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Blåtind is the highest mountain in Ulstein kommune, and the highest mountain on Hareidlandet island. The mountain is for the most part hidden behind Kongsvollen (683m) when viewed from the northeast, and hidden behind the large mountain plateau (600m+) on the north side of the island. After having visited over 50 tops in the Ålesund - Haram - Vestnes - Ørskog - Sykkylven regions within 4 months, I had still not had a clear view towards this top.
But of course the summit can be seen if you look hard enough. Being the high point on the island, the views are quite extensive. The Bergehornet - Liadalsnipa range block the view towards Sunnmørsalpene, but there are plenty of other fine peaks to rest your eyes on from this summit.
There are a couple of paths that lead up the mountain. A few begin at Indre Haddal, and one of these runs up Klungsdalen. The route described on this page runs up from Ringstaddalen and provides a narrow path up the mountain. If you are looking for a long roundtrip hike, you can start from Indre Haddal, visit Haddalshornet (607m), Blåtind (697m) and Kongsvollen (683m) before descending into Ringstaddalen. Refer to the Kongsvollen page for how to reach Kongsvollen from Lake Løsetvatnet. From Kongsvollen, you can continue to Blåtind and descend the route described on this page.
I visited this mountain late April, and I recommend everyone else to visit this mountain when you can ski up the mountain, or wait until the snow has gone. The long and steep hillside is tremendously exhausting when you have to walk in butter-soft snow, reaching up to your knees.
Blåtind (M711: 697m, Ø.K.: 697,43m, UTM 32 V 339751 6908537) has a primary factor of 697m being the island high point.
Notes: Class ratings are in reference to YDS. Click here for more information.
The trails described below are not necessarily the *easiest* trails to this mountain.
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Ringstaddalen - Blåtind (spring)
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Access
From Ålesund, follow highway E39 towards Bergen, and then RV61 towards Hareid. Take the Sulesund - Hareid ferry and follow RV61 (roughly) 3Km towards Ulsteinvik. At the roundabout junction outside Ulsteinvik, turn left and follow RV61 southbound. RV61 later turns right (SW) towards Måløy. At this junction, drive straight ahead and keep driving for approx. 1,3Km and turn left towards "Haddal".
Drive approx. 500m on the main road (which curves sharp to the right in the beginning) and turn left into "Ringstaddalen". Follow this road approx. 550m and locate an old shack on the right-hand side of the road. There is room for 1 car without blocking for other (potential) traffic to this shack.
The route
Cross the fence on a small ladder and continue southeast on a narrow, but visible path. When you reach the mountain foothills, the path gradually turns eastbound. You can either follow this path (detour) or head up the hillside. The terrain is quite easy. No cliffs or any other obstacles. That side, the hillside is overall steep. On unstable snow, I can imagine that you can start a small avalanche, although the hillside in general is not known to be avalanche prone.
Once the terrain levels out at 580m elevation, follow Blåtind's northwest ridge, which should not give you any problems even when large cornices block any other ascent route. The summit is marked by a large cairn. The visitor's register is found just below the cairn, in a plastic box on the north side of the cairn. Descend your ascent route, or via Haddalshornet or Kongsvollen.
One month (on the day) after visiting Melshornet, it was time to visit my second top on the Hareidlandet island. When I wake up from the sunshine, before the alarm clock rings, I have the backpack ready before my eyes open up in the shower. This morning was especially beautiful. T-shirt weather. As I was working in Ulsteinvik this day, it was natural to visit the highest point on the island after work, even though higher mountains seemed a bit more tempting.
My colleague Kjetil Haddal (who lives in Haddal) had explained the trailhead and the general route, and 16:20PM I was on my way from the trailhead by the old shack in Ringstaddalen. I had chosen to bring skis even if snowshoes would have been more practical. From distance, it looked as if I could ski the long snow gullies, but this turned out to be a wrong decision.
My dog "Troll" wasn't interesting in walking on the *very* wet path from Ringstaddalen and here I was on my way on this very warm evening, with the dog in the backpack, my skis over the shoulder, my poles in my left hand and Scarpa T4's on my feet. Even if I was sweating like crazy, I had a fair progress until I reached the snow. The snow reached up to my knees and was soft as butter. I had no choice but to put the skis on.
Skiing was a true nightmare. After a few minutes, I chose to ski on the juniper bush, rather than the snow. In this bush-snow-bush-snow-bush-snow terrain, I could neither ski nor walk efficiently. It took me 1h:25m to ascend 500 vertical meters, which is normally done in well under the hour. Above 500m, skiing was just a pleasure, and Troll followed willingly in my tracks. As I approached the summit, I saw lots of cornices and wondered if I had to dig my way up to the summit. But the ridge I followed was the perfect gateway to the summit, and 18:00PM, I was standing on the top of Blåtind.
I took immediately shelter behind the cairn, as the gale-force wind was insanely cold. I had been looking forward to take a 360 panorama picture, but this wasn't possible because of the narrow high point where the cairn blocked a large portion of the view. I dug a slot for the dog and gave him lunch while taking the pictures.
I left the summit 18:20PM and had 2 minutes of excellent skiing before I ran out of snow. I let the dog out of the backpack and followed a more direct line towards the trailhead. This direction led me to the top of a long snow gully, and I decided to glissade. I told the dog to stay behind (he knows that command) and we headed down. Me on my ass, whirling up large piles of snow which resembled small avalanches, and the dog behind, floating on his belly.
The only scary moment occured halfway down the gully. I looked back to see how the dog was doing, but couldn't see him. Then, to my left, I witnessed the dog passing me on top of a huge pile of fast-moving snow. As the hillside was steep, I felt strongly for reducing his descent speed. The only way I could reach him, was through my poles, which I had in my hand. I reached out for him and decreased his speed with my poles, allowing me to catch up and get hold of him. I looked down on the houses at Ytre Haddal and wondered if anyone were witnessing this unordinary descent of Blåtind.
The descent was quite swift, and we reached the trailhead 18:55PM, 45 minutes after leaving the top. The plan was to stop by the Melshornet trailhead and look for the keys I lost one month earlier, but since I was en route for the 19:30PM ferry, I decided to look for the keys later on.
To Blåtind
50mm panorama, annotated, 2 parts
Wide-angle panorama, not annotated, 2 parts
Zoom panorama, 2 parts
Other summit pictures
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