Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Nonstinden from Bøstølen, Oct 21 2006

To the main Nonstinden/Middagstinden page (maps, route descriptions, etc.)

Petter and Anthony

My good friend Petter Bjørstad (from Bergen) was on family business in Molde, and had found that there was time to stop in the Sunnmøre/Romsdal region (for the 5th time in 2006!) and do a hike or two in the week-end. Arriving Norway on Friday evening, was Anthony Dyer. An English Scotsman (...) living in Aberdeen. He is the co-author of the book Walks and Scrambles in Norway. He was on his way on his 11th trip to the Norwegian mountains, since 1995. In Scotland, he's busy doing the Scottish Munros. For the second time around...

Anthony had planned to cross the Rånahalvøya peninsula, well knowing that it was FAIRLY LATE in the season for this type of hike. But those who never try, never gain anything. I picked Anthony up at the airport on Friday and invited him to stay at my place for a couple of nights. Anthony was very interested in joining Petter and me for a Saturday hike to Nonstinden. Nonstinden was - of course - not a random choice. On Petter's list of FINE Møre og Romsdal mountains, Nonstinden was in 13th place. Petter had of course been to the preceeding 12, as well as 26 of the 50 "finest", prior to this hike.

We left Ålesund early the next morning and picked up Petter in Vestnes, arriving on the ferry from Molde. While waiting for Petter, Anthony finished outstanding IMPORTANT business in Vestnes, which involved getting Norwegian cash and propane gas. Petter arrived 09:40AM, and we were on our way towards Innfjorden and Nonstinden.

To Nonstinden

The weather wasn't bad at all. The sky was grey, but it didn't rain, as we had expected. At Innfjorden, we took the road to Bøstølen, and had an enjoyable drive up this nice valley. We drove to road end, parked and were ready to go 11:00AM. We had brought along equipment for a winter hike, but it was apparent that almost all of the snow had melted on Nonstinden. As such, I could enjoy a very light backpack. My dog "Troll" would be enjoying a "comfy" day along with the neighbour and his dog. I really looked forward to getting up to Nonstinden. It would be a very easy hike, but I had a qualified "hunch" about the views we would get from up there. I'm not sure if Anthony had put rocks in his backpack, but it was quite heavy. At least for the Nonstinden trip. He hadn't been hiking in a couple of months, and perhaps he just needed to get into "the hiking rhythm".

As we headed upwards, the clouds opened up and we were now enjoying a blue sky above. What a tremendous bonus! To me, it was also a kind of a "celebration". It was, on the day, 1 year since I visited Ålesund for my job interview.. The job interview went well, and I was an Ålesund citizien roughly two months later. Nonstinden would be (approx.) the 140th hill/mountain (all different) in the following 10 months.

We took GOOD time upwards, chatting and just enjoying the day. We reached the top of Nonstinden 13:41PM. The upper part of the mountain had a thin layer of snow, and the rocks were a bit slippery. Anthony was very impressed with the views and agreed that this was worth any sort of effort. I was also impressed, even if I'm rather blessed with fine views all year around. The light, the autumn colors, shadows, the blue sky, the white summit. All factors contributing to a beautiful panorama.

Descent

We spent half and hour, or so, on the summit before we headed back down. I challenged Petter to stand up on a very exposed (a fall would be extremely inconvenient) rock along the ridge. I had done it on the way up, carefully, and found that I'm not as dizzy as I used to be. Still a bit dizzy, though. I'm not THERE just yet. Petter took the challenge and ascended the rock in a bolder way, while Anthony passed on this opportunity. Having climbed Stetind in 2005, Anthony has no reason to "feel bad" for his decision.

We were back at the trailhead 16:30PM, and back in Ålesund 1,5 hours later. Thanks to Petter for being the Chef for the evening, serving a tasty dinner. The beers were excellent too. The next day, we would drop Anthony off in Sykkylven, getting on with his Rånahalvøya hike, while Petter and I would go .. somewhere .. which ended up being Roaldshornet.

Anthony's trip report is found here, and Petter's trip report is found here.