Norwegian Mountains

Blåkoll, 1082m
Sveindalsnuten, 1063m
Øyaseteggi, 1052m (Vossahorgi)
Flatafjellet, 1045m

Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/{Voss,Kvam}
Maps : 1216-II Evanger (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary factor : Blåkoll: 279m
Primary factor : Flatafjellet: 193m
Primary factor : Sveindalsnuten: 105m
Primary factor : Øyaseteggi: 61m
Skied : Jun 2001, Dec 2001, Apr 2005
See also : Storliknausen
See also : Mykletveitveten
See also : Hjortahorgi

The mountains seen from Flatafjellet

The mountains seen from Flatafjellet

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Introduction

Given that these mountains are easiest reached from Lake Hamlagrøvatnet, I find it natural to view these mountains as part of the Bergsdalen mountains. This area is good for hiking, but even better for skiing. There are also many other good skiing mountains around the Bergsdalen valley, so chances are good that you'll have the mountains all to yourself on a fine winter's day.

Øyaseteggi, Blåkoll and Sveindalsnuten form a chain of tops along the Voss/Kvam kommune border. Øyaseteggi and Sveindalsnuten belong to Voss, while Blåkoll summit belongs to both. Flatafjellet is more "back-country", completely within Kvam kommune.

Flatafjellet requires most effort of these four mountains. You must either ski across Øyaseteggi or Blåkoll if you come from Hornaberg. Another alternative is to ski via Hamlagrø, but this is also a long trip. The other three mountains are individually nice afternoon hikes or ski-trips.

Primary factor:

Blåkoll (M711: 1082m, Ø.K: 1082,43m) has a primary factor of 279m towards the higher Haugane. The saddle is found in Hardingaskardet. Ref. the Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 805m contours on the high route, but not 800m. The saddle has been interpolated to 803m.

Sveindalsnuten (M711: 1065m, Ø.K: 1062,5m ~ 1063m) has a primary factor of 105m towards the higher Blåkoll. The saddle is found in the pass between the two mountains. Ref. the Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 960m contours on the high route, but not 955m. The saddle has been interpolated to 958m.

Flatafjellet (M711: 1045m, Ø.K: -) has a primary factor of 193m towards the higher Blåkoll. The saddle is found just W of lake 850m, S of Blåkoll. The saddle has been interpolated to 852m. Note that the lake also drains towards Hamlagrø through a tunnel. When the water level in Lake Hamlagrøvatnet gets too high, the water gets routed towards Hardangerfjorden.

Øyaseteggi (M711: 1052m, Ø.K: highest contour is 1050m) has a primary factor of 61m towards the higher Blåkoll. The saddle is found in Blåkollskardet pass. Ref. the Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), the pass is measured to 990,5m, which I have rounded to 991m.

Trail descriptions:

Notes: Class ratings are in reference to YDS. Click here for more information.

The trails described below are not necessarily the *easiest* trails to this mountain.

Hornaberg - all summits round trip (summer/winter)

Difficulty : Class 1
Exposure : None
Comments : For fit hikers/skiers
Distance : 20Km round-trip
Time : 6-8 hours
Starting Elev.: Approx. 590m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 1150m (total)

Map of the area
Map of the area
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Detailed map
Detailed map
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Access

From Bergen, follow highway E16 towards Oslo. At Dale (approx. 50Km from Bergen) you have two alternatives:

a) Turn right towards "Bergsdalen" and follow this road for 31,8Km. Turn right towards "Hornaberg".

b) Continue 30,1Km to Bulken. Turn left towards "Hamlagrø" and follow the road towards Hamlagrø for 12Km. The Hornaberg exit is not signed (as per April 2005) from this side.

Drive 1,3Km down to the Hornaberg parking area. Turn right and drive 300m towards the powerplant and park there.

The route

To Øyaseteggi

Follow the road towards the first bridge. Look left, and you will see your return route. Follow the road along Lake Hamlagrøvatnet until you reach the Sveindalen valley. Cross the bridge here and follow an obvious ridge that leads all the way to Øyaseteggi.

The north side of Øyaseteggi is steep enough for slab avalanches (although there are no slabs underneath), so in winter, stay on the east side of the ridge where you have view towards Blåkollskardet pass. Pass a viewpoint cairn and continue southwest until you reach the top of Øyaseteggi. On one hump, you will see a distinct rock, but the highest point is the neighbour hump (the easternmost of the two).

To Blåkoll

Head towards Blåkollskardet pass and descend into the pass on the north side. Ski/walk directly up to Blåkoll from here. The top of Blåkoll is marked by a large cairn.

To Flatafjellet

Follow Blåkoll's southwest ridge leading to lake 824m. This route is good for skiing (Skiers from the Hamlagrø side arrive this lake on their way to Flatafjellet). From lake 824m, head into a small valley found east of point 1027m. The 1045m high point is found to the left at top of this valley. The summit is marked by a few rocks, once a small cairn. Head a bit south to get views towards Flatabødalen and Hardangerfjorden.

To Sveindalsnuten

From Flatafjellet 1045m high point, head northbound along the ridge leading to lake Løkedalstjørnane. I have not taken this direct route towards Blåkoll, and don't know if there are any issues with passing the lake on the east side. When you reach the 1000m contour on Blåkoll's southeast ridge, descend east into the upper part of Løkedalen. The pass between Blåkoll and Sveindalsnuten has some cliffs that may difficult to ascend, so descend down the valley until you reach the 880m contour. The descent is steep but should not cause problems. A picture of the hillside down to Løkedalen is seen here. Next, head northbound up a small valley that leads to Sveindalsnuten. This route is shown here. The top of Sveindalsnuten is marked by a cairn, but I don't remember how it looked like.

Back to Hornaberg

Follow Sveindalsnuten's northeast ridge down to 830m elevation and descend down to Lake Nedre Kvålsdalstjørni. This is a steep descent, but you should see a vague path in summer. I don't know how this looks in winter, but you have several alternative descent routes from Sveindalsnuten directly down to Sveindalen.

From Lake Nedre Kvålsdalstjørni, proceed north between points 873m and 843m (the summer path runs here) and keep heading north until you reach the first bridge after the Hornaberg powerplant.

Trip report Apr 17 2005

I was supposed to join Voss Utferdslag for a traverse of the marvellous Raundalsegga this Sunday, but for various reasons I was unable to get to the 08:00AM gathering in Voss, in time. As the week-end plans were Blåfjellet on Saturday and Raundalsegga on Sunday, my dachshund "Troll" was spending the week-end at a kennel. I was now free to go for Flatafjellet, the only mountain west of Fyksesund/Flatabødalen, south of E16 and north of Hardangerfjorden that I hadn't been to. Flatafjellet is located a bit in the "outbacks", and I would have to pass over Blåkoll in order to reach it. I never looked forward to taking this trip, carrying the dog at the same time.

But today was "no-dog-day", and by 09:55AM I was on my way from Hornaberg. The road from the powerplant was initially snow-free, but I was able to ski on the side of the road. Two bridges were free of snow, but eventually skiing conditions improved. By 10:17AM, I had crossed the Sveindalen bridge and looked very much forward to ski the inviting ridge towards Øyaseteggi and Blåkoll. A herd of reindeer had passed through the cabin village and I followed their tracks all the way to Øyaseteggi. I had a small break by a viewpoint cairn on Øyaseteggi (not the summit) before I proceeded towards Blåkoll. I had wondered if one could ski down from Blåkollskardet. High on Øyaseteggi, I got a good view down the valley and could see tracks from a skier. The slopes looked very inviting and I considered descending this way after visiting Flatafjellet.

Looking up, I had clouds to the north and blue sky to the south (my direction). The north view was hazy, and I suspected the Raundalsegga skiers suffered from flat light on their way towards Horndalsnuten. I hoped for their sake the weather improved. The weather was actually quite good, and the haze was simply annoying. I reached Blåkoll summit 11:30AM. It had taken me 1,5 hours to the top, including a lunch break on Øyaseteggi. From the summit, I had a good view towards Flatafjellet. I could see tracks from skiers on Flatafjellet. I figured they must have ascended from Hamlagrø, because I had seen no tracks so far.

The Blåkoll southwest ridge was a bit rocky, but I found a slope with continous snow all the way down to lake 824m. The plan had been to ski back up to Blåkoll via the southeast ridge, but when I saw open water from lake 824m, I decided to return this way. It was a hot day and water was precious. I had used skins up to Blåkoll, but decided to give the klister one more try on the way to Flatafjellet. Only thanks to the gentle slopes on this mountain, it worked well, and I reached the top of Flatafjellet 12:20PM with a whole different feeling than you get with skins.

I spent half an hour skiing on Flatafjellet, taking pictures, before I began the journey back towards Hornaberg. I had decided to follow the same route back down, but changed my mind after refilling water down by lake 824m. Instead of skiing up Blåkoll's southwest ridge, I took a northbound course which took me into the valley leading up to Blåkollskardet. I met a group of skiers (from Hamlagrø) in this valley. They commented that I sounded like a flock of ducks heading up the valley. I immediately took out my box of vaseline and applied scientific noise-reduction on the bindings. With a whole different noise level, I left the group and headed up the valley. Instead of aiming for Blåkollskardet, I took course directly towards the Øyaseteggi high point.

On the top I ran into a small herd of reindeer. It was natural to assume this was the same herd that had been visiting Nedre Sveindalen. They didn't seem to be too bothered by my precense, but I took a detour so they didn't have to move out. I stopped by the Øyaseteggi summit only for a few pictures and then I followed my tracks back to Hornaberg. Skiing down from Øyaseteggi was incredibly fun, and it took me only 50 minutes from the top back to the powerplant. By 14:50PM, a wonderful ski-trip had come to its end.

Pictures from the Apr 17 2005 ski-trip

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1. View from the powerplant (357KB) 2. Heading up from Nedre Sveindalen (250KB) 3. Heading towards Oyaseteggi and Blaakoll (247KB) 4. Blaakollskardet (215KB) 5. Hamlagrovatnet seen from Oyaseteggi (333KB) 6. On the way to Blaakoll (196KB) 7. On top of Blaakoll (239KB) 8. Blaakoll summit views (408KB) 9. Blaakoll summit views (476KB) 10. Skrott (zoom) seen from Blaakoll (311KB) 11. On top of Flatafjellet (492KB) 12. Summit views from Flatafjellet (377KB) 13. Summit views from Flatafjellet (365KB) 14. View towards Fyksesund from Flatafjellet (189KB) 15. Flatabodalen (237KB) 16. Lokedalsnuten seen from Flatafjellet (242KB) 17. Lucky with the weather (71KB) 18. North view from Flatafjellet (615KB) 19. Refill of water between Blaakoll and Flatafjellet 20. My descent route from Blaakoll (192KB) 21. Lakes Blaakollvatnet and Hamlagrovatnet (361KB) 22. On the way to Oyaseteggi (183KB) 23. Reindeer on Oyaseteggi (233KB) 24. Reindeer on Oyaseteggi (160KB) 25. Reindeer on Oyaseteggi (248KB) 26. Oyaseteggi summit views (342KB) 27. View from Lake Hamlagrovatnet (331KB) 28. View from Lake Hamlagrovatnet (293KB)

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Trip report Dec 16 2001

An old score had to be settled. I was hiking Sveindalsnuten back in June, and I was forced to give up on Blåkoll because I didn't have the nerve to downclimb all the way down to the pass between the two mountains.

What better birthday present could I give myself than to get this summit - in winter time. I would also get Øyaseteggi as extra bonus. And the weather forecast was excellent. I didn't care much for Sveindalsnuten, as I had already done this one.

As I arrived Hornaberg 09:15AM I couldn't see the mountains because of fog. What a disappointment. Some curses and spells were handed out before I left the car 09:30AM. Since I had hiked Hardingaskaret on my previous hike to Sveindalsnuten, I decided to try the mountain head on - aiming for Blåkoll - the right-hand side of the pass. I made it to the Øvre Sveindalen huts and was a little confused about which of the mountain that was Blåkoll. If I'd only bothered to take out the map... Anyway, I picked a ledge on the left-hand side of the ravine. It looked steep, but doable. And today I had brought my ice axe which was greatly missed on yesterday's hike to Skrott.

Almost on the top of the mountain, the weather suddenly changed dramatically - to the better. I was looking straight towards a cairn that I knew was the false summit of Sveindalsnuten. Darn! Now I had to find a way down the pass I gave up on in June. After a brief stop by Sveindalsnuten (since I was already there..) and revisited the place where I turned the last time. Then I looked further south, and found an excellent corridor down to the pass. And from the pass I looked up a steep slope that was the perfect place to ascend Blåkoll. And the weather couldn't be better. What a day.

After a short break on Blåkoll, I headed towards Øyaseteggi and found the climb a little tricky. Not going up, but in case I had to go down this way, the pulse would rise for sure. But the mountain's north side was gentle, although steep. Again, the ice axe came in handy.

Troll did an excellent job in climbing two days in a row above 1000m elevation. But as we headed down towards civilization, I had to secure him when I noticed mice flying. Literally. I think he killed two before I could stop him. Without a trail down the mountain, there were a few bush wars, but we made it safely back to the car, close to 4 hours after we started.

Pictures from the Dec 16 2001 hike

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Some of the thumbnails may have been cropped to fit the format.

1. Lake Hamlagrovatnet when I arrived. Weather not too sunny (97KB) 2. Hornaberg seen on the road to Nedre Sveindalen (147KB) 3. Arriving Ovre Sveindalen huts. (200KB) 4. I climbed the ridge left of the ravine. It led me straight onto Sveindalsnuten. (237KB) 5. If somebody told me it would be blue sky in 20 minutes.... (97KB) 6. But miracles do happen...... (127KB) 7. And out of the fog todays target came in sight. But I was on the wrong bloody mountain! (202KB) 8. Looking over to Stoelsheimen, I just knew it would be a good day (123KB) 9. Rainbow in front of Stoelsheimen (64KB) 10. And soon good old Kvitanosa again rose over everything else (190KB) 11. First attempt to make it down to the pass failed (165KB) 12. Then I saw an excellent route up to the Blaakoll summit (182KB) 13. Finally, I found my way down to the pass, and enjoyed view towards Hardangerfjord (122KB) 14. Starting the climb towards Blaakoll. The ice axe came in handy. (163KB) 15. Looking back to the steep side that stopped me last time. (141KB) 16. Looking back on the new route. (170KB) 17. Lonahorgi by Voss appears while I climb Blaakoll (140KB) 18. Time for a little break (43KB) 19. Great view towards Stoelsheimen from Blaakoll (258KB) 20. Blaakoll summit, 1082m (167KB) 21. Panorama view towards Skrott, where I was the day before (370KB) 22. Oyaseteggi seen after descending Blaakoll (195KB) 23. The pass from where I climbed Oyaseteggi (109KB) 24. Mykleteveitveten seen from Oyaseteggi. Highest in Bergsdalen (227KB) 25. Oyaseteggi summit after arriving the plateau (297KB) 26. Oyaseteggi summit from close distance (319KB) 27. Looking back at Blaakoll from Oyaseteggi (193KB) 28. Panorama of Lake Hamlagrovatnet, seen from Oyaseteggi (393KB) 29. Another view towards Skrott, now also including Manfjellet (128KB) 30. Nice view of Hamlagrohornet from Oyaseteggi (237KB) 31. The steps from Styveshorgi to Kvitanosi in Stoelsheimen, seen from Oyaseteggi (210KB) 32. The mountains seen before arriving nedre Sveindalen. Text in picture is wrong (151KB) 33. The mountains seen from the other side of lake Hamlagrovatnet (143KB) 34. Lake Hamlagrovatnet seen after the climb (96KB)

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Pictures from Jun 2001 hike:

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1. Songrofjellet and Sveindalsnuten seen from lake Hamlgrovatnet (173KB) 2. At lake 770, cross the bridge and climb Sveindalsnuten up to the right (329KB) 3. Sveindalsnuten, Blaakoll and Oyasethorgi seen from the trail (242KB) 4. View towards lake Torfinnsvatnet from Sveindalsnuten (250KB) 5. Southeast view from Sveindalsnuten (205KB) 6. Skrott, Glynt, Geitafjellet and Blaakoll seen from Sveindalsnuten (348KB) 7. Lake Hamlagro, Hamlagrohornet and Mykletveitveten seen from Sveindalsnuten (218KB) 8. Clear view of Kvitanosi, 1433m, from Sveindalsnuten (207KB) 9. View towards Flatabodalen valley, Hardangerfjord and Folgefonna glacier

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Pictures from other hikes:

1. Bergsdalen view from Skorane (260KB) 2. Blaakoll seen after leaving Hornaberg (203KB) 3. On the way to Kaldenuten (193KB) 4. Summit view from Haugane (869KB) 5. Summit views from Bjorndalshesten (716KB) 6. Pyttafjellet west view (2160KB) 7. Drain to Fyksesund (235KB) 8. Hamlagrøvatnet

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