Norwegian Mountains - Route Descriptions - Auskjeret by Øverøye/Overøye in Stordal

Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Auskjeret on skis, Apr 9 2007

For Information, maps, trailhead and route descriptions, click HERE.

I took a brief look at the weather forecast for the last day of Easter, and the forecast promised snowfall above 500m. Perhaps I should have paid more attention, because I woke up to sunshine from a blue sky. I didn't have a mountain plan, and no one to baby-sit the dog. And this morning, I really didn't feel like carrying him up yet another mountain. I ended up with a hit-and-run trip to Auskjeret, and hopefully be back before dog would start to miss me.

Ascent

I left home (censored)AM and was all ready to go from Øverøye (I follow the map name) 09:10AM. Heading up the prepared slopes was very convenient, and WHAT a brilliant morning! I passed the top of the ski-lift 09:40AM, which meant I had done 400 vertical meters in 30 minutes. Good, according to plan.

I noticed tracks leading up the mountain, and I uttered "BONUS!" A notable amount of snow had fallen during the last days, and skiing uphill in deep powder is always a strenuous task. The tracks were from feet, not skis, but still they prevented me from sinking too far down. Unfortunately, they followed a very steep route, which I wasn't quite able to follow.

Once the terrain leveled out, I followed these tracks up to 1060m, where they ended. Someone had walked on foot up to here and skied down in a different direction. Question mark. Ahead of me was a HARD leg up to the summit ridge where the snow was less deep. I reached the Auskjeret cairn (at least the only cairn I could see) 10:50AM. That was 950 vertical meters in 1h:45m, and from my own standards - not very impressive. But the powder would slow anyone down, and I assumed that the dog would still be sleeping.

Descent

I didn't want to explore the summit area because of the cornice danger, and had to take the eastbound pictures further down the mountain. I left the summit 11:05PM, and above the top of the lift, I ran into two skiers. One of them had left the footprints the day before, and explanation was that he lost his skins and gave up on the summit. Today, they would descend into Jasvollbotnen - or thereabouts. I wasn't aware that one could ski down into the valley, but perhaps they followed the south ridge for a while.

My skis (160cm) were far to short to give me any skiing sensation on the way down. I was able to do 5-6 good turns before the skis dove like a submarine, sending me face down in the sea of powder. If I had brought along the dog, I might have not found him if he fell out of the backpack...

Back down in the slalom slopes, I realised I was not equipped for this type of skiing either, but one always somehow manages. 11:33AM, I was back at the trailhead, and 5 minutes later I was on my way back home. The parking area was now quite full, and the valley were full of cars heading towards Øverøye. Back home, the entire trip had taken approx. 4,5 hours, and was an excellent START of the day. The dog was well awake, and very happy to see me. I took him directly up to Sukkertoppen, where we had a fine walk on a fine afternoon. Out in the ocean, I could see what the weather forecast had promised, and later in the evening, there were no traces left of this morning's gorgeous weather.