Norwegian Mountains

Kringdalsnipa, 1052m
Skansen, 711m

Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/Vaksdal,Voss
Maps : 1216-I Eksingadalen (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary factor : Kringdalsnipa: 117m
Primary factor : Skansen: 101m
Hiked : June 2005
See also : Byvasshovden
See also : Blåvasshorgi
See also : Budalshovden

Kringdalsnipa seen from Blaafjellet

Kringdalsnipa seen from Blåfjellet

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Introduction

These mountains are located in the region that I refer to as south-western Stølsheimen. This region is defined by highway E16 (Bergen-Voss) in the south, Eksingadalen valley in the north, Teigdalen valley in the east, and Indre Osterfjorden in the west.

Kringdalsnipa is a close neighbour to Blåvasshorgi (1133m), the dominating mountain in the SW Stølsheimen area. Due to this dominance, Kringdalsnipa appears quite anonymous. Due to the central location in this region, the number of access routes are several. This web-page describes an approach from Lii above Teigdalen. Refer to the Blåvasshorgi page for access from Rørgo via Taulafjellet.

This is good skiing terrain, and you can also extend your ski-trip up to the string of mountains ranging from Byvasshovden to Saudalsnovi. Since Blåvasshorgi is located next to Kringdalsnipa, Lii would also be a good starting place if Blåvasshorgi is the main goal.

Skansen is an anonymous hill located above the Teigdalen valley, which you may choose to visit on your way up or down Kringdalsnipa.

Primary factor:

Kringdalsnipa (M711: 1052m, Ø.K: -) has a primary factor of 117m towards the higher Blåvasshorgi (1133m). The saddle is found at the SW end of Lake ø Blåvatnet (934m). Ref. the M711 map (20m contours), you cross the 940m contours on the high route, but not 920m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 935m (the saddle has to be higher than the lake)

Skansen (M711: 711m, Ø.K: highest contour is 705m) has a primary factor of 101m towards the higher Blåvasshorgi (1133m) The saddle is found NE of Lake Rodalsvatnet. Ref. the M711 map (20m contours), you cross the 620m contours on the high route, but not 600m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 611m. I would not be surprised if it turns out that the saddle is closer to 620m, which means that Skansen would drop out of my list of independent Hordaland mountains. Until proven, the mountain remains on the list.

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.

(Teiglands)Lii - Kringdalsnipa (spring)

Difficulty : Class 1
Exposure : None
Comments : Easy terrain
Distance : 6Km to the top
Time : Approx. 2,5-3 hours to the top (w/o pause)
Starting Elev.: 300m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 750m

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. From the E16/RV7 junction at Trengereid, follow highway E16 46,3Km to Evanger. Turn left towards Eksingadalen. Follow the road up Teigdalen (follow signs to Eksingadalen) approx. 12,5Km. Turn left onto the road up to Lii (unsignposted). This is 700m after the Brekkhus junction (where you turn to the left). Follow the road to Lii 850m and park when the road makes a sharp turn.

The route

Follow a forest road westbound for a few meters. In the first junction, turn right and after a few meters, you see the forest path on your left. Per June 2005, the forest path was quite visible and marked by sticks here and there. The sticks were probably put there to mark a future tractor road. Follow this path all the way to the Langelandsstølen buildings.

From Langelandsstølen, continue off-trail westbound until you reach the river from Lake Hestevatnet. Follow the river northbound up to (approx.) 690m elevation where you cross the river on a bridge. Continue north along the powerline until you reach a small lake that drains to Lake Høgevasstjørni. Turn left and walk along Kringdalshorga (southwest) until you reach the small cairn on top of Kringdalsnipa. This is good skiing terrain. In spring, do consider carrying the skis if you suspect that there is snow from the bridge and upwards.

Descent via Skansen

Descend your ascent route, or include Skansen on your way back. The route up to Skansen is class 2+ (YDS) and includes fording a river which may be very difficult after periods of rain or heavy snowmelt:

Go back to the bridge, but instead of crossing the river, continue southbound towards Kvanngjelshaugen. You need to cross a smaller river near the bridge, but you should be able to find a good place to cross. Head over Kvanngjelshaugen and descend southeast down to the pass above Lake Rodalsvatnet. The descent is a bit steep, but not exposed.

From the pass, head directly up to Skansen, staying left of the steep cliffs ahead of you. The route is on grass all the way, and it gets a bit steep on top. Don't fall here. The top of Skansen is not marked, and it is difficult to determine which of the two local tops is the highest. According to the map (and my GPS), the northernmost top is the higher.

Descend Skansen's northeast ridge and continue towards the point where the river falls down to Teigdalen. You will see that the river is wide by the meadows, but it gets much more narrow before it falls down to Teigdalen. Providing there is not large amounts of water in motion, you should be able to ford this outlet in a fairly easy manner. Not necessarily without getting wet. Be very aware of the current. If you get swept away, you'll be in the waterfall before you get a chance to react. Continue across the forest hill on the other side and join the path from Lii near Langelandsstølen.

Alternatively, go northwest after descending Skansen (in the direction of Langelandsstølen) and try to find a place to cross above the waterfall which you see above the meadows.

Trip report June 11 2005

What a miserable spring this has been. But according to the weather forecast, the rain would not set in until later in the day. Uplifting news! I decided to attempt Kringdalsnipa. There should be enough time, and if the rain hesitated, I could do Skansen as well. Two more (new) tops was sufficient motivation for taking the long drive to Teigdalen. As I left home, I wondered if Sverre Langhelle wanted to join in. Sverre is about to turn 67, retired and very fit. We had done two ski-trips together earlier in this year (Kvanngrønavene and Saudalsnovi) and besides the good company, I knew that Troll would exceed his normal capacity if Sverre came along.

I managed to get hold of Sverre before he headed out for his daily trip, and I picked him up in Straume. We drove up to Lii above Teigdalen and talked to the local farmer before we headed up the forest 10:50AM. The local farmer had told us about a bridge, which seemed to come in very useful when we saw the wild river after arriving Langelandsstølen 11:20AM.

After crossing the bridge, we had to plan the route according to the snow. I had planned to ascend directly towards Kringdalsnipa through a small valley to our left. Sverre felt we should head up under the powerline, as this slope was almost snow-free. And so we did. When we turned onto the long plateau leading to the top, the snow carried us well. That is, Troll had a tough walk across the plateau. It was warm, and Troll's paws went through the soft crust. As I had anticipated, he seemed determined not to leave Sverre's side and put up quite a fight to manage. Sverre was deeply impressed by Troll's perseverance.

The long plateau was just boring enough to make me wish I had brought along the skis, but on the positive side, the weather seemed to get gradually better. We reached the top 13:30PM and was rewarded with great scenery all around. I had forgotten my food back home. It was only a few (old) bisquites, but these would have tasted good by now. I had also forgotten that Sverre never goes on a trip without bringing a pack full of goodies. I was treated with slices of bread, nuts, chocolate and hot coffee. What a luxury. Troll was torn between begging for chocolate and eating his lunch box. He solved the problem by eating his lunch in record time, and could then focus fully on (quietly) begging for chocolate.

We agreed to follow our tracks down Kringdalsnipa rather than risking deeper and more unstable snow in the valley between Blåvasshorgi and Kringdalsnipa. Troll was lagging more and more behind as the snow gradually got softer. But he managed to make it all the way down to the bridge. I put him in the backpack as we were heading into rougher terrain. Sverre knew all along that I wanted Skansen as well, and we headed over Kvanngjelshaugen in order to make a direct attempt towards Skansen. We chose to slide down some steep snowfields from Kvanngjelshaugen and follow a steep route directly up to Skansen. Well, it was only steep at the top and slightly airy. Nothing difficult, though. We reached the top of Skansen 15:50PM.

I gladly admit I was slightly worried about the river crossing. Sverre did not understand that there could be anything difficult about it. I looked towards the meadows, and guessed that the river had to be at least 50m wide. Above and below were angry waterfalls. I asked him why he didn't anticipate any problems, but he only replied that "the crossing would probably be trivial". I didn't fully buy into this positive attitude, but expected that I could ford the river. It didn't matter much if I got wet. It was a warm day, and the trailhead wasn't far away. I told Sverre that I wanted to attempt to cross just above the point where the river fell into Teigdalen. I expected the river to be narrow there, although the current would surely be strong. Fortunately, the river was split into two branches above the waterfall, and the branch closest to us carried small amounts of water. This meant we could cross half the river without any form of problems. I borrowed Sverre's walking stick and forded the other half. The current was strong, but did not give us any problems. I have a respect for current and rivers, having been swept away by one many years ago. Sverre followed quickly after. While I was soaking wet, Sverre claimed he was dry. I wondered why all the way back down to the trailhead until Sverre said - while changing clothes - "hey, I got wet after all".

We were back at the car 16:50PM, 6 hours after we headed out. Troll had walked down from Langelandsstølen and fell immediately to sleep in the backseat. We drove to Straume and I was invited in for dinner. I felt good, driving back to Bergen. A good hike, good company, good weather and a good dinner. I'm not asking for more.

Pictures from the June 11 2005 hike

To Kringdalsnipa

1. Brekkhus seen from Lii (185KB) 2. Heading up the forest path (276KB) 3. Langelandsstolen (185KB) 4. Langelandsstolen (198KB) 5. Langelandsstolen (190KB) 6. Reaching the river (189KB) 7. Crossing the river (185KB) 8. The Kringdalsnipa plateau (Kringdalshorgi) (204KB) 9. Valley between Kringdalsnipa and Blaavasshorgi (111KB) 10. Sverre and Troll (104KB) 11. Heading up along the powerline (80KB) 12. Troll - not in his favorite terrain (117KB) 13. Sverre enjoyed the day and the mountain (83KB) 14. On the way to Kringdalsnipa (194KB) 15. View towards Solhorgi (206KB) 16. View towards Kvitanosi (302KB) 17. View towards Blaavasshorgi (132KB) 18. Views on the way to Kringdalsnipa (898KB) 19. Views on the way to Kringdalsnipa (327KB) 20. The road to Kringdalsnipa seemed long (79KB) 21. Sverre and Troll go well together (80KB) 22. The summit cairn comes into view (179KB) 23. Troll and Kringdalsnipa summit cairn (135KB)

Life and views on the summit

24. Kringdalsnipa summit views, Part 1 of 2 (615KB) 25. Kringdalsnipa summit views, Part 2 of 2 (844KB) 26. Kringdalsnipa summit views (zoom) (836KB) 27. Blaavasshorgi seen from Kringdalsnipa (223KB) 28. Skrott seen from Kringdalsnipa (270KB) 29. Dustingen seen from Kringdalsnipa (291KB) 30. Storeflaatten seen from Kringdalsnipa (138KB) 31. Sverre on Kringdalsnipa (192KB) 32. Troll on Kringdalsnipa (113KB) 33. Troll on Kringdalsnipa (188KB)

Descent via Skansen

34. Troll on the way down Kringdalsnipa (103KB) 35. On the way to Skansen (238KB) 36. On the way to Skansen (240KB) 37. On the way up Skansen (162KB) 38. View from Skansen (291KB) 39. View from Skansen (255KB) 40. Sverre on Skansen (263KB) 41. Mykletveitveten seen from Skansen (162KB) 42. Brekkhus (182KB) 43. Sverre fording the river (255KB) 44. Passing Langelandsstolen (213KB) 45. Back to Lii (156KB)

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Pictures from other hikes:

1. Norddalsfjellet summit views (939KB)

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