Norwegian Mountains, Oppland
Rasletinden (2105m) on skis, Apr 19 2011
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The routes to Rasletinden
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It was the 2nd day of our Easter vacation and our 2nd day on Valdresflya. The day before, we skied Fisketjernnuten and hiked S. Brurskardknappen. Today, Rasletinden was on the agenda and we wanted an early start to enjoy the firm snow in the morning.
We delayed our departure from Bessheim Fjellstue to 8am, as the road across Valdresflya was closed from 8pm to 8am. At least that's what the signpost said. We were on our way across the flats by 8:15am, seemingly the first ones out there. We had low visibility due to the morning fog on Valdresflya, and we looked forward to rise out of it. It was cold in there too...
Rising out of the fog
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I found the distances in these mountains a bit puzzling. It felt as if the summit was just a short ski-trip away, but the actual skiing distance to the top is almost 6,5km. The weather was a bit puzzling too; we had blue sky above, but fog was building up below us. What sort of weather would we get on top?
We didn't have to worry about that just now. It was a fine day, and we enjoyed ourselves. We still hadn't seen any other skiers. The only sign of life was a Lemming that moved at an impressive speed.
In Steindalen valley
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Eventually, we reached the glacier (or snowfield) where the route ascends steep up to the ridge. It was a bit steeper than I had thought, and I wouldn't have been too happy in this hillside with hard snow. Fortunately, the snow was already in the process of melting, so the ascent was easy.
The route to the ridge
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Once on the summit ridge, we ran into fog and were cheated out of some mighty fine views. Quite annoying, but what can you do?
We reached the top 10:30am - 2h:15m after heading out. Another skier (and his dog) followed shortly after. He was continuing towards Kalvehøgdene, but Anne and me didn't have a strong urge for going any further. With some views - it would have been a different matter...
Limited views from Rasletinden
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We turned around after a little while and paid Øystre Rasletinden (2010m) a visit. This was done mainly to delay our departure from the ridge. Perhaps we would get lucky and get a glimpse of the surrounding mountains. And on the way down from the 2010m point, we got our sixty seconds with views...
View - at last
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By now, skiers in big numbers were ascending the mountain. For some reason, it felt very good to go in the opposite direction. And skiing down Steindalen was just fantastic! This was the perfect time of the day and the snow would be nowhere as good one hour later.
Hundreds of skiers were on their way up from Valdresflya! It was crazy. A family passed me, and I was asked about the conditions on the mountain. The man who asked was an Olympic cross-country champion, and so was his daughter - standing next to him. The celebrity factor was high!
We returned to the car at noon - 3h:45m after heading out. It was a bit early to call it a day, so we drove to Gjendesheim to hike Gjendehøe.
Looking back on Rasletinden/font>
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