Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Laupsnipa (558m) on skis, Feb 7 2010


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Laupsnipa

Laupsnipa
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I've been to Laupsnipa a number of times, in all seasons, in good weather, in bad weather, on foot and on snow shoes and it's a mountain I claim to know quite well. But until this Sunday, I had never been there on skis.

The weather was not the best, neither was the snow nor the light, but it was still a good day to do Laupsnipa. The day before, Anne Rudsengen and I had a brilliant trip to Høgenipa in Volda/Vanylven, until I had to visit the local emergency ward with a really bad eye infection. Thus, Sunday's activity would have to be somewhat "limited" and with only 550+ vertical meters, Laupsnipa was a perfect trip.

 

On the way to Laupsnipa

On the way to Laupsnipa
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We followed the forest road up from Voldnes for a little while, then we decided to head directly over to the east ridge. It seemed that it would be possible to ski the ridge all the way down to the trailhead, so we wanted to get to know the terrain a little better. We certainly did not pick the easiest route, something which Anne found very fun.

Laupsnipa is clearly one of my favourite mountains in this region, and there's just something very cool about the east ridge route. I had been wanting to ski here ever since my first hike to Laupsnipa in October 2006. And now the time had come. Unless something happened along the way...

 

Oooopss!

Oooopss!
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We arrived at the Laupsnipa cairn safe and sound, and from the visitor's register, we could see that two other skiers had been up here earlier in the day. So people do ski to Laupsnipa, but from a different trailhead (Jøsok, I think) and along a different route (via Voldnesvatnet). We then moved over to a point which is a few meters higher than the cairn point and had a fine view towards the south side of Gurskøya, Rovdefjorden and Vanylven mountains.

 

On Laupsnipa

On Laupsnipa
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The time had come for the most enjoyable part of the trip - the descent (of course). Because of rocks, we couldn't stick to the ridge all the way, and at approx. 400m, we found a good route between Voldneselva and the east ridge. The snow got better the further down we got, and the most fun part was alongside the forest above Voldnes. The pace was fast, the route absolutely not obvious and decisions had to be made fast. In other words; fun, fun, fun.

 

Anne in fine style

Anne in fine style
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It was only proper that we skied all the way down to the fjord, and who knows - perhaps this was the first east ridge ski descent from the summit to the fjord?

 

As far as it gets

As far as it gets
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Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6

 
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To Laupsnipa

0. Trip tracks 1. Laupsnipa ahead 2. On the forest road 3. On the east ridge, off-trail 4. Anne likes the route 5. Hmm.. the edge is close 6. The ridge route 7. Hareidlandet and Ulsteinvik 8. A nice, cloudy sky 9. Good news or bad news? 10. Somewhere on the east ridge 11. Small skier. Big landscape. 12. This is not Indre Sogn, but it seems it will do.. 13. Oooppss! 14. Back on track, yihaa!! 15. Summit comes into view 16. Fjord view

On Laupsnipa

17. On Laupsnipa 18. Saursegga above Gursken fjord 19. Drageskaret somewhere in the distance 20. Sollia - highest on Gurskøy 21. Anne on Laupsnipa 22. Loke on Laupsnipa 23. Loke got chocolate 24. To the high point 25. Fjord view

Descent

26. Descending Laupsnipa 27. Descending Laupsnipa 28. A feeling of depth 29. This is sooo cool 30. Going where the snow is 31. The lower part 32. Routefinding 33. Stand back! 34. How do I stop this thing? 35. Exit strategy? 36. The beach. The beach!! 37. Is it really over?

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