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Melshornet (Flour horn) is perhaps the most characteristic and popular mountain on the Hareidlandet island. Routes run both from Hareid and Ulset, and the Ulset route is the one described on this page. It wrong to say that the mountain is ideal for skiing. True, the the upper side can offer a good run, but the lower forest doesn't provide optimal skiing conditions. This is at least true for the Ulset route, which is the only route I've done.
The mountain is the third highest on Hareidlandet, preceeded in elevation by Blåtind (697m) and Kongsvollen (683m). Its primary factor is however the second highest, preceeded to Blåtind which is the island high point. Melshornet is the second highest mountain in Hareid kommune, preceeded by Kongsvollen (Blåtind is located within Ulstein kommune).
Melshornet is also a tremendous viewpoint and was (as such) a part of the coastal defense system in the earlier ages. The summit beacon was torched during "Jonsok" (mid-summer day) in 1880. The beacon was then rebuilt and became a pointy cairn, like it used to be. During the occupation in WW2, the Germans added volume to this cairn, to dismay among the local people.
Melshornet (M711: 668m, Ø.K.: Highest contour is 665m, UTM 32 V 345960 6916521) has a primary factor of 560m towards the higher parent mountain Kongsvollen (683m). The defining saddle (approx. UTM 32 V 344870 6913602) is found down by Ulset. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), the saddle is within the range 105m-110m, interpolated to 108m.
My GPS reported 670m on the summit (averaged over at least 5 minutes) which is within reasonable range, compared to the map elevation.
Notes: Class ratings are in reference to YDS. Click here for more information.
The trails described below are not necessarily the *easiest* trails to this mountain.
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Ulset - Melshornet (winter)
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Access
From Ålesund, follow highway E39 towards Bergen, and then RV61 towards Hareid. Take the Sulesund - Hareid ferry and follow RV61 (roughly) 3Km in the direction of Ulsteinvik. Turn left at the "Røyset" junction. After 1Km on the road to Røyset, stay right in a Y-fork. Roughly 4Km later, you meet an intersecting road. Turn left and drive to the top of the hill, approx. 700m. There is no public parking, but you can probably use one of the turnouts alongside the road.
The route
You need to find the beginning of the forest road (approx. 32 V 344893 6913882). Follow this road to its end at approx. 230m elevation. Next, you need to find a good route up the short and fairly open forest. Once out of the forest, the rest of the route is obvious and trivial. If the snow conditons are good, you can look forward to a great descent on skis.
The summit is marked by a large cairn. On the side of the cairn you will find a box that may contain the visitor's register.
I was working in Ulsteinvik this Friday, and decided to visit Melshornet on the way home. The weather was gorgeous, but this trip didn't quite turn out the way I planned. I stopped by a house to ask where people went if they wanted to ski the mountain. I was given advice and directions, and was on my way to the car. I raised my hand to signal "thanks for the info, have a nice day" and in the next second I was airborn in a horisontal position. I had stepped on ice, taken a rotation but landed in a way that would impress a cat.
A nasty feeling came creeping right away. I had helt the car keys (and also the keys to the house) in my waving hand as I was falling. The keys were nowhere to be seen. A 10 minute search came up empty. There was 50cm of fresh snow and the keys must have sunk in deep, not leaving a trace. I had no clue in which direction they went, and decided to give up the search.
The really weird thing was that my spare car keys had been stored in a box (back home) for 10 years. The day before, I was tidying, and figured that the keys should be stored in a more practical place. So I put them in my portable PC bag. I added the house keys also, and since I was on my home from work, the spare keys were inside the car. I had mixed emotions; annoyed and relieved. Mostly relieved now that I didn't have to take the long way home to Ålesund without a car.
When I finally found a place to park, I managed to step on the backpack, destroying one of the "belt" clips. Very impractical since this "belt" is vital for moving the weight of the backpack (which normally includes a dog) from my shoulders to my hips. The time was 16:10PM and it was time to get moving. I put my dog "Troll" in the backpack and made a very bad decision about leaving the wind-jacket in the car. It was a gorgeous day and a fairly low mountain. I would be up and back down "before tea". That was the plan, anyway.
I found excellent tracks up the forest road, but they ended along with the forest road. They turned aound HERE?, I remember thinking. I met a guy who had traversed the mountain (coming from Hareid) and followed his tracks up the forest. I'm not sure how useful the tracks where, but after a cumbersome forest struggle in deep snow, I finally reached the open space on Melshornet's south ridge.
On the ridge, I was exposed to a insanely cold wind and regretted the wind-jacket decision. It was so cold that I strongly considered turning around, but things got slightly better when I sought towards the western side of the ridge. I reached the top 17:40PM and it was a very cold place. The wind whirled up the snow and it was difficult to see clearly. I put the dog in shelter behind the cairn while taking a very fast round of pictures. I did not bother about the visitor's register. I wanted to get off this mountain as fast as possible.
After skiing down the ridge, it was good to be back in lower elevations. I could barely feel my fingers at the summit, and I reminded myself (again) how stupid it is to swap gloves on mountains exposed to the wind. We were back at the car 18:20PM and I made a mental note about going back in late spring, looking for my keys.
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