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My friend Petter from Bergen was back in Ålesund, "chasing down" mountains on his "Major mountains of Møre and Romsdal" list. Due to a rather miserable weather forecast, we chose to stay below 1000m elevation, and picked Sandvikshornet as the target for this Saturday.
We agreed to follow the route I did back in July 2006, which, a) was the shortest route to the top, b) would work well for skiing and c) provide shelter from the strong wind. It was raining when we left the Løset trailhead 10:35AM, but it didn't last long.
The forest ascent was quite nice. We deviated from the summer path, and chose a steeper route leading up to a gap on the forest ridge. As we were out of the forest, it began to snow, but we were still in shelter from the southwestern winds.
At 600m, the wind got stronger, and at approx. 700m elevation, we made the final technical adjustments for the wind "inferno" that was awaiting. Petter continued on foot, while I decided to ski all the way to the top. But in the middle of the steepest hill, my skins fell off, and I had to find a place to store away the skis.
On my way upwards, I got the strangest stommach pain, which sent me straight down on my knees. My first thought was the appendix!. My second thought was not here!!. I rolled over on my back, trying to figure out what to do. I was not able to make contact with Petter, who was way ahead of me. I wanted to head back down, as quick and as far as possible, in case this was serious. But that would make things complicated for him. Where had I gone? Was I blown off the mountain? No, I had to tell him, and then get the hell out of there.
The strongest gusts were probably between 25-30 m/s, and progress was slow. I was very comfortable, in terms of clothing, but the stommach pain persisted. I reached the summit cairn 11:30PM, told Petter that I was turning around, but after a few meters, I had to lay down to relieve the pain. I was very nervous about this being something nasty.
Back at the skis, where the pain started, the pain began to fade away. Back at the foothills, I was almost back to normal state, and I wondered what the hell happened up there. Back in the forest, a mix of snow and hail came pouring down, and there was thunder above. I was very happy about being on the way down, rather than up. We were back at the trailhead approx. 12:20PM, in very good shape for the 13:00PM ferry. The sea was a bit rugged, and waves slammed in from the sea, giving the car a good wash of saltwater. Back in Ålesund, the weather had improved notable. Blue sky was perhaps a sign of that the storm had passed?
For nice pictures, see the Sandvikshornet/Søvikhornet trip report from July 2006
Ascent
No summit pics because of "bad shape"
Descent
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