Nordfjellet (03.02.2013)
| Start point | Sandelva |
|---|---|
| Endpoint | same |
| Characteristic | Randonnée/Telemark |
| Duration | 5h 00min |
| Map |
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| Ascents | Nordfjellet (1,000m) | 03.02.2013 |
|---|
Initially there was going to be just Kristin and myself on this trip to Ringvassøya, which we talked about doing after our day out on Stormheimfjellet. But after some thinking, we thought that it could perhaps be quite fun to have a few others joining on the trip. Unexpectedly the group soared from 2 to 10 just the day before we went, after friends decided to bring along other companions too! So we ended up being a convoy of 4 cars driving to a relatively small parking spot on the side of the road by Sandelva where we planned to start the trip up Nordfjellet. Fortunately the small parking space turned out to be large enough to accommodate at least 7 or 8 cars, so there was no problem with squeezing everyone in. Somehow Siv and Ingvild had got lost on the way, but after a quick phone call to get some directions they decided they would catch up with us later. The sky was clear and it was -9 degrees at the car. Not too cold and with the benefit of ascending from the south side of the mountain, it was not going to be too long before we could look forward to some awesome sunny warmth on our backs.
First though we had to tackle a rather mean-looking forest. It proved to be a lot more of a challenge than it appeared from the roadside, and took us a lot longer to get up and above the treeline before we could actually see anything. It was also somewhere in the forest that the group disintegrated gradually into 3, with Kristin and myself wandering off together after getting bored with so many breaks and stopping.
We continued at a slow but steady pace though and hoped that the others would eventually catch up after a while. It was nice anyway to stop and appreciate the beautiful sunlight and it would have been a shame to hurry up the mountain just for the sake of getting to the top while the sun was still out. We followed the ski tracks up onto Glimfjellet first before continuing in a northwesterly direction towards the narrow ridge leading up to Nordfjellet. The snow on this part of Glimfjellet was particularly hard, and I even slipped on a patch of ice without realizing it was there! So we decided at this point that we wouldn’t take exactly the same way back on the descent.
By the time we had reached the narrow ridge, we noticed the group of skiers who had started a little before us now were coming back toward us. It looked like they had stopped at the ridge and decided not to go further. Kristin felt a little unsure as well, but I thought it was worth seeing how the snow was like. In my mind anything was possible even if it meant taking off skis and walking a little way to the other side of the ridge. And that’s what we ended up deciding to do, because the snow surface was quite solid and not that easy to ski comfortably across without feeling a little unbalanced. The drop to our left side was quite significant, so we weren't incredibly tempted to run the risk of sliding down that way unnecessarily! By then we could also see the rest of our group only a short way behind, but it looked like they hadn’t made up their minds whether to follow or not.
In a way it was not that important since everyone was able to get transport back to town even if they turned back at different times on the trip. But it would have been nice to enjoy getting to the top with the rest of the group too.
Before we reached the other side of the ridge, we were actually passed by a group of 3 guys, 2 whom I knew from the fjellsportgruppa, and the other guy was someone who recognized Kristin. That was quite fun to meet people I recognized, without having made a deliberate plan to meet up with them first!
The final part of the trip from the northern end of the ridge to the summit was across broad and gentle slopes, but there was maybe only 100-150m of height left to gain before we were standing on the top. Even though the summit views were not vastly different to what we could see from the ride on the way up, it seemed prettier especially now since the sun was lower in the sky and the snow-covered mountains were turning a warm orange glow. And it was still not too cold to spend a little time eating, drinking and chatting with others who were there too.
It was a nice surprise though, when Giacomo and Joe – Kristin’s friends, also appeared on the summit just as we were getting ready to ski down. We were both quite happy that they had finally made it up, even if the rest of the group had turned around earlier. We took a slight variation of route for the nedkjøring, and skied down a little further to the west from the summit, which would have led us down a steeper way towards Ringvatnet. The snow condition was actually a lot better here – a bit more fluffy and silky. It almost felt like a dream to be gliding down such perfect snow slopes beneath a gorgeous sunset!
As with all good dreams, it ended much too quickly and we had to slow down and traverse a little way around towards the ridge again. Fortunately, the snow felt stable enough that I didn’t have to take off the skis again to go across, and that saved a little bit of time especially since it was getting dark again pretty quickly now.
After the ridge we held a route down the south/southwestern side of Glimfjellet where there were fewer rocks and icy snow, and it worked out a good choice compared to the route up where we had gone more or less over the crest of Glimfjellet. A slightly steeper section with amazingly soft and powdery snow took us down towards the forest of hell again, and even though I managed to ski most of the way through the trees, the final 50m or so of height down to the road were just too much of a challenge in the dark.
I eventually gave up and walked the rest of the way, which worked out to be just as fast as the others who were still on skis or snowboards. All in all, the trip had taken around 5 hours. A decent amount of time spent outdoors today, even if it had been slow at times!
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