, it was nice to be up and get back down before the light got even worse – or snow would start falling.
The descent was a bit “Hail Mary” in terms of what the skis hit on the way down.
If I hadn’t known this mountain so well, there is a good chance that I could have hit something hard and taken a serious nosedive.
It was a nice trip, but the big bonus was that I was feeling better than for the past week. I didn’t have to stop to catch my breath on the way up – even with all the snow – which is hopefully a good sign.
It was a bit weird. I let my colleagues know about my “break” at 2pm. Then I got dressed, drove up to Leikongeidet, skied 400 vertical meters up the mountain, ran back down, drove home and stopped to pick up groceries for dinner and was back at work before 2 hours had passed. And I didn’t rush anything.
Trip statistics: 4,0km, 400 vertical meters, 1h:18m
Røddalshorn (563m), Feb 19 2026
Thursday: Another crap day. This one was one of the worst. Not sick-sick, but the body is in distress. I suspect an infection that is hard to get rid of.
I don’t know where I got the willpower to go for another ski-trip to Røddalshorn from, but I must have figured it wouldn’t make me feel worse – which I definitely would have, if I hadn’t done any outdoor activity.
The weather was “gloomy”, the light was bad (for my old eyes) but I had timed it so that I would make good use of the headlamp on my way down. I was happy to see fresh tracks. My tracks from yesterday would surely have vanished a bit higher up, after another snowfall plus wind.
I had two skiers ahead of me. They didn’t go to the top because of the wind.
I went to the top though. The snowdrift created a small inferno up there, but I got a break from it, for a few seconds every now and then. Enough to take a picture.
It wasn’t really dark when I headed back down, but the headlamp helped me see contrasts in the terrain. The snow on the upper mountain was terrible. Severely wind-affected.
Further down, the snow was delightful and after a while I caught up with the other skiers. The guy had lost one of his skies. I could see a single track, followed it and found his ski. I gave him a signal, and he came skiing down on one ski, happy to reunite with the other.
The trip only helped me mentally. I felt just as crap after the trip as I did before. So, no harm done.
Trip statistics: 4,1km, 400 vertical meters, 1h:10m
Røddalshorn (563m), Feb 20 2026
Friday: Still the same crap shape and form, but not as bad as the day before. The weather was gloomy but if I had felt in shape, I would have gone skiing to a 600m mountain. But as it was now, I just settled for my 3rd trip to Røddalshorn in 3 days.
I went for a variation and followed the Sollia route up to “Skardet”, where I sat course for Røddalshorn. All the tracks that skiers had left for the past days were nowhere to be seen, due to wind and spindrift.
The light was bad. My old and tired eyes didn’t see any contrasts in the snow at all…
The top was just as windy as the day before and I decided to put on an extra jacket.
As mentioned, the light was horrible. Totally flat. But I put on a pair of glasses which helped me see a tad better. The problem was that the spindrift made the glasses wet in seconds.
The wind-affected snow was also horrible. If only it had been packed hard, but it was packed and soft. It was very difficult to make turns. And here and there – pure ice.
I chose to ski down a gully I hadn’t skied before. It was narrow and I regretted the decision.
I made it down in one piece and looked forward to getting back home and see Anne, coming up from Sogndal.
Trip statistics: 4,5km, 410 vertical meters, 1h:27m
Røddalshorn (563m), Feb 21 2026
Saturday: This trip is featured on a separate post…
Varden (333m), Rundebranden (294m), Feb 22 2026
Sunday: This trip is featured on a separate post…
