Store Lenangstinden (19.05.2013)  

© Hannah Vickers

Store Lenangstinden. I actually have to admit to not knowing a huge amount about the peak before our trip, apart from having read two reports on kugo’s website and having passed the mountain on a visit to Tafeltinden three weeks earlier. Nevertheless, I did know that it has a reputation for being a highly sought-after summit, so there was no question that any opportunity to ascend this peak must absolutely be taken up. That opportunity arose this weekend when Sondre Kvambekk and co. were on a visit up north. And after having rested my legs the day after our trip to Jiehkkevarri, the thought of another relatively long day in Lyngen was not so terrible. I woke up earlyish at around 5 am and left home in Tromsø at 6.30am, since we’d agreed to meet in Koppangen at around 9am and there were no ferries running between Breivikeidet and Svensby so early on a Sunday morning. Basically that meant having to drive around the Lyngen peninsula via Nordkjosbotn to reach Koppangen. Hence the necessity for a relatively early departure.

However, the prospect of a combined ski/foot trip up Store Lenangstinden supplied sufficient motivation to get me up and going so it was in fact not such a huge effort after all (to put this in perspective I don’t usually leave for work until 8.30 or 9am on a regular weekday). After a quick stop at Shell in Nordkjosbotn where I unintentionally bought an enormous Americano coffee, I continued on my journey towards Oteren in Storfjord. While cruising down the road in Sunday-morning mode I soon realized that the Auris rental car that flew past me was in fact occupied by my male trip companions. Not that I was surprised. I drive my car more or less just as slow as I drive my skis ;-)

Yr. had forecasted a cloudy start to the day with strålende sol from around midday and throughout the rest of the day, so there was no massive shock when I arrived in overcast Koppangen with absolutely no sight of our day’s summit. The guys were already busy getting rucksacks and skis ready, and fortunately Ånund had managed to buy a new pair of fjellski the previous day to replace his broken ones. After pulling out everything I thought I’d need for the trip from my kitbag, I did as good a job as possible to pack it all neatly into my 40-liter sack. It was noticeably heavier than on Jiehkkevarri, but I was secretly hoping that the guys would also have heavy packs as well and they would also be a little slowed-down by the extra weight bearing. We had to carry the skis for a few hundred metres through the forest before we found ourselves enough snow to ski on, but even after we took them on the snow wasn’t really that continuous and there was a little bit of skiing on grass and rock, taking off the skis, putting them back on, taking them off again……It was a big difference since I had been in the same place three weeks earlier, when more or less the whole valley floor was snow covered and there were no rivers to cross either. Anyway, I got a bit bored of non-continuous snow after a while so it was a relief to have the skis on permanently after passing the rocks at the end of the river valley.

We took a shortish pause here before continuing up the valley towards the lake at around 400 moh. It was easy-going gradient, good snow cover and a steady pace. Despite that it was cloudy and quite cool, I felt very warm all the way up to the lake and was actually quite glad that we didn’t have bright sunshine yet, otherwise it would have been probably pretty hard work to slog my way up the mountain with the heavier rucksack I had today.

After another short break at the lake, there was more level terrain for a few hundred metres, another rise again on quite slippery snow and then finally we were on Koppangsbreen proper. Still fog everywhere. Not a lot to see. Unsurprisingly, scenery-appreciation breaks were almost non-existent and we made rather steady progress up the glacier until we took a longer lunch break at just under 900 moh. There were some views behind us towards Store Koppangstinden and the Kåfjord alps, with just a kiss of sunshine on some of the mountains. But where we stood there was still no hint of sun. It was pretty much just white around us, apart from the odd outcrop of rock here and there. Fortunately Sondre and Ole Fredrik had a GPS and map between them and were able to intelligently set us on the right course for the foot of the gully on Store Lenangstinden. By the time we had reached ca.1100 moh, we split ways and Ånund went alone towards Tafeltinden while the other four of us (Sondre, Ole Fredrik, Øyvind and I) headed in a more northerly direction across Strupbreen in the fog. From where we left Ånund it was just less than 1,5km to the foot of the gully and with not much gain in height, so that part was done relatively quickly. Literally about 5 minutes before reaching the gully, the air became rapidly warmer - the kind of feeling you expect to get when baking hot sun is on its way. The fog finally began to disperse and we got our first glimpse of the peak behind some smoky clouds. My first reaction? Oooooooh……. ultra cool.

But now it was really time to whip out the suncream and smother it everywhere. The warmth was almost stifling! Despite having no views for most of the way up from Koppangen, at least the snow in the gully had not been warmed up by the sun for so long before we set foot in it, which could only be of benefit to us since we really needed stable snow. From where we’d stopped, we saw an obvious edge in the gully of maybe 50m wide (maybe more) and a little under 1m high. Hard to tell whether it was a bruddkant or a skavl, but I was a bit skeptical toward going further up knowing that it was there. Not completely unhappy, but a little uncomfortable. On the other hand there didn’t seem to be signs of fresh avalanches under it and after a little discussion we took a decision to find a sensible way up that would avoid going anywhere close to it.

We gained a little more height on skis before it became steep enough that I decided I’d had enough. Sondre had stopped a few metres above while Ole Fredrik and Øyvind managed to skin some 50m further up by a rock at the edge of the gully. Sondre, who’d been a bit more efficient in putting on crampons and ice axe than me, started making his way up in a smaller gully. Fortunately for me that meant that I could use the trail of footsteps he’d kicked out. For that I will be eternally grateful since the snow itself was pretty non-ideal in my opinion; soft and quite deep. There was a lot of sinking before you could actually gain some height (I found this out after trying to make my own trail and realizing how much effort was needed). Nevertheless, it was a glorious day to be out in the middle of Lyngen now and the hard work of the guys was rewarded with superb views which just continued to become ever more stunning with more height. Any earlier memories of fog or other concerns were soon forgotten.

For most of the way up we’d ascended along the left hand side of the gully, but as we approached the ridge we skirted across to the right hand side of a small cornice and came over that without problem. But suddenly the snow was transformed from unconsolidated soft stuff to nice wind-blown hard snow upon reaching the crest of the ridge. It felt a lot more convincing to not be sinking anymore and I think everyone was a lot happier to have something solid to kick crampons into. The final hundred metres or so along the ridge was an exhilarating experience. I thought we’d had fantastic views from the gully, but now we were ascending the most beautiful alpine-like narrow snow ridge I can ever remember setting foot on and having 360-degree views with all you could ever dream of seeing. Pointy peaks which soared up from glaciers, others which soared straight up from valleys and yet more incredible peaks which were just all alone in the middle of the sea. And of course uninterrupted blue cloud-free sky and sunshine plus the company of three very happy trip companions. How on earth had I not discovered this part of the world before now? Maybe its best that it stays a secret………..

After spending some time on the summit, taking photos and simply appreciating the feast of magnificent views surrounding us (it took a while just to take it all in) it was regrettably time to begin the descent. Back down the ridge to the gully, and back down the gully to the skis. I chose to face in and downclimb the gully while the guys were noticeably more efficient and almost walked down like it was a staircase. So as usual they had to wait a while. The rest of the descent – back on the skis – is best left as a short summary, since for me it was like the nedkjøring from hell. The snow on the glacier had somehow transformed into a non-solid crust where it just seemed impossible to turn because the skis sank in a little all the time. And every time I did try to turn I ended up on my bum. Today was definitely not the puddersnø indulgence which I remembered from the trip to Tafeltinden. More embarrassing was that after we’d met with Ånund again on the glacier, even he made better work of the descent on fjellski that were half as wide as my skis!

To cut a long descent-story short, basically it was the trusty snow-plough method which pretty much characterized my very unstylish and slow journey back to Koppangen. By the time we’d reached the river valley again I had come to the conclusion that walking the rest of the way back would be easier since my ability to control or steer a pair of planks had more or less disappeared completely. Despite all that, I can undoubtedly say that it was an unforgettably good feeling to arrive back at the cars at Koppangen again after such an awesome day.

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