Norwegian Mountains

Middagshaugen, 333m
Kallandsfjellet, 329m (Nipekollen)
Stamnesfjellet, 303m

Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/Vaksdal
Maps : 1216-III Stangehelle (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary factor : Middagshaugen: 175m
Primary factor : Kallandsfjellet: 76m
Primary factor : Stamnesfjellet: 55m
Skied : Mar 2005
See also : Vardafjellet
See also : Illebruni
See also : Storenipa
See also : Husafjellet
Kallandsfjellet seen from Kvamsnovi

Kallandsfjellet seen from Kvamsnovi

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Introduction

The Stamnesfjellet/Kallandsfjellet forest plateau is located above Kallestadsundet, where Indre Osterfjord and Veafjorden meet. Stamnesfjellet refer to the place Stamnes and Kallandsfjellet refer to the place Kalland. The third, and highest hill on this plateau is Middagshaugen (Mid-day hill). My impression (I may be wrong), is that most people refer to this forest plateau as Stamnesfjellet. The locals have probably several names for the various hills. As an example, Kallandsfjellet (or Nipekollen as found the 1:25 000 map) was named Raunenipa on earlier maps.

With proper snow, the forest can be skied, and the route description below covers a round trip on skis, visiting all of the points. Of course, the same route can be followed in summer. Due to forest, the truly good views are limited, although some good spots can be found. The highlight of the trip is the insane drop from Middagshaugen down to Kallestadsundet.

Primary factor:

Middagshaugen (M711: 333m, Ø.K: highest contour is 325m) has a primary factor of 175m towards the higher Storenipa (414m). The saddle is found on top of the road in Vikadalen Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk map (5m contours), you cross the 160m contours on the high route, but not 155m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 158m.

Kallandsfjellet (M711: 327m, Ø.K: 329m) has a primary factor of 76m towards the higher Middagshaugen (333m). The saddle is found just S of Lake Stemmetjørni. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk map (5m contours), you cross the 255m contours on the high route, but not 250m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 253m.

Stamnesfjellet (M711: -, Ø.K: 303m) has a primary factor of 55m towards the higher Kallandsfjellet (329m). The saddle is found just E of an unnamed lake S of Kallandsfjellet. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk map (5m contours), you cross the 250m contours on the high route, but not 245m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 248m. Note that on the M711 map, point 300m is not the same as point 303m on Ø.K.

My GPS reported 331m as height on Middagshaugen, 330m on Kallandsfjellet and 303m on Stamnesfjellet. I put less faith in the GPS in a forest area which has higher mountains all around. Earlier maps had 331m as height for Kallandsfjellet.

Trail descriptions:

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.

Vikadalen - all tops round trip (winter on skis)

Difficulty : Class 1
Exposure : None
Comments : Don't expect tracks
Distance : 7,5Km round trip
Time : Approx. 2-3 hours round trip
Starting Elev.: 160m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 400m (total)

Map of the area
Map of the area
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Detailed map
Detailed map
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Access

From Bergen, follow highway E16 towards Oslo and Voss. Pass Dale (approx. 50Km from Bergen), and 2,7Km after Dale, turn left towards Romarheim/Mo. Follow this road for approx. 7,7KM. Turn right towards Hesjedalen. Follow this road for approx. 1,4Km. You've now just drove across the top of Vikadalen. Look for a tall rock next to the road. Park approx. 100-150m before this rock, on a small turn-out on the left-hand side of the road. There is a cabin near this turn-out, but there are no signs of private parking. In any case, this turn-out can hold two cars.

Note that the road up Vikadalen (towards Hesjedalen) is steep, and can be tricky in winter. Bring chains if you expect problems in steep hills.

The route

Stamnesfjellet

Walk along the road until you see a tractor road up to your left, 50m after the tall rock. Follow the tractor road until it ends (very soon). Pick a line to follow in the northwest direction. Above 240m, skiing is easier. It is not easy to explain how to ski directly to point 303m on Stamnesfjellet. It is possibly best to ski towards Todalsrusti (point 300m on the M711 map). From there, you will get a view towards the two humps exceeding 300m a bit to the northwest. Descend northwest to a small valley and then find a place to ascend the ridge with the two humps. Skiing up to point 303m is easy. None of the Stamnesfjellet high points are marked by any form of cairn.

Kallandsfjellet

From point 303m on Stamnesfjellet, head northbound (slightly northwest) towards Kallandsfjellet. Aim for a small valley below the sharp Kallandsfjellet west face. Continue north until the terrain lets you head southbound back towards the summit. Perhaps this looks hopeless from distance, but you can ski all the way to the top! Kallandsfjellet has no summit cairn.

Middagshaugen

Descend your tracks down to the open valley south of the top. Turn west (left) and follow the drain from the unnamed lake just south of Kallandsfjellet. This drain leads you to Lake Stemmetjørni, which you pass on the left-hand side. Find a good route up the forest towards the top of Middagshaugen. There is no summit cairn on top, but you will see red markers in the trees. They mark the summer route from Stamnes.

Return to trailhead

Follow your tracks towards Stamnesfjellet, but you don't have to ski across points 303m and 300m. Pick a direct line which will let you join your tracks as the forest starts to descend to the southeast.

Trip report Mar 22 2005

Just like the day before, I left work a little earlier. We were facing some rainy Easter days, and this afternoon would mark the end of a period with OK weather. As such, I decided to visit Stamnesfjellet, which was on my list of Hordaland mountains. I figured there would be sufficient time for a round trip on skis before sunset, but I had to leave a bit earlier from work.

I called my friend Sverre at Straume, to ask where I should start skiing from. He was of course out skiing, but his wife gave me the necessary information. By 15:45PM, I had parked the car and was on my way up the forest. Troll (the dog) was firmly seated in the backpack. With this high temperature (13 degrees C when I left Bergen), I had no dreams about him being able to walk even one yard in the soft snow. I could have left him in the car, but heck, he's good company even he adds 8-9Kg to the backpack.

There wasn't much snow left in the lower forest. Thanks to some vague tracks, I was probably following the best ski route up the forest. I reached Todalsrusti 16:15PM, and had problems understanding the terrain up there. Trees were effectively blocking the views. After some random skiing, I was able to get on top of point 303m and got a good view towards the other hills in this forest. Kallandsfjellet looked very steep. The best route up Kallandsfjellet was clearly from the east, but a cliffband was in-between myself and the top. I assumed I would have to descend quite a bit towards the east before I could get on the east ridge. I noticed a valley west of Kallandsfjellet and decided to try my luck there.

This small valley offered marginal terrain for skiing, mainly because of lack of snow and the amount of bush, but I was able to ski all the way to the top. The time was now 16:55PM. Troll had been very quiet along the way, and I was wondering if he was sleeping. His head hung low, but I couldn't see his eyes. Nevertheless, he was quite awake when I descended Kallandsfjellet. The OOOMPF's came out when I had unplanned sudden halts, and the MMPPF's indicated that a branch had slapped his face. Back in the open valley below Kallandsfjellet, he went back to silent mode.

The open valley leading to Lake Stemmetjørni was good for skiing, and I found a doable route up to Middagshaugen, which I reached 17:30PM. Finally, I got some good views, especially down to Kallestadsundet. We took a small break up here, and Troll got his lunch-box. The weather was now better than it had been all day, and it was almost too bad that I had to return. I followed my tracks back towards the trailhead (except for a few shortcuts), and skiing was so much easier. By 18:15PM, we were back at the car. A good forest ski-trip had come to its end. At Straume, I stopped by Sverre's house. We had a nice chat over a cup of coffee, and one hour later, it was time to drive back to Bergen.

Pictures from the Mar 22 2005 hike

Move cursor to read notes, and click on the images to see full version.
Some of the thumbnails may have been cropped to fit the format.

1. At the trailhead in Vikadalen (185KB) 2. Not optimal skiing terrain (156KB) 3. Sweet lord (180KB) 4. Troll in the backpack (127KB) 5. Skiing terrain gets better on Stamnesfjellet (122KB) 6. Hesjedalsnovene and Illebruni seen from Stamnesfjellet (181KB) 7. The forest plateau seen from Stamnesfjellet (319KB) 8. On the way to Kallandsfjellet (156KB) 9. On the way to Kallandsfjellet (210KB) 10. On top of Kallandsfjellet (209KB) 11. View from Kallandsfjellet (226KB) 12. View down from Kallandsfjellet (193KB) 13. View from Kallandsfjellet (301KB) 14. Dustingen seen from Kallandsfjellet (204KB) 15. View from Kallandsfjellet (211KB) 16. On the way to Middagshaugen (117KB) 17. Lake Stemmetjorni (92KB) 18. Top of Middagshaugen (244KB) 19. My ski-trip ends here (248KB) 20. Osteroy view from Middagshaugen (207KB) 21. Northwest view from Middagshaugen (215KB) 22. Storenipa seen from Stamnesfjellet (155KB)

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Pictures from other hikes:

1. Bergsdalen mountains (267KB)

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