Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Vanylven
Veten on foot, Jan 10 2009
To the main Veten page (maps, route descriptions, other trip reports, etc.)
Åsmund was spending the weekend at Folkestad, and asked me if I was interested in a trip to the local mountains. I was, but time only allowed for a short walk. I suggested Storetuva (826m), but on the way to Volda, I settled for Veten. It was quite windy outside. The weather forecast said there would be a strong gale on Sunnmøre.
I met Åsmund at Folkestad and we drove up to Løndalen - our trailhead for the day. Åsmund is quite an expert on the Volda mountains (and not only the Volda mountains..), and I was happy to be "guided" for a change. We had settled for a hike. There was still a lot of snow in the forest, but after days of rain, skiing conditions weren't good. Along came his dog Ronja. She has become adult now, and isn't the bunch of fire crackers that she used to be. Having said that.. she's not exactly a sea of tranquility either.
Must...kill...snow...
(Click for larger image)
We took turns in breaking trail up the forest. It was less windy than I had feared. Perhaps this mountain was sheltered, or we had picked the best time of the day. Later in the afternoon, I visited Gardneshornet (454m) on Hareidlandet, and there was a gale blowing right from the trailhead at sea level. There was a strong gale on top, and I really struggled to maintain balance (and progress). On two occasions, I had to get down to avoid gusts blowing me off the cliff I was on.
Veten was much more friendly. We arrived on the summit 50 minutes after leaving the car. This was not only a new top to me, it was also the first time I'd been to Folkestad - or any other point north of Trollvasstinden.
A Veten moment
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We agreed to descend on a different route, and headed for Kvidalen. There was a lot of snow in this valley, which was a bit surprising, as the valley is south facing. Åsmund had brought a mini-ski, but I'm not sure if this was the optimal way to descend on deep, soft snow. Albeit bad for the trousers, glissading was much more fun..
We were back at the car 12:10pm, and I was in good shape for the 12:30pm ferry. The ferry takes 10-15 minutes, and my house is only 20 minutes away from Volda. In other words, expect more pictures from this particular peninsula in the time to come..
Deep snow adventure
(Click for larger image)
