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Storenipa seen from Straume |
Storenipa is a forest hill located just above the Straume community by Bolstadfjorden. From the summit you have good views towards Stamnes, Bolstadfjorden towards Dale and Hesjedalen. You reach Storenipa easiest from Straume. A good forest trail takes you halfway. The rest of the route is forest walk, mostly off-trail.
Primary Factor
Storenipa has a primary factor of 196m towards the higher Tofjellet. The saddle is found at Kleivi. The last adjacent 5m detail contours on the 5m Norgesglasset detail map are 220m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 218m.
Note: Class ratings are in reference to YDS (Yosemite Decimal System).
Note: The trail described below is not necessarily the easiest trail to this mountain.
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Straume - Storenipa (all seasons)
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Access
From Bergen, follow highway E16 towards Oslo. At Dale, mid-way between Bergen and Voss, drive northbound for 2,7Km from the Dale exit. Then exit left onto a paved road. Follow this road to Straume. Cross the bridge and exit right onto the first road on your right. Follow "Parkering" (parking) signs and park at the Straumsdalen trailhead.
The route
Follow the forest road upwards from the parking. After approx. 1Km, the road descends. Leave the road and locate a narrow path going up to your left. You may not be able to follow this path all the way to Storenipa, but just stay central on the forest ridge, and you'll eventually end up on the highest point. There are a couple of ups and downs along this route. The terrain is fairly easy to walk in. There is some boggy ground on the forest ridge, so the terrain is quite wet after rain.
The goal for the day was Tofjellet (836m). The plan was to hike the north-west ridge of Skarddalsfjellet. I left the trailhead 12:00PM. Troll was of course not willing to walk, and caught a ride on the back. On my way to Straumsdalen, I met Sverre Langhelle, who told me to avoid the Skarddalsfjellet ridge at all cost. Instead, I should follow the route that he explained to me. We split apart at Næsatreet after a nice chat. He obviously knew the terrain well. He had also marked part of the route I was to follow, in addition to having built the bridge that I would use to cross a river.
On my way towards Straumsstølen, I got accompanied by two young ladies. They were heading up to look out for sheep. Along the way, I learned a lot about sheep behaviour in late autumn. I always thought sheep sought down when the snow arrived. Some, I learned, seek higher, as the snow depth is lower towards the summits. They told me about 5-6 sheep that had to be evacuated from a summit via helicopter. I can just imaging their frustration. "Hey - no more mountain!"
From Straumsstølen, I climbed the Uraskardet pass, marked by Sverre Langhelle. The fog hung low down the mountain sides and the route up the pass was slippery and downright dangerous. I fell once and Troll was shooting out of the backpack like a rocket. On the other side of the pass I joined the river, but no bridge could be seen. I assumed the bridge was further up to my left. I walked the riverbank for a while. As I was about to take a compass course I noticed there was no compass in my mapbook. There was no way I would climb the steep mountain in front of me without a compass. I turned around.
On my way down I decided to hike up to Storenipa. This was a ranked forest hill, and I wouldn't return to Bergen "empty handed". I started the forest walk 14:50PM and arrived the high point 15:20PM. Large trees dominated the high point, but I got some good views between the trees. On my way down to the trailhead I met Sverre again. He invited me home for a cup of coffee and after a change of clothes I was enjoying coffee and "Svele" in his sofa.
Sverre was an interesting fellow. He had been hunting in Alaska and the Canadian Rockies. Bears, wolves, lynx, deer and more. He knew the local mountains exceptionally well, and we had a long and interesting chat. He also gave me a signed copy of a book about nature and hunting ("Jakt og Natur opplevingar") that he had written. When I left, I promised to stop by when I returned for Tofjellet.
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Some of the thumbnails may have been cropped to fit the format.
Pictures are presented in the order they were taken.
Pictures from the failed trip towards Tofjellet
Other hordaland mountains
Other Vaksdal K. mountains
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