Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Frostadtinden from Storsætra, Mar 4 2006


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Trip report, Mar 4 2006

Torill Berg and I had planned this trip ever since we walked up to Nihusen on the first day of this year. It took two months before our schedules and the right weather allowed for this trip to happen. We agreed in Engsetdalen, and I wasn't surprised to see Torill in my rear mirror as I drove up the valley. On our hike to Hornindalsrokken last year, we set precedence for co-ordinated arrival. She drove from Ålesund, I drove from Bergen, and we arrived the Horndøla trailhead few minutes apart.

It was -11 deg. C. at the Engsetdalen trailhead, and I decided to leave my dog "Troll" in the car. Wrapped in fleeze blankets, he would be fine. He wouldn't be able to walk on this trip, and would just get cold in the backpack. Torill noticed that the locking mechanism on her new skins didn't fit her skis. She put on dry, blue vax, but that wasn't the best choice for these conditions. In addition to a binding that wasn't optimally adjusted, she had a tough trip up the mountain. On top of this, she had been to the top of Nihusen (438m) early morning. She can't do without her regular morning walk, which is understandable, of course.

We left the trailhead 09:45AM and caught quickly up with three sporty skiers that had left in advance. We passed them, and distanced them. Odd, given the moderate pace we had up the mountain. Despite the low temperature, the trip up the mountain was just great. Småheiane had hardly any snow left, but a die-hard track prevented us from having to zig-zag up this ridge. The skiing conditions up the long hill was varying. It was apparent that if one set down in fast pace down this hill, that person would be in for one or two surprises.

We arrived the main cairn 11:35AM and moved on to the high point, which we reached 11:40AM. Torill had been to this mountain countless times, but she never had visited the high point. Apparently, "everyone" stops at the main cairn, and she had never been aware of the fact that the easternmost point was 6m higher.

Back at the main cairn, Torill offered me hot chocolate, and after a while, the three skiers arrived. They were not in outstanding shape, which explains the slow progress up the mountain. After taking a series of pictures, my fingers turned so cold that I didn't know what to do with them. It was certainly a "let's go" moment. The snow up here was excellent, but the slope wasn't steep enough. The one time I left the track, I stopped. Back in the tracks, the skis went fast down the ridge.

Down in the long hill, I decided to leave some gracious tracks behind me, but ran into the surprises mentioned above. From good speed in powder snow, to even better speed on top of hard snow. And vice versa. I fell so deep into the powder that I wasn't sure how to get up. Down at Småheiane, things didn't get better, as there was hardly any snow left. It wasn't until we were back on the forest road, that sking was fun.

We were back at the trailhead 12:50PM, which meant that the trip had taken approx. 3 hours. It was still a great day, but snow was moving in from the south. That would turn out to be the biggest snowfall this winter.

Pictures from the Mar 4 2006 trip

Note; Only medium-resolution images are available from this trip. I forgot to reset the camera settings after yesterday's hike.

To Frostadtinden

1. The trailhead (224KB) 2. On the forest road (312KB) 3. Leaving the forest road (185KB) 4. Lauparen (120KB) 5. A fine day in Engsetdalen (204KB) 6. Høgsalen in the background (214KB) 7. The long hill (221KB) 8. Signs of a windy place (251KB) 9. Die-hard skiing (254KB) 10. View along the way (896KB) 11. Torill in the long hillside (201KB) 12. Trolltinden appears (230KB) 13. On the final ridge (310KB) 14. The high point ahead (179KB) 15. Torill at Frostadtinden high point (299KB) 16. Back at the 801m cairn (114KB)

Wide-angle panoramas from point 801m (3 parts, partly annotated)

17. Wide-angle panorama from Frostadtinden, 1/3 (708KB) 18. Wide-angle panorama from Frostadtinden, 2/3 (720KB) 19. Wide-angle panorama from Frostadtinden, 3/3 (331KB)

50mm panoramas from point 801m (3 parts, not annotated)

20. 50mm panorama from Frostadtinden, 1/3 (965KB) 21. 50mm panorama from Frostadtinden, 2/3 (801KB) 22. 50mm panorama from Frostadtinden, 3/3 (804KB)

155mm panoramas from point 801m (2 parts, annotated)

23. Zoom panorama from Frostadtinden, 1/2 (858KB) 24. Zoom panorama from Frostadtinden, 2/2 (843KB)

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