Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Sætrenibba & Båsenibba, Nov 8 2008


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Front door view, early morning

Front door view, early morning
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There was only time for a short hike on this Saturday. Under normal circumstances, I would probably have gone hiking in the local region, but if I wanted to reach my goal of (at least) 100 new mountains for 2008 (as I've done every year since 2001), I'd better hurry up. Without this self-inflicted pressure, I would never have ended up on Sætrenibba and Båsenibba on this lovely Saturday. Set goals, folks. Goals are good.

Sætrenibba and Båsenibba are tops in the "easy street" category. The tops are low, and you start off quite high. 11:15am, I left the Ljøsætra trailhead 850m (distance) south of Ljønibbtunnelen, and headed up the old postal road (Den Tronhjemske Postvegen). It wasn't a gorgeous day, but it was a good day. It was a bit windy, but not too windy. I looked very much forward to the hike, as I'd heard that it was a nice one.

Ljøsætra was probably shepards' cabins in the old days. And what makes for a better morning than taking in the views of the beautiful Geirangerfjord? With a summer home like this, I could picture myself as a shepard. Looking after the goats and the sheep. Along with a dog. And perhaps a shepardess. Yup, I think that would have been nice.

[Snap!] I was here for the tops, not daydreams. I left the postal road and headed straight up towards Sætrenibba. This off-trail choice of route led me to a cool, long and huge piece of rock, a very cool rock face (face face..) and a proper cairn that I'm sure most of those who have visited Sætrenibba, have missed.

 

Above Ljøsætra. Not a bad viewpoint

Above Ljøsætra. Not a bad viewpoint
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I reached the top of Sætrenibba 12:15pm, 1 hour after leaving the car. I looked towards Båsenibba, and could not believe my eyes. Based on the map, I had been under the impression that Båsenibba was an utterly boring hump. And here I stood, instantly upgrading it from hump to peak, wondering if this would be scrambling or climbing.

I tried to descend Sætrenibba's north ridge, but without an ice-axe, I headed up again. The terrain was steep, but the steep section wasn't long. It was probably just a matter of moving carefully from ledge to ledge, but without an anchor in the snow, it felt wrong at the time. So I took a detour to the southwest and joined the north ridge further down.

 

Båsenibba

Båsenibba
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Upon closer contact, Båsenibba was quite friendly. The view from Sætrenibba had given me the wrong impression. I occasionally used hands for support, but I wouldn't call it scrambling. Staring 900 vertical meters straight down to the fjord was just terrific. I reached the top of Båsenibba 12:50pm, and enjoyed myself big time. It was very tempting to proceed towards Herdalsnibba, but I really didn't have the time. And besides, there was a good chance that I would be visiting Herdalsnibba with a buddy already the next day (which we did). So, with that in mind, I turned around.

Having descended Båsenibba, I joined the postal road at Nykkjevatnet, and followed the road all the way back down. I was back at the car 2pm, after a 3h:15m hike. The hike still qualified as a short one, but the drive to and fro took almost the same amount of time...

 

Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 300D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6

 
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Front door view, early morning

1. Ellingsøyfjorden, early morning 2. Sunrise 3. Ellingsøyfjorden, early morning

To Sætrenibba

0A. Trip tracks 0B. Route profile 4. Ljøsætra trail head 5. Ljøsætra trail head 6. Along the postal road 7. Spønhaugen 8. A fighter 9. Cliffs above Ljøelva 10. Kvitegga 11. Autumn vs. winter 12. Ljøsætra 13. View from Ljøsætra 14. Båsenibba appears 15. Big rock above Ljøsætra 16. Big rock above Ljøsætra 17. Rock face 18. Approaching a cairn 19. A fine viewpoint 20. Båsenibba 21. Above Ljønibbtunnelen 22. A big wound 23. Exit point

Wide-angle view from Sætrenibba

24. Wide-angle view from Sætrenibba

To Båsenibba

25. Nykkjevatnet 26. Steep side of Sætrenibba 27. Another steep side of Sætrenibba 28. The route up Båsenibba 29. On the way up Båsenibba 30. Passing a cairn on Båsenibba 31. Båsenibba summit

Båsenibba summit views

32. Wide-angle view from Båsenibba 33. 85mm zoom view from Båsenibba

Descent

34. Descending Båsenibba 35. The mountain pass between Ljøbrekka and Herdalsbrekka 36. Sætrenibba 37. View from Nykkjevatnet 38. Windy Kvitegga 39. Me, chilling out 40. A very, very old cabin 41. Off-trail back to the trail head

Towards Ålesund

42. Autumn skiing on Strandafjellet 43. Brunstadhornet

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