Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Hildrehesten on skis, Feb 12 2006

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Trip report, Feb 12 2006

I had a couple of aching blisters from yesterday's wonderful ski-trip to Sprovstinden, and decided to go for a shorter trip this Sunday. It was overall cloudy except for a few pockets of sunshine. I expected it to be windy and cold on the tops. I had wanted to do Hildrehesten for a long time (more precisely - about a month's time..), and when I took a look at the mountain from my window this morning, I decided to make the trip. The elevation was modest, and I would only be exposed to cold winds for a short period of time.

I found the trailhead using my GPS, and discussed with myself whether I should ski or not. An elder man passing, told me that a hiker was on the way to the mountain. On foot. I chose to ski, as I imagined there would be sufficient snow for skiing, most of the way. I left the trailhead 10:25AM.

Skiing up the forest road was OK, but the guy on foot didn't seem to have too much of a struggle, either. On top of the hill, I turned right when I saw the "Hesten" sign. The tracks from the hiker continued further on the road. Skiing across the lower Vidfjellet was interesting. My skis ran into grass and roots below the snow, and every so often, I had an unexpected halt with a subsequent MMPPFF in stereo. The second "channel" was my dog "Troll", seeing the world from his slot in the backpack.

As the mountain came into view, I had two choices. Either approach the steepest part, or head towards the south flank - which had a disturbing amount of naked boulder. I decided to head towards the flank, and simply park the skis when I could ski no further. I also noticed the hiker, who was on his way towards the steepest part of the south side of the mountain.

I reached the boulderfield and was able to ascend some, before things got really "hairy". I continued to climb the boulder field with skis on, until there was no more snow. I regret not taking pictures of my tracks. I took the skis off, and attempted the final vertical meters, carrying the skis. This did not work. The rocks were glaciated, and nasty holes were covered by snow. I had to mount the skis on the backpack, and strange breathing sounds (or lack of..) came from the dog, given the added pressure.

This was seriously dangerous territory, and I instructed myself to ONLY focus on the boulder, one step at a time. Eventually, I fell for the temptation to see how far I had come, and I fell. The fall was stopped by one of the poles, which got jammed in a crack. It's amazing how much a pole can take! My leg was in a twisted position, and might have been injured if I hadn't been wearing my T4's. The dog was unhappy. I was unhappy. And there was still plenty of boulder above me.

We reached the summit 12:20PM, and no tracks from the hiker could be seen. I couldn't imagine that I had passed him, given my time-consuming ascent of the boulderfield. As expected, it was cold and windy at the top. I found a shelter for the dog while I took pictures. There was no reason to linger up here, and I turned back around rather quickly.

On the way back, I noticed the tracks from the hiker. He had turned around at the viewpoint cairn (which I had passed). I decided to follow his tracks downwards. The descent route was far easier than the ascent route, although descending also called for caution. Once down the steepest hill, I put the skis back on and skied (very carefully) downwards. Back on the forest road, I let Troll out of the backpack and took the skis off. We were back at the car 13:20PM.

Pictures from the Feb 12 2006 hike

To "Hesten"

1. Øvre Gryta trailhead (169KB) 2. Where I parked (123KB) 3. On the forest road (299KB) 4. Hesten comes into view (155KB) 5. Die-hard skiing (158KB) 6. Aiming for the south flank (188KB) 7. Taking on the evil hill (187KB) 8. Hells Hill (200KB)

50mm Panorama from below the summit plateau (annotated)

9. 50mm Panorama from below the summit plateau (1975KB)

Summit and views

10. Approaching the summit (521KB) 11. Neighbour mountains (720KB) 12. Summit plateau (194KB) 13. Haramsøya seen from Hildrehesten (156KB)

50mm panoramas, 2 parts (vaguely annotated)

14. 50mm Hildrehesten panorama (1/2) (1401KB) 15. 50mm Hildrehesten panorama  (2/2) (1095KB)

Wide-angle panorama (not annotated)

16. Wide-angle Hildrehesten panorama (1103KB)

Descent + return trip

17. Heading down the normal route (352KB) 18. Troll - now walking (248KB) 19. Back at the trailhead (168KB) 20. Sprovstinden, which I skied the day before (92KB) 21. Hildrehesten seen from Breivika (263KB)

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