Norwegian Mountains - Route Descriptions

Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Grytavasstinden from Grytalisætra, Oct 15 2006

For Information, maps, trailhead and route descriptions, click HERE.

Trip report, Oct 15 2006

My colleague Torill and I concluded that since we were both planning to hike this week-end, we could join forces. The task was to find a nice peak (a dog-compatible peak) that none of us had visited before. The choice fell upon Grytavasstinden. This would be the 11th trip with Torill in 2006. She has certainly been an avid hiker, gradually "raising the bar" throughout the year. I was confident that Torill would appreciate Grytavasstinden, even though I knew nothing about the mountain, other than having seen its appearance.

We met on Vaksvikfjellet and drove to the Grytalisætra trailhead. Just a few months earlier, we had hiked Lauparen from here. Thus, we knew the route into Trongbotnen. My dog "Troll" was joining us for the hike. I assumed that he should be walk to and from the base of the mountain, and carrying him the remaining 300-400 vertical meters would be quite easy.

Backpack "nightmare"

We left the trailhead 10:20AM. The parking was nearly full. Lots of hikers were on their way to Lauparen. A very popular mountain, indeed. Approaching the basin below Lauparen and Grytavasstinden, Torill needed to fill the water bottle. I put Troll in the backpack, and moved slowly up the basin. After a while, there were no signs of Torill. The last I saw of her, was that she was going the opposite direction, looking for water. I noticed she took off her backpack, close to some black rocks.
After a while, I had to go looking for her. I hoped she hadn't fallen, and I couldn't imagine any other reason for her "disappearance". I found her close to where we parted. She was looking for her packpack. Seemingly embarrassed. Resolute, I walked over to the black rocks and picked up her backpack. The embarrassment was total. No big deal, as this could happen to me too. Not that I often part with my backpack, but if I did, it *could* happen. Torill could not picture this happening in a million years, and put it into the "lessons learned" category. After all, she broke the first two "classic commandments of mountaineering" :)

“Classic Commandments of Mountaineering

1. Never get separated from your lunch.
2. Never get separated from your sleeping bag.
3. Never get separated from your primal urges.
4. Carefully consider where your primal urges are leading you.
5. Expect to go the wrong way at least some of the time.
6. Recognize that first aid above 26,000 feet consists of getting below 26,000 feet.
7. Never step on the rope.
8. Never bivouac.
9. Remember that Surfer Girl is not in the mountains.
10. Never pass up a chance to pee.
11. Don't eat yellow snow.
12. Have fun and don't forget why you started.

Gerry Roach
Colorado Fourteeners - From Hikes to Climbs”

The "map".

I knew little of Grytavasstinden, and had a "sneaky feeling" that the route wasn't necessarily straightforward. I had no reason to think so, but the feeling was still there. After all, the peak looked quite sharp in our direction. Torill had brought along a magazine article about the mountain. The route description was not what I would call .. comprehensive. A thumbnail map indicated that we should go around the mountain, while the route description only mentioned a descent. We spoke to a hiker along the way to Trongbotnen. She had been up there, and told us that it all would make sense, once we were up there.

Once up there (1200m), nothing seemed logical. The ridge continued to rise above us, and we could see the summit further behind. The ridge was broad, and in a position where I never heard about this magazine, I would have to continued up the ridge. So, without quite knowing why, we started to traverse the mountainside, slightly descending down to 1120-1100m. When we got a clear view up the west side, a number of steep ridges and gullies raised the question - where were we supposed to ascend?. We studied the thumbnail map in greater detail, and concluded that we should complete the traverse along the mountainside.

Marked route & summit

We were now on the southwest ridge, and the mountain looked very sharp and unfriendly from our position. Then we noticed red paint on a rock, and headed upwards. The marked route led us straight to the summit, which we arrived 13:40PM. The summit area was quite big, and a broad ridge continued in the southeast direction. The summit cairn was exceptionally tall, perhaps 4m high. Troll was happy to be let out of the backpack. He had done a good job walking into Trongbotnen, and I carried him from there. The distance isn't exactly overwhelming, but when every rock along the route is roughly the dog's height, it becomes altogether a different thing.

We stuck around the summit for half an hour. We had been worried that drifting fog would attach itself to the top, as it did on Lauparen, but this hike was fortunately fog-free. Upon descent, we took turns (the dog had to be looked after) and visited the fun pointy top on the other side of the col. After traversing the mountainside, we stopped by point 1217m for additional views. If we only had stopped by this point upon ascent, the further route would have been apparent. Descending down to Trongbotnen, I led us down the wrong ridge, in the direction of Lake Svartevatnet. These things happen when one makes small-talk and let go of the concentration. Fortunately, we were able to traverse back to the correct ridge without having to walk back up.

The road back to Grytalisætra is ALWAYS long, but a fine day in the mountains make everything much easier. Troll walked from the Lauparen - Grytavasstinden saddle and all the way back to Grytalisætra, which we arrived 16:53PM. The parking was nearly empty, suggesting that Grytavasstinden is a bit more time-consuming than Lauparen.