Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Storehanen (496m) on skis, Feb 14 2009
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Storehanen and the Sollia massif
(Click for larger image)
After having visited Huldrehornet in the morning, I had a late breakfast and watched some sports on TV before fixing the binding that snapped on Bakkehornet two days earlier. Then I drove to Moldtustranda with Storehanen as the target.
I had already been to all of Storehanen's neighbours - Selsteinen, Hestefjellet, Sollia and Hidsegga, but not Storehanen. I was not very inspired to go skiing, given the deep snow in the mountains. But I expected that the mountain road would have been plowed all the way to 220m, and I would surely endure a 280 vertical meter deep snow struggle to the top. I didn't even consider driving up Moldtudalen, as it would probably be great fun to ski down the entire mountain road.
I left the trailhead at Moldtustranda 11:55am, and had a nice 5-minute chat with a local chap. I went on foot up to 160m before putting the skis on. Two cars passed me, which meant the road was open all the way up to the parking. As I passed them at the parking, I got a feeling that they had been waiting for me to break the trail. A bit later, I noticed that only one of the two drivers came along.
Storehanen
(Click for larger image)
I passed the cabins at 240m before turning north for Storehanen. The snow was ugly-deep and I found myself in the middle of a small nightmare. The light was already bad, and a snow shower was moving in. It wasn't difficult to tell that the other skier seemed very disappointed that the tracks suddenly went up the mountain. He stood there for a little while, wondering what to do. Was he about to follow?
No, he wasn't. He continued towards Mørkevatnet, but turned around after a few minutes. What a disappointing ski-trip that had to be! Now I just couldn't give up on Storehanen, and went into hardass mode.
I reached the top 1:44pm, and could hardly see one meter ahead. But then the snow shower passed and visibility gradually got restored. It was a bit tempting to ski towards Sandvikhornet (one of my regular evening hikes), but I didn't fancy walking 4,6km back to Moldtustranda. Instead, I would enjoy skiing down the road all the way back to Moldtustranda.
Descending Storehanen
(Click for larger image)
I left the summit 1:50pm, and somehow managed to maintain some flow in the deep snow. Then there was a long, flat section before I could begin descending on the road, and 2:17pm, I was back at my starting point.
