Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Gamlemsveten from Søvik

This route is described as route #1 on the Gamlemsveten main page.


Trip report, Jan 22 2006

Preface

This turned out to be one of my toughest hikes ever. The original plan was to ski Frostadtinden (807m) on the Skodje/Vestnes kommune border, but I changed my mind at the Frostadtinden trailhead. It was very windy, it was raining and the visibility at the top would be low. I decided to come back for Frostadtinden on a sunny day, and drove down to Vatne to find another mountain to visit.

It didn't rain (much) in Vatne, and I decided to head for Gamlemsveten. I couldn't remember the height of the mountain, but assumed it was in the 600-700m range. I reached Søvik and researched every single road (except for the right one), trying to find the start of the mountain service road. At last, I had to ask for directions. A simple sign saying "Gamlemsveten" would have been HELPFUL. As a compensation, there were half a dozen signs at the trailhead.

Upwards

I left the skis in the car. It was apparent that there was little snow on the mountain. The hike started out in the traditional manner, where my dachshund "Troll" refused to walk. With him in the backpack, I was on my way to Gamlemsveten 11:10AM. So far, it was an ordinary hike (except for the mountain service road, of course), and although I expected it to be windy on top, I had no clue what I was heading into.

After a while, the road had turned glaciated, and we (Troll was now walking) had to walk alongside the road. I had neither brought the ice-axe, nor the crampons. Who needs those on a road? We met a hiker (with poles) coming down the mountain. We had passed 400m elevation and it was a whole lot more windy, but the wind was not yet unpleasant. The hiker told me it was very windy at the top and that I should make sure the dog didn't blow off the mountain. "Come on!", I thought to myself. If it gets a tick rougher than this, then what's the problem?

I wished him a well on his journey down the mountain and continued upwards. At 500m elevation, walking had now turned into a bother. The road was completely out of the question. There was still ice alongside the road and if I moved too far away from the road, I broke through the hard snow, forcing me to stomp in deep snowholes between rocks. For the dog, the problems were far greater.

Wind at storm's strength

At 600m elevation, the combination of strong winds and ice became very difficult for Troll. He had severe problems advancing. I watched him wander about with his eyes closed, only to slide back down to where I started from. The fur on his left side was now on his back. I had to lift him up and carry him in my arms. I ran into several spots where I had to use a rock to dig holes where I could put my feet. As I advanced up to 700m, I had a nasty drop down to my right. I wasn't directly exposed, but if I fell on this ice - who knows.

The wind we were fighting against, was part of a front that had been hitting on the Norwegian coastline for the last couple of days. In many parts along the coast, and especially in northern Norway, this has been the worst storm in this- and the previous century. I have had difficulties visualising the situation based on the stories I've heard, but now I could conclude that if they were experiencing winds like this (and even stronger) - at sea level - then it's best to stay indoors.

The final 80m up to the summit was pure hell. It was an inferno. The sweeping snow (whirled up from the ground) made visibility zero and blinded me completely. I put the dog's face under my jacket and took a reality check. The top was now only 500m away in distance, and although everything was truly unpleasant, I didn't see any danger in the situation.. If there had been constant sweeping snow, it would have been a different scenario,

The summit, at last

We arrived the summit 12:30PM and I immediately took cover behind the main building. The strong winds had made it difficult to breathe. Based on (some) experience, I guessed the wind speed to be at least 30m/s in the gusts. When a gust sat in, standing upright was very difficult, and I kept falling over and over again. The truly annoying side-effect was that I kept sliding on my butt every time I fell. There was a lot of rocks, all glaciated and didn't help me stop. I didn't stop sliding until I found a place where I could crack through the icy surface with my feet.

Rather blinded, I took a few pictures on the way to the summit. At one time, the wind ripped the lens-cap out of my hand and I watched it fly into the air like a bullet. In shelter behind the main building, I wrapped Troll into a fleeze blanket and put him in the backpack. Then I headed towards the summit cairn. Getting there was extremely difficult. Near-hurricane winds against, and pure ice under my feet. I crawled most of the way to the cairn, and found some shelter behind it.

Heading back down

I didn't look forward to the descent, but by taking the rails next to the road into use, I was able to develop a slide-and-stop method that got me safely down the steepest slopes. Back at 400m elevation, it was like coming into a whole new world. Troll was let out of the backpack and it didn't seem like the hike had affected him much. He seemed like a happy fellow, running ahead of me, looking back to see if I was following. We were back at the car 13:45PM.

This hike reminded in many ways of the hike Petter and I did on Fusafjellet back in December 2004. The wind-speed felt roughly the same, but at least we had snow to walk on.

Pictures from the Jan 22 2006 hike

Frostadtinden trailhead, earlier in the day

1. Frostadtinden trailhead. Considering the weather (369KB) 2. Frostadtinden trailhead. Not this time (369KB)

Towards Gamlemsveten

3. Gamlemsveten above Søvik (134KB) 4. The trailhead (278KB) 5. Tverrbotshornet (169KB) 6. Tverrbotshornet (507KB) 7. Icy road (382KB) 8. View from the road to Gamlemsveten (1031KB) 9. A brave hiker (163KB) 10. Troll on the way to Gamlemsveten (302KB) 11. The wind pushes Troll backwards (164KB) 12. Falling is a no-no (159KB) 13. The last - and worst - part of the hike (248KB) 14. A chilly day in the mountains (322KB)

Summit views and descent

15. East view from Gamlemsveten (905KB) 16. The summit cairn (301KB) 17. A glaciated viewpoint cairn (152KB) 18. Northwestern Haram islands (348KB) 19. Ålesund views from Gamlemsveten (226KB) 20. Hurlaveten (334KB) 21. Inferno (284KB) 22. Back in the lowlands (139KB)

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