Norwegian Mountains, Sogn og Fjordane
Asbjørnnosi (1610m) on skis, Apr 9 2011
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Asbjørnnosi
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Ever since I started commuting to Sogndal, Asbjørnnosi has been very visible on my radar screen. It was one of the mountains that really caught my attention, and the question was only how soon could I get there? The answer was - close to one year after the epic ski-trip to Hest and Grøndalseggi.
The weather was not the best when Anne and me arrived at the Leirdalen trailhead, but it was good enough to warrant a go. The road on the south side of the river was closed, so we had to start 1km further down in the valley. Three skiers from Oslo were obviously under the impression that their Audi coped with any kind of snow conditions, but as the local farmer and his tractor left (after rescuing them), they were perhaps slightly more humble?
Anne and me headed out at noon, and we had a big mountain ahead of us. The other skiers were aiming for Hest and planned an ascent up the east ridge.
On the way to Asbjørnnosi
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Knowing the lower part of the mountain rather well, the first part of the hike was a plod. It was however time to wake up when we passed the 1160m contour near Gråmerri. All of a sudden, we found ourselves in terrain that appeared as very steep, given the flat light. And we just wanted to get the h... away from there.
Once we reached the valley between Grøndalseggi and Asbjørnnosi, we could relax and focus on the route ahead.
En route to Asbjørnnosi
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Due to the steep north face, the route presented itself. It was just a matter of going west until we found a place to gain the summit ridge. From this point, the remaining 700 meters up to the summit were easy. We didn't see much, but that was OK. I had a pretty good idea about the 360 degree panorama from the summit...
Anne, on the summit ridge
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We reached the summit 3:28pm, close to 3,5 hours after heading out. We could see the other skiers arrive on top of Grøndalseggi. Their plan to do Hest was seemingly cancelled. They looked like ants, 200 meters below us and 1,8km away.
After a short break on top, it was time to get back down. We were fully occupied trying to follow our own tracks down the mountain, which significantly impacted our ability to have fun while skiing. But getting back in one piece is always mountain rule #1...
Better turn in due time...
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We found a better route across Gråmerri and avoided avalanche danger altogether. Once we were on the direct route towards the trailhead, visibility improved slightly and we could enjoy skiing for the first time on this trip....
Anne, having big fun
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We returned to the trailhead 4:54pm - almost 5 hours after heading out. The 3 other skiers had just arrived and told us that they gave up Hest because of a splitboard and its ability to do traverses. In any case, they had a nice descent from Grøndalseggi and the tally of happy skiers in Leirdalen today counted 5.
