Norway’s Constitution Day!
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 17.05.26 | Larsokfjellet | 1540m | 170m | Årdal/ Luster, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Sunday: Norway’s Constitution Day, and we wanted to stay true to our tradition on going skiing on this national holiday.
Our choice of destination was an unnamed top west of Berdalsbandet, at the foot of the mighty Hurrungane mountains. I was a little worried about low temperatures – which could mean icy roads – but we hoped the weather would get better than the forecast said.
We left Sogndal before the parade started and drove to Øvre Årdal, from where we followed Tindevegen up to Berdalsbandet (1315m). As suspected, there was plenty of snow left and we could ski from the car. I had to be a bit inventive regarding the parking…
Then we were on our way…
We passed Lovardalsnosi on the north side. The top was not of interest to me now, as we visited that top and Korenosi back in 2013.
Thinking back on our 2013 trip. Poor Karma. The snow was so rotten back then.
We weren’t directly heading into alpine terrain – unlike on the opposite side of the road, but maybe that top on the distance could be our goal?
So why were we heading towards a fairly anymous top, and not the amazing mountains we were leaving behind?
There were several reasons. Maybe, if I had remembered bringing the skins for my Randonnée skis and maybe, if Anne had been up for it, and maybe if my hamstring injury had healed better. And maybe if the weather forecast had been more solid.
We descended to Hestdalsvatnet and crossed the south end of the lake.
Some place nearby got a good dump of snow or rain or whatever was in that cloud.
We continued across the ridge between Korenosi and Hestdalsfjellet and started talking about which side of lake Jervvatnet we would cross.
We decided on the north end of the lake.
From the lake, we had a gentle 220 vertical meter climb to the top.
And then we could celebrate a new top for the both of us, in addition to our Constitution Day!
It was tempting to also go for Grønvassnosi (1598m), but that would mean additional ~8km and there was no way Anne would be interested.
It was fine by me. Who knew what the weather would be like in a few hours from now. I did not want to be stuck on 1300m with a snowy road. I was quite happy just getting a new top.
We enjoyed lunch and the views.
I decided to give the unnamed top a name – for practical reasons: Larsokfjellet. Larsokfjellet (1482m) is a named point 1,4km further west of the 1540 top, but there is no distinct saddle between these tops, so the 1482m top is for all practical purposes a part of the massif where point 1540 is the highest.
In the distance, 28km to the west, we could see Hest’s distinct east ridge. I did a solo trip there (plus Såta) two years earlier.
After a good break, we headed back down.
We took a different route down to lake Jervvatnet. I quickly found that I was unable to make proper turns. My hamstring would not let me. Or I was afraid to make it worse. Not sure. But I got myself down without any further injury.
Back at the lake, we didn’t bother going around it.
From the lake, we more or less followed our tracks back to the car.
Austabotntind – one day I’ll get there…
I was really happy about being able to get one more ski-trip before the season closes for me. In theory, I could have gone skiing next week, but it would be my on-duty week and after that, chances for good skiing are slimmer.
Instead of driving back to Årdal, we continued towards Turtagrø before setting the course for Sogndal.
It was raining quite a bit in the Gaupne – Hafslo region, but the weather in Sogndal was OK. We could see that it had been raining though. Maybe the parade wasn’t quite as fun this year.
Back at Anne’s place, we enjoyed sour crème porridge – another national day tradition for us.
Trip statistics: 10,9km on skis, 510 vertical meters, 3h:16m
