Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

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I woke late at 0800. Not the early start I needed. However when I looked outside I could hardly believe it. All the clear, cold, calm weather of yesterday had deterioated into a swirling, hissing blizzard. To confirm I opened the cabin door which was nearly wrenched out of my hand.

It was a blesing in disguise. First I would have been a bit late in setting off and secondly my improving muscles were still stiff. I was not going to be able to navigate to Bleskestadmoen cabin in that and did not want to try and set up the tent or dig a snowhole in some 7 hours time in those conditions. So there was only one thing for it and that was back to bed.

I had been musing about the Norway and the Norwegians in the last few days. I have spent time in some 50 odd countries and none seem to have the sense of order, reliability and of being looked after as much as Norway. Their history, Stone Age to recent, has much to do with this.

Norwegians first came to this wild land some 10000 years or 500 generations ago. They followed the reindeer and they migrated north away from the growing forests of the Germanic Plains to this land which was emerging from under the ice sheets.

To survive the earliest settlers had to be very resourceful and had great foresight. Through the 10 millennia since then, the descendants of these first settlers honed their hunting skills and established a migaratory transhumance existance exploiting both fjord and mountain. Some 1500 years ago agriculture became more established, while the hunting and gathering continued

Distance 25km | Time 8.5hrs | Ascent 440m | Descent 280m

I was up earlier than usual and was ready just after 0800. However it was too early as it was still dark so I eventually left at first light around 0830. It was to be a long day but the weather had lots of promise. It was crisp, clear and minus 10 again. If I did not make it to Krossvatn cabin by 1730 the price I would have to pay would be to camp. Incentive enough not to dally.

I set off up Storsteindalen for a km and then cut off northeast up a snow filled gully for 2 km to reach the lake. Just these 3 km took nearly 2 hours and a fair bit of effort. The gully had some tricky steep sections. Just before the lake I reached a small pass and got a wonderful view of the early morning sun on the mountain plateau to the east of the lake.

The lake, called Blasjo, is a vast reservoir built at the very top of the plateau. It has some 8 dams at various points on it circumference, enlarging the many existing lakes and tarns into a 80 square kilometre reservoir at about 1000 meters altitude. The water from here then descends nearly 1000 metres to feed 11 massive turbines which apparently is enough to supply all of Stavanger and Bergens electricity. In total it produces over 4,400,000 mega-watt hours per year.

It cannot be denied that Blasjo is an intrusion into nature, especially for the wild reindeer. Furthermore its’ ring of bare sterile rock around the fringe is an eyesore while the reservoir is filling in the summer. It is never the less an very effective energy source per unit disturbance compared to the more naïve alternative energy sources, like wind turbines.

Today while I skied across its surface I barely noticed it was a reservoir I made fast time skiing into my long shadow with a bitter breeze directly behind me. Had I been going south sunglasses would have been mandatory given the glare from the sun. It took about 3 hours to ski the pleasant 14 across the snow covered ice. There were lots of reindeer tracks on the lake but I saw none.

At the north end of the lake I had a choice of doing 2 sides of a triangle or risk the direct line through craggy knolls. I played safe learning now just how rugged the Setersheiene landscape is. Indeed it is a alien landscape of knolls separated by warrens of deep clefts between them. A nightmare to ski and navigate through, especially with cornices everywhere.

I decided to ski east up the Poyleaa stream bed for 2 km despite the fact the hut was north. Even this simple route was full of up and downs between tarns. I then turned north and followed a line of small lakes and tarns, all frozen and covered in snow. On each side of me up this corridor were gnarly outcrops dripping with snow cornices.

As it was getting dark I at last reached Krossvatn lake. I took the detour around the lake for the last 2 km rather than risk unknown crags and snow filled warrens for the much shorter direct line. When I round a small peninsular and the cabin came into view a short distance away I was delighted.

It had been a long day of some 8.5 hours which I had done without a stop or even taking my rucksack off. On the other hand the navigation and decisions in hindsight were the right ones. I was tired though.

After digging out the door of the cabin I went in. It was minus 5 inside. After a couple of hours I had it warmed up a bit but it was quite drafty. I was knackered and with great effort wrote this and punched the references into the GPS for tomorrows long ski to Bleskestadmoen across a string of smaller lakes.

I had been a great day and I made good progress northwards. I was also able to enjoy the wild snowscape in good weather for the first day, and also appreciate just what a wild place this is.

Distance 13km | Time 7.5hrs | Ascent 540m | Descent 570m

I was up early and away by 0845. It was just getting light. It was a beautiful morning. Crisp, clear and cold at minus 10.

The snow squeaked as my ski stick twisted in it. Great conditions with a firm base and a little frost on top. I made good speed across Kringlevatn lake and up the stream bed on the north side.

I then had to go through undulating country where there were lots of drifts and the dreaded cornices, which I could at least see today so I could nimbly skirt them.

About 3 km from Kringlevatn I ran out of map for 5 km until I gained the next sheet. During this period I confidently followed a stream bed with confidence. So much confidence that I never checked the compass or GPS. This a mistake I sometimes make when things are going well. I was a good 45 degrees off course.

By the time I realized my mistake I had happily followed the snow pasted U shaped stream bed for a good 2 km. To rectify this I had to climb over a ridge dividing the stream bed I was in and the one I should be in.

On reaching the top of the ridge I had a remarkable view over the Setersheiene mountains. They were absolutely plastered in snow. They are renowned for being ice scrapped bare craggy rock but much of this was smoothed over by huge amounts of snow. A couple of ice covered lakes stretched away to the distance.

Remarkably I got mobile cover on this ridge top so managed to update the last 7 days complete with about 10 photos taken on the phone. I received masses of emails also, with some 20 wishing me luck and other saying I was mad. They were all very heartening.

The way down the other side of the ridge was difficult. One area looked avalanche prone so I avoided it and followed the ridge westwards and down. It seemed to end in a steep shoulder. I started to pick my way down the craggs on the shoulder but it go too steep.

I could not afford to slip here so had to retrace my steps on foot. I tried another two places but they also just got too precarious and icy. Crampons would have made the difference but I had none. In the end I had to back track a good km before I found a safe way. The whole process cost me a lot of effort and about 2 hours.

I got to the cabin quite late as a consequence around 1630 as it was getting dark. It was a nice cabin however, and within 2 hours I was warm, comfortable and fed. I needed the time to relax as tomorrow, weather permitting is a big day.

It had been a frustrating day eased a bit by the wonderful views at last and also improved by the fact I could update the overdue dairy and receive emails. They route finding mistake was entirely due to overconfidence and laziness not to get the compass out. This laziness cost me 3 hours and a lot of effort. Let it be a lesson. One I have had a few times now!

Distance 14km | Time 6hrs | Ascent 360m | Descent 390m

I was up early and away by 0830. It was a hellish day. The same as yesterday but just below freezing. Spindrift swirled around the cabin as I put my skis on. Visibility was just about 300 metres. Reluctantly I set off to the highest point at 1150 metres at Vardebrotet.

Mercifully the force 5 was at my back as I climbed the first hill and then entered the shallow valley which would take me all the way to Vardebrotet. In this shallow valley visibility got much worse, sometimes down to just 50 metres. I was forced to ski from one boulder to the next using the compass. The boulders were the only defining points in the white.

After a good hour I was finally climbing the final slopes to the cairn which marks the pass at Vardebrotet.  Despite the heavy snows the ascent was reasonably smooth except for the visibility.

The descent was quite different. The southerly winds of the last days had blown the snow off the south facing slopes and onto the north facing slopes. So the slope I was going down was absolutely plastered in snow. Even the boulders, so vital for judging the lie of the land, were gone.

I very gingerly stepped down the featureless white slopes. I was throwing snow in front to feel my way down. I moved very slowly with great caution yet 4 times I plummeted over an invisible drift I could not see until I was half way down it. Luckily none were more that 3 metres and they all had a very soft landing. None the less the first seconds of each fall were frightening.

After a good hour of this cautious descent the weather at last broke sufficiently to give me a longer view of about 100 metres. I was still cautious however, and only just avoided going over a few more cornices.

At last I was down to a flatter area where the land levelled out across some frozen lakes. I checked my GPS and confirmed I was at Savatn which marked the end of the descent from Vardebrotet. It had been an interesting and taxing crossing.

From here I skirted the end of the huge Svartevatn lake and then headed up through sparse upper limit of the birch forest and then followed a stream up some 3 km to Kringlevatn lake. Again during these 3 km the blizzard continued to fluctuate from gentle to almost violent.

At last the cabin appeared out of the whiteness. It was very welcome as I had not stopped all day. When I got to the cabin I had to shovel a metre high drift away from the door to get in.

Within an hour of arriving the cabin was warming, my damp cloths were drying over the fire, buckets of snow were melting and I soon forgot about the blizzard outside.

It had been a hard day. The visibility and wind had tested my navigation to the limit. Most disconcerting was the inability to see the ground in front of me. Luckily I was just following valley floors most of the time and the unforeseen drops not as serious as they might be on a mountain ridge.

I had an early night hoping this weather system would blow itself out in the night.

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The forecast was as predicted. When I got up at 0600 there was a blizzard of sleet. The temperature was just above freezing and the new wet snow was melting the old. Even in the dark I could tell visibility was poor. Just to emphasize the point there was a huge roar as at least 50 cm of snow slid of the hut roof in an avalanche.

I went back to bed, getting up occasionally to make sure things had not improved, but they did not. I eventually surfaced at 1000 and lit the stove knowing I would be here all day. The weather outside was quite poor, especially the visibility.

With the fire going I settled down to a pile of books on this area which the organization who owned the cabin produced each year. These yearbooks of the Stavanger turistforenging made fascinating reading. I also poured over the maps again fearful my progress was slowing.

These mountains were renowned for their changeable weather. It was greatly effected by the Atlantic weather systems with a lot of freeze and a bit of thaw in the winter months.

The harshness of the climate here was such that the winter snows often had a layer of ice in them and the vegetation at the bottom was often covered in harder icy snow. This made it much more difficult for the reindeer here to find food in the winter than their cousins further north and east. As a result the reindeer of Setersheiene are considerably smaller than other wild herds in Norway.

I went to bed early at 2000 hoping for and early start. Over 50 centimetres had fallen, much of it wet, in the last 2 days and I had no idea how it would be tomorrow. A freeze would be no bad thing otherwise I will be up to my knees, even with skis on!