Norwegian Mountains - Route Descriptions

Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Skårasalen & Storhornet, May 6 2006

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Opposed to normal, this trip had been planned for several days. A warm high pressure was blessing our coastline, and although the it was quite hazy, I still expected good views from this popular skiing mountain. I took the 07:10AM ferry to Festøy and then headed toward Kvistaddalen. I was curious about how far up the valley I could drive. At approx. 410m, the road was blocked by an avalanche. Annoying, as the road was snow-free and dry for yet another 1,5Km.

There was only one car parked when I arrived and two more cars arrived as I headed upwards 08:45AM. I had only a rough idea about the route, and hoped I would see tracks. Just above Kvistadsætra, at approx. 500m, I ran into snow. And tracks.

Skiing upwards was easy, and I found a good rhythm. It didn't take long before I saw two skiers, 300m above me. I passed the first skier high in the gully and the second on the long hill up to the summit. The long hill had very hard snow, and it was barely possible to switchback (opposed to head straight up)

It was a (surprisingly) short ski-trip, and I arrived at the top 10:40AM, 1h:55m after leaving the trailhead. One of the other skiers arrived 20 minutes later, and I had taken the pictures I wanted by then. We chatted for a little while, before I left the summit 11:10AM.

I skied down to an outcrop that gave good views towards the glacier below Skårasalen, and passed the other skier on the way. I descended to the Storhornet - Skårasalen col on (still) hard snow, but this was the best part of the entire ski-trip (except for the summit views).

I took a look down to the valley that was a popular descent route, and although tempting, it would have been a time consuming route, as a ferry is needed to get back to civilisation. And I had no clue when or if this ferry would arrive. I headed up to the highest point on Storhornet, which I arrived 11:40AM. I spent 20 minutes at this top, which provided interesting views that I didn't get from Skårasalen.

I had been thinking about lunch, but wasn't hungry. I wasn't thirsty either, having had only two zips of water. I emptied 1,9 litres of water while looking at the other items in the backpack that never came to any use; ice-axe, crampons, wind-jacket, fleeze hat, fleeze neck, gloves, ski-repair kit, medical bag, extra sweater. Besides what I was wearing, only the camera, the objectives and the GPS came to use. The backpack contained the same things I carried to Kolåstinden the week before, and most of it came to good use. One can never tell..

I skied back to the col, and the descent was everything but fast. I once bought skis that was meant to work without vax. In the beginning I felt this was a hoax, but they do work well on spring snow. I removed the skins when I left Skårasalen, and had an easy ascent to Storhornet. Unfortunately, these skis don't give you much speed downhill, so I had to descend Storhornet using my poles to avoid halting completely.

The snow was already soft on the way down from Storhornet, and was even softer in the gully. At the bottom of the gully, I ran into approx. 20 people that were on a ski-trip organised by Ålesund Skiklubb. I had a pleasant chat with a few in the group. They would be descending via Skår and return to Sæbø via the ferry. They seemed surprised to see a skier on the way down so soon, and I had to confirm that I had been to the top (two tops, actually).

The snow between the gully and the forest was just awful. The poles went straight through the snow and got tangled up in rocks below. Skiing down the forest was easier, and my short skis came to good use. Back on the road, I met a family who wondered if they could reach the top on foot. I gave them a firm NO.

I was back at the car 12:45PM, and noticed that the first skiers were still on the mountain. Good for them. It was a gorgeous day. There was still plenty of time to visit another mountain, but I had promised to help the neighbour with some labor work in the afternoon. I was indeed lucky with the ferry. Arriving Festøya, there were no cars in front of me, and I could see a ferry on the middle of the fjord. Then a brutal horn sounded, and I noticed there was a ferry at the port, seemingly only waiting to get me onboard. 14:20PM, I was back in Ålesund.