Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Storetuva's north top via Flotehamrane, Apr 12 2009


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The route from Flotane to Storetuva

The route from Flotane to Storetuva
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This was the first day of Easter, and I was on my way towards Volda without having the faintest clue of which mountain top I would end up on. I had already done 400 vertical meters on Huldrehornet earlier in the morning, and now I was on my way to the main hike of the day. I had brought skis, snowshoes, axes, crampons - anything that could be of use when I finally could decide on what I wanted to do. As I approached Volda, I saw the Folkestad ferry come in, and I decided to cross the fjord. Once on the ferry, I settled for Storetuva just above Folkestad. This wasn't a big project, given the fact that I had the whole day available. But I somehow lacked inspiration for bigger projects. Later, I realized that this lack of inspiration turned out be an emerging flu..

On the way towards Flotane (the trailhead), I noticed Åsmund's car. He was obviously spending some of his Easter days at Folkestad, and I decided to say hello to him and his family. Ronja, his huge and lovable dog, gave me the warmest welcome she'd ever given me. As Åsmund put it; seeing you, she knows there's a trip coming up...

Åsmund and Ronja came along for the hike, and we walked from their house in Folkestad. We didn't find the path up to Flotehamrane until we were almost up on the ridge. There were patches of snow here and there on the ridge - certainly not skiing terrain. Access to snow meant the regular ritual involving Ronja and snowballs...

 

Ronja has a natural talent for catching snowballs

Ronja has a natural talent for catching snowballs
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Above 600m elevation, we had to cross larger snowfields. The snow ranged from soft to nice, and for a split second, I wished that I had brought skis. 1:19pm, we reached Storetua's north top (823m), after having walked 4,1km in 1h:50m (snowballs & play included).

I was confident that we were on the high point, and that the other top - 590m to the south was lower . In normal circumstances, I would have visited both tops, but I was low on mojo, and wanted to descend instead. But first, a quick rest with a fine view towards Ørsta and Volda mountains.

On Storetuva north top

On Storetuva north top
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Upon descent, we met a couple on their way up the mountain. After a short chat, we moved on and enjoyed a couple of glissades before locating the path between the Flotehamrane ridge and the meadows below. We were back at the starting point 2:45pm, 3h:15m after heading out. When I arrived back home on Gurskøya, I didn't have the necessary spirit for a 3rd hike, and I knew that something was not right. And then I discovered that we hadn't been to Storetuva's high point. Oh well, I still consider Storetuva to have been conquered, but will of course visit the main top in not too long. 

Pictures

The first set of pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6.

 
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To Storetuva north top

0. Trip tracks 1. Heading out from Folkestad 2. We turned left here, but did not find the path 3. On Flotehamrane 4. So, the snow is nice, huh? 5. Time for snowballs 6. Ronja the athlete 7. Volda 8. A stick gets it 9. A slab section 10. Silly grin of the day.. 11. Folkestad 12. Flotane trailhead 13. Man, that IS confidence.. 14. Moving on 15. Snowballs, leg two 16. The kill 17. Every ball sits 18. That is it for now 19. Ronja is high on energy and becomes a pest 20. A viewpoint cairn 21. This is not the high point 22. To the north top (right) 23. On Storetua north top

Wide-angle view from Storetuva north top

24. Wide-angle view from Storetuva

Panoramic views from Storetuva north top

25. 85mm zoom view from Storetuva 26.  50mm view from Storetuva 27. 38mm view from Storetuva

Other pics from Storetuva north top + descent

28. Folkestaddalen 29. Tenna 30. Høgenipa and Vardehornet 31. Storetuva high point 32. Kolåstinden and Sætretindane 33. Keipen 34. Trollvasstinden 35. Descending Storetuva

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