Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

Distance 33km | Time 9.5hrs | Ascent 870m | Descent 1080m

I was up as 0600 and ready to go after a breakfast of canned stew by 0715. However it was still pitch dark. It was minus 18 with a bitterly cold south wind which chilled me quickly. Eventually by 0730 I could just see into the new dawn and set off. I knew it would be a long day.

The run down to Breidstolen was very pleasant except for the bitter wind. Within an hour I had already gone 4 km when the sun rose turning the surrounding hills pink and then yellow. Soon the wind vanished and the warmth of the sun made me feel much more comfortable.

The final descent to Breidstolen was down a wide snow filled gully. It was a beautiful descent swinging from one side to the other for a good half hour before I had dropped some 400 vertical metres and reached the icy valley floor, covered in willow scrub poking through the snow.

The lodge at Breidstolen was as I thought closed. It looked rather inhospitable anyway. I was prepared for this which is why I left so early. I still had 19 km to do today but it was only 1030. At Breidstolen there was mobile cover so I successfully sent the prepared emails and blog and received a lot of emails which I would read later. It was too cold to take my mitts of to manipulate the phone.

I started the climb up to Sulebu at 1100. It was a gentle ascent through the upper limits of the birch forest and then onto the wide expansive white mountain plateau. To the west there was a deep slot, some 1000 metres deep, which I could not see into. This was the valley at the end of a fjord. The whole time on this trip so far I have never been far from the heads of fjords which cut numerous deep slots into these mountains.

The ascent eventually took me to a narrow saddle. On the other side of which is a wonderful descent into a south facing bowl. This bowl was hot and I soon had to shed clothes. It was like a giant parabola which concentrated the suns rays in the middle, where I was.

I then rounded a significant craggy mountain called Masseringsnosi and turned north. I was on the home straight climbing up a gentle valley to a shallow pass. At the top of the valley I got a surprise. There ahead of me in a perfect view some 40 km to the north was the Hurrungane massif. I had no idea I would be able to see these mountains from here.

The Hurrungane massif are perhaps the most alpine of all the mountains in Scandinavia. One of the mountains, Store Skagastolstind, the Matterhorn of Jotunheimen, was the birthplace for Norwegian mountaineering. This mountain was looking especially grand and across the massif from it was the equally imposing Austanbotntind, perhaps my favorite 2000 metre plus mountain in Scandinavia. The Hurrungane mountains are very dear to me and I have spent several summers scrambling in them and written a book on them. See www.scanndinavianmountains.com for details.

Some 6 km in front of me was my final hurdle for the day which was a long but easy climb up to a obvious saddle between two mountains. I was tiring as I slowly clawed my way up. I was expecting another wonderful view on the other side. This view would be of the two massifs just to the north of lake Bygdin which were also in the Jotunheimen.

As I neared the saddle the sun was setting so I blasted up the last 2 km to catch the view before the sun vanished. I just made it. It was worth the hurry. The whole of the southern parts of the Gjendealpene, the craggy mountains between the lakes Bygdin and Gjende, were coated in a pink alpenglow of the setting sun. I paused here basking in one of the finest sunsets I have seen and over my cherished Jotunheimen in addition.

After many photos the chill set in and I made the quick descent down the other side, crossed a lake and reached Sulebu cabin just before I felt the need to dig out the headtorch. It was a lovely small cabin and I soon had it warmed up and cosy. There were some old visitors books in the cabin and I found an entry I made on 20/03/84. The first night of my first ski trip, when I did Skarvheimen north to south.

It had been another magnificent day. I am running out of complementary superlatives to describe the weather. This is effectively the end of the fourth section, the Skarvheimen, and tomorrow I start the fifth section, Jotunheimen, the Home of the Giants. To have come across Hardangervidda and through Skarvheimen with one misty day in otherwise excellent weather is exceptional. I have been a lucky man indeed.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 12:28 pm and is filed under Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.