Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Saudehornet (1303m) - Vardehornet (1009m) - Nivane (1000m) round trip, Sep 11 2010 (+ Runde visit Sep 12)
To the main Saudehornet page (maps, route descriptions, other trip reports, etc.)
The route (picture taken in winter)
(Click for larger image)
My good friend Lars Ness Rørvik was on his first visit to Ytre Søre Sunnmøre, and wanted to see the Sunnmøre alps. Autumn hikes with Lars have almost become a tradition, and last year we visited Rondslottet and Søre Svartkamben. The mediocre weather forecast helped me to decide on a few candidates, and I settled for Saudehornet. And if it wasn't too wet and slippery, we could do the traverse too.
On Saturday morning, the weather held up, but it seemed clear that the rain would set in as the day progressed. We drove to the Saudehornet trailhead in Ørsta and headed out 10:45am. Once we got the mountain in full view, Lars got the impression that this would be a short walk. But looks can be deceiving...
On the way to Saudehornet
(Click for larger image)
At 440 meters, we crossed Vikelva - the only water source on the entire route. We filled up our bottles, while studying a huge chunk of snow (several meters high). Pretty amazing, given the low elevation.
Like most Sunnmøre alps, Saudehornet offers no get-warmed-up sections, and it's pretty much steep all the way. As Lars hadn't done any hikes since Rondslottet, his first hour on the path was a bit strenuous. But when the going gets though, Lars keeps on going. And he keeps on smiling, too...
Lars gives me the -I am okay- look
(Click for larger image)
A small flock of sheep were eating grass on one of Saudehornet's satellite tops, and it looked hilarious. How did they ever get up there? But the mountain certainly lived up to it's name (Saudehornet = Sheep Horn)...
We reached the top of Saudehornet 12:55pm, just as the rain sat in. And now that Lars was all warmed up, he wanted to do the full round trip, which included the west top, Vardehornet and Nivane. Because of the rain, we didn't stay at the summit for very long, and moved on.
I've never been with Lars in exposed terrain, so in order to learn more, I took him to Myrvågneset (close to where I live) earlier in the morning. I gave him a pair of climbing shoes and we climbed a section of slab rock, just above the water. Aggravating as it was, he seemed to climb better than I did, and it was evident that wherever I would take him later in the day, I wouldn't have to worry...
It was certainly an advantage that I had already done the traverse between the two summits, so we didn't have to spend time in figuring out where the route went. Lars said he had never been to exposed terrain like this, but it didn't seem to affect him one bit. With perfect handholds, we didn't have to worry too much about slippery rock, and the traverse went without problems of any sort.
Passing below the knife-edge section
(Click for larger image)
As we arrived on the west top (approx. 1290m), the weather was not at all pleasant. We took cover behind some rocks and had lunch. We were running low on water, and Lars had a disappointed look when I reminded him of the only water source that we passed on the way up. With the slippery rock (and grass), the descent down the west ridge would perhaps be even more spooky than the traverse. So with great caution, we began the 380 vertical meters descent to the west top - Vardehornet saddle.
Descending the west top
(Click for larger image)
The descent went very well, and at 2:16pm, we were standing on Vardehornet summit (1009m). From here, we could see Vasskoppevatnet - Ørsta's water reservoir, led through Nivane in a pipeline. Being thirsty and seeing all this water was perhaps not so good for the morale, but we had no other choice than to keep going. We reached Nivane (approx. 1000m) at 2:33pm - a top which I hadn't been to before. I was only 220 meters away on last year's hike, but then I was too busy getting to the main top before some other hikers, following the normal route...
On Nivane, with Saudehornet and Vardehornet in the background
(Click for larger image)
On the way down from Nivane, Lars' knee started aching - just like on the way down from Rondslottet. But the upside was that now we had only 2,5km left to go - opposed to the 5km walk from Vinjeronden to Rondvassbu, and the 6,3km bike trip to Spranget.
We were back at the trailhead 3:43pm - 4 hours after heading out, and after satisfying our thirst by the river. We could now look forward to a relaxing Saturday evening with some mighty fine steaks (and some mighty fine red wine too...).
Runde, Sep 12 2010
On Sunday, we took a sightseeing trip to Runde. The plan was to reach Søre Handfangen, but we soon found out that if I was to get Lars to Vigra aiport in due time for his flight, we would have to settle for views from the viewpoint above Handfangenvika. This was Lars' first visit on Runde, and being the maritime guy that he is, I'm sure he liked what he saw...
On a side note; Søre Handfangen (168m) is - in my humble opinion - the most "tricky" top to reach (on the easiest route) in Herøy municipality. In other words, the rest of the tops are very easy. As such, it was a bit amusing that this was the 2nd time I tried to get to the top in 2010, and both attempts had failed. The first time, Anne and me were stopped by access restrictions (bird breeding period). Only time will tell if I go there for a third attempt this year ;)
Lars on Runde - for the 1st time
(Click for larger image)
