Norwegian Mountains, Møre og RomsdalSkåla on skis from Løndalen, Feb 28 2010To the main Skåla page
(maps, pictures, other trip reports)
Approx. 1 year after visiting Snøhornet and Løndalen for the first time, I was back again. This time, to ski Skåla together with Anne. There were probably half a dozen other trailheads we could have picked, but Løndalen is a convenient starting point. We had beautiful weather, and it looked as if we would have a memorable trip ahead of us. 11:42am, we were on our way. The plan was to get up to the Dyna - Skåla saddle, and follow the ridge from there. We followed the toll road for a little while, then turned northeast, crossed Ulvestadelva and the forest road on the north side of the river, before heading into the forest. The lower forest was easy terrain, and so far, everything was just fine.
The next 150 vertical meters up to the saddle was a bit more strenuous. The snow was a bit deep, and it got steeper and steeper. At times, we were a bit concerned about avalanche danger. The risk wasn't massive, but you really don't need a big slide to get into trouble. Once we reached the saddle, the avalanche hazard was no longer present. Instead, we were now facing a mix of very hard snow - and no snow at all. On the most icy section, we decided to carry the skis. At one point, I was worried about a potential fall (we didn't have ice axes or crampons). Anne didn't share my concern at all, and I called for a "time-out". This meant that I would advance up the ridge to make sure that we didn't get stuck in an ice field. After concluding that there was softer snow higher up on the ridge, I returned to Anne, collected my equipment and then we proceeded upwards.
What a view!
The rest of the trip up the mountain was a pure delight. The snow was perfect and we were already looking forward to the descent. It would be a blast! This was winter at its best, and even though the summit was still 1km ahead of us, the hike was already memorable.
We reached the top of Skåla 3:24pm - 3h:42m after heading out (!). I had promised Anne a phenomenal view, and she was not disappointed! Volda, Ørsta, Herøy, Hareid, Ulstein and Vanylven mountains racked, packed and stacked! If you're interested in the Ytre Søre Sunnmøre region, Skåla is the best viewpoint. Bar none!
Finally, it was time for the dessert - the descent. We didn't exactly have Fivlenosi conditions, but we still had good fun. And skiing directly towards the fjord brings that extra dimension. Neither of us were particularly keen on going down the icy ridge, so we agreed to attempt a descent on the south side of the ridge. The concern was that the light in the shadows wasn't all that good, and it was also a bit steep (avalanche hazard). But we found a good route down and returned to the trailhead 4:41pm, safe and sound. I'm not quite done with Løndalen just yet. I still have a traverse of Kjerringa on my to-do list, so stay tuned for further updates from this region...
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The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6
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To the Skåla - Dyna saddle
To Skåla
Wide-angle view from Skåla
Zoom views from Skåla
Misc. pictures from the top
Descent
Pictures from Lauvstad and the ferry
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