Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Liadalsnipa (924m) - traverse, Apr 30 2011
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The route
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My good friend Petter Bjørstad was on a weekend visit, and I wanted to offer him a special treat - the Liadalsnipa traverse. Petter had no knowledge of this mountain, but had good faith in my recommendation. Anne was also visiting, so we were a group of three that headed out from Liadal on this last day of April.
A bit early in the season - according to the man at at the Halse farm. There was still snow on the normal route, and we knew that the snow would be rotten and dangerous. The farmer suggested that we climbed the east ridge and returned the same way. This sounded like a good plan, although I think that all three of us really wanted to do the full round trip route.
On the way to Liadalsnipa
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Approaching Nakkevatnet, we ran into snow that we couldn't (easily) avoid. Petter had borrowed Anne's snowshoes for an upcoming project in Alaska, and this trip was a good opportunity to become familiar with them. The snow was still fairly hard and gave us no griefs. This was particularly good for me - as I had forgotten my hiking boots back home (totally unforgivable) and was now wearing Petter's shoes - slightly more suited for the mountains than my leisure shoes...
Passing Nakkevatnet
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We hiked up to the top of Blåfjellet, where we put our harnesses on - preparing for the climb of Liadalsnipa's east ridge. This ridge gives me "the creeps" every time. I have just one word - respect!
Sizing up the east ridge
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Before we could climb the east ridge, we had to get down to the gap between Blåfjellet and Liadalsnipa. This descent involves some scrambling and a short rappel. Apparently, there is an alternative route where a rappel isn't necessary, but I haven't tried this route yet.
The initial scramble was all about getting "warm", and we all faced various "struggles" on various points of the scrambling route. I had big issues with my first "move", but once that one was sorted out, the rest went like a charm.
Scrambling on Blåfjellet
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We got to the rappel point where we took a closer look at the east ridge. My big worry was that we didn't see the fixed chain on the route's definite crux. My plan had been that we should climb the east ridge without using a rope, but this required that the chain was in place. Without it, we would have to climb with a rope and belays. Then I got an idea - I took a picture of the crux and zoomed in on the picture. Thanks to the 18 megapixels, we could see that the chain was indeed there. Good!
Petter set up the belay for the rappel, and we chose to rappel down the climbing route (opposed to rappel straight into the gap). This would come in handy if we had to return this way. I had climbed up here once before, but didn't remember the handholds. I went first, Petter followed and Anne came (literally) jumping down last. We were now in the gap and any escape from this spot involved climbing...
Anne, rappeling into the gap
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After a short pause, we started climbing the ridge. The first couple of pitches went fine, but when we got to the cliff with the chain, we agreed to set up a belay. I decided to fully trust the chain, climbed up and set up the belay above the cliff (there are excellent anchor points for slings). Petter and Anne followed and the definite crux of the route was now history.
The route crux
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Shortly after, we got to a sharp (and very airy) pitch and we decided to set up a belay here also. We repeated the practice from the previous belay and this pitch took considerably shorter time. Then followed easier scrambling until we reached an airy hurdle close to the summit. This hurdle was easily negotiated upon closer inspection and we could walk up to the summit and celebrate a mighty fine summit and a mighty fine day!
On top of Liadalsnipa
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We arrived on the summit 2:47pm - 4,5 hours after leaving the trailhead. Doing it any faster would have been a crime. Being outdoors was just that nice! Based on their smiles, I was quite confident that my fellow climbers enjoyed this mountain as much as I do.
It seemed clear that all of us still wanted to take a closer look at the normal route, and after a nice break on top we moved on. Once we reached the northeast gully, we ran into snow. Rotten snow! This part of the route is not renowned for its belay points, but we managed to find one that looked fairly good. But it would probably best to not have a situation where we would need to find out exactly how good it was.
I belayed Petter as he carefully descended the steep snow. He walked the whole rope length and then found a second base for belay. Anne followed using a prusik while I went last with the rope attached to me.
Anne, descending the steep gully
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Going last was certainly not risk-free. If I fell early on, I would most likely take a very long fall. Petter had left a snow stake halfway - but I considered this anchor to be for good measure only and pretended that it was not there...
I profoundly hate steep snow, and Anne (knowing this) volunteered to be the last one down. But then I would waste a perfectly good opportunity to work on my fear. To my surprise (and delight), I was perfectly calm and focused as I started working my way down the gully.
The snow was ultra-rotten and on two occasions, the snow just collapsed under my feet. I fell down half a meter (or so) before the axes stopped me. A sensational feeling...
Exposure...
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Joining Petter and Anne, there were good news and bad news. The bad news were that there was still more snow to climb, but the good news was that it was just a matter of 5-10 meters. We repeated the procedure, and we were soon down on the trail. In retrospect, I regret not leaving a sling at the belay points and descend using a prusik on a double rope. There are always lessons to be learned and experiences to be made. The most important thing was that we were all safe and sound and the rest of the descent would be just easy scrambling.
Home free on the normal route
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We returned to the trailhead 7:03pm - approx. 8,5 hours after heading out. The local farmer came out - seemingly glad to see us. Which is not strange. If a group of climbers had parked outside of my house, I would eventually want to see them all off the mountain - safe and sound.
Thanks to Anne and Petter for excellent company on a most excellent trip! Dinner (late as it was) has seldom tasted better. Thank you Anne!
