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After a grey day on Jolgrøhornet the day before, Petter and I was paid in full, weatherwise, on Ørskogfjellet this beautiful Sunday in mid-February. Trolltinden was my choice for the day, as Trolltinden and Blåskjerdingen dominates the horizon view from my house in Ålesund. The mountain simply had to be visited, and soon wasn't soon enough.
Petter was early on planning to make the most of the day and suggested ascent of Sandfjellet, in addition to Trolltinden. I agreed, and looked forward to a nice roundtrip. We did some research on Sandfjellet up front, but came up with uncertain results. In any circumstance, it seemed unwise to base our ascent on Trolltinden by ascending Sandfjellet first. And so we decided to ski from Bakkesætra.
We left the trailhead 09:15AM. Trolltinden summit was hidden in clouds, but it seemed evident that the sun would burn off this fog in no time. Skiing to Bakkesætra was slightly cumbersome, and included fence and creek crossings. After Bakkesætra, the terrain opened up, but there was a whole lot of birch forest ahead of us.
Petter was (without any request) kind enough to break trail. With my dog "Troll" (8Kg) in the backpack, Petter probably figured that progress would be better if he led on. After crossing Kvernelva, we made our way through the birch forest below Sandfjellet. "Delight" was the word when we were out of the forest and could focus on the mountain. There was slightly difficult skiing conditions as we approached the saddle. The new snow didn't sit firmly on the hard snow below, and to avoid sliding down into the "bowl", we had to find a good route.
We did, and once in the saddle we agreed to leave the skis here. The ridge up to Trolltinden didn't have much snow, and the snow that was present, would be hard/icy. The ridge up to Sandfjellet didn't look inviting. Petter - the explorer - indicated a gully ascent up from the left, but me - the pessimist - rejected any suggestion about attempting this ridge. Without a dog, with a "deadman" (snow anchor) and a rope - yes. With a dog and skis - no.
We headed up the Trolltinden ridge and Troll was now walking. Of course "Troll" would have to reach "Trolltinden" on foot. In the steepest hill, Troll seemed to suffer from vertigo and seemed nervous when he didn't get a good grip on the snow. I walked beside him, keeping a steady and comforting hand on his back. As we approached the top, I put him back into the backpack as I knew the summit was a limited spot. We arrived the summit 12:20PM, and it was a wonderful place to be at. The weather and the views were simply brilliant. A cold breeze spoiled the perfect moment, and we didn't stay longer than it took to take pictures. On the way down to the saddle, the cold breeze disappeared, and we took a long break, enjoying the day and the views.
Petter did his best to not make me feel guilty about not attempting Sandfjellet, and we decided to ski back down. And the skiing was fun, all the way to the birch forest, where skiing got cumbersome. Cumbersome enough to let Troll back out. With our pace down the forest, he would keep up, even in deeper snow. After crossing the creek, Troll disappeared for a brief moment. I'll never forget the covered-with-snow-face that suddenly came out of the snow. He had the "I MADE IT" look in his eyes, and I figured he had enjoyed enough snow for a while. We had an easy descent ahead of us, with opportunity to let the skis flow, and I put him back into the backpack.
We reached the trailhead 14:20PM and it had been a great day on Ørskogfjellet. Back in Ålesund, I invited Petter for a walk up to Sukkertoppen, and 16:00PM, we were standing on Sukkertoppen, looking back towards Trolltinden. It was a very, very good February Sunday.
To Trolltinden
Wide-angle views from Trolltinden, 2 parts, vaguely annotated
50mm panoramas from Trolltinden, 2 parts, annotated
220mm panorama from Trolltinden, 4 parts, annotated
Other summit pictures
Descent
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