Norwegian Mountains, Sogn og Fjordane

Synnevaskjer on skis from Hodlekve, Mar 19 2011


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Synnevaskjer seen from Torstadnakken

Synnevaskjer seen from Torstadnakken
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Close to a month after the awesome weekend in Nordfjord, another weekend with gorgeous weather was here. I was in Sogndal to visit Anne, and she suggested that we should ski to Synnevaskjer on Saturday. This was not a mountain that stood out in any particular way, but I really liked the name. I have a soft spot with mountain names that cling good. Moreover, I knew it would be an excellent viewpoint towards the high mountains between Fjærland and Sogndalsdalen, and I was more than up for this trip!

We started out from Hodlekve 10:25am and (to our delight) we could see that fresh tracks had been made in the direction of Høgehaug. This meant that we would get 5 easy kilometres without having to break trail...

 

On the track from Hodlekve

On the track from Hodlekve
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I was somewhat familiar with the first part of the route. We came down this way after skiing Blåfjellet in February 2010, and we also followed this route to Høgehaug a month later (no track then). We saw a skier break away from the track at the head of Stilledalen, but we were not sure if this skier was heading for Synnevaskjer and decided to ski almost all the way up to Høgehaug before turning northwest.

We passed across Britastein (1002m) and could see that the skier was indeed going in the direction of Synnevaskjer. After a little while, the skier returned and we had a short conversation. He told us that two skiers were ahead of him. This was good news. Even if the snow wasn't very deep, we could always appreciate tracks...

 

Anne, with Kjeringi in the background

Anne, with Kjeringi in the background
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After a little while, we descended into Trastadalen. There was a fatal accident here some decades ago, caused by an avalanche. The skier had told us that the route nowadays was quite safe, as long as we followed the tracks ahead of us. On the way up from Trastadalen, we caught up with the two skiers, and yet another skier had caught up with us. The mountain wasn't exactly crowded, but all the skiers that visited Synnevaskjer today were now here...

 

 

Rising out of Trastadalen

Rising out of Trastadalen
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I decided to be the point man and do my share of breaking the trail. On the way up the ridge, I could see point 1570m - the top of Myrdalsbreen and Voggebreen. Anne and me had talked about continuing from Synnevaskjer and up the Myrdalsbreen glacier. I was strongly motivated for this, but for some reason, I was completely out of shape. I was very, very tired and every step was an effort. I had done a poor job with calculating the water supply, and had only 0,5 litres in the backpack. But with a conservative consumption up the ridge, I reckoned it would be enough. It was a very warm day (I had assumed that it would be quite cold) and I still hadn't put the jacket on. And I was quite happy when Anne took the lead up the ridge...

 

On the ridge to Synnevaskjer

On the ridge to Synnevaskjer
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The other skiers stopped for lunch, and Anne and me continued alone up to Synnevaskjer. At 1440 meters, we stopped for lunch and all of a sudden, it was getting windy and quite chilly. A hot spring day had suddenly turned into a cold winter day and we agreed that we would have to come back for the glacier another day. When we broke up, we could see the other skiers - on their way to the glacier. Anne me skied up to Synnevaskjer and reached the cairn 2:21pm - close to 4 hours after heading out.  

 

 

On top of Synnevaskjer

On top of Synnevaskjer
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I was now quite confident that the glacier was out of the question. All I wanted was to enjoy the descent. Anne had chosen regular mountain skis, and I had chosen (much) heavier Telemark skis. Now was the time to enjoy the reward! The upper part of the mountain offered variable skiing conditions, but from 1360m to 990m, the snow was just great!

 

 

Descending Synnevaskjer

Descending Synnevaskjer
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Back in Trastadalen, we had to ascend a short hill before enjoying another (short) downhill section. Then I had put the skins back on before we reached a small top above the track. As usual, Anne and me competed to be the first to return to the trailhead. The 4km of downhill skiing to Hodlekve was pure fun, although the milk acid from the hockey position was almost killing me. Fortunately, a "clever" tactical manoeuvre in a crowded spot allowed me to win the "race". We were back at the car 3:48pm - almost 5,5 hours after leaving.

 

 

A good Synnevaskjer memory

A good Synnevaskjer memory
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Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 550D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6 + a Canon Powershot G12

 
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To Høgehaug - or close by...

1. Trip tracks 2. Helleberget 3. Hodlekve trailhead 4. On the prepared track 5. Passing Stedjekammen cabins 6. En route to Høgehaug 7. Loke is back! 8. Anne is positive (as always) 9. Beautiful scenery 10. Helleberget 11. Tylderingen 12. We should have gone here 13. Into Stilledalen 14. What a day! 15. The machine 16. Time to go off-trail

To Synnevaskjer

17. Anne, breaking trail 18. Me, tagging along 19. The Synnevaskjer ridge comes into view 20. Anne and Kjeringi 21. Winter wonderland 22. Kjeringi 23. The route ahead 24. Høgehaug 25. Anne and Synnevaskjer in the background 26. A cabin in a cool place 27. Synnevaskjer 28. Shades 29. Kjeringi 30. Towards the Synnevaskjer ridge 31. Snow patterns 32. The big white... 33. In Trastadalen 34. Rising out of Trastadalen 35. Rising out of Trastadalen 36. Blåfjellet 37. View up the mountain 38. Myrdalsbreen - Voggebreen 39. On the south ridge 40. On the south ridge 41. Up the south ridge 42. An old-timer 43. The others stop for lunch 44. The adjacent ridge 45. Anne 46. Hurrungane 47. The final hill 48. Almost up 49. On top of Synnevaskjer 50. On top of Synnevaskjer 51. On top of Synnevaskjer

Wide-angle view from Synnevaskjer

52. Wide-angle view from Synnevaskjer

Zoom views from Synnevaskjer

53. Zoom view from Synnevaskjer 54. Zoom view from Synnevaskjer 55. Zoom view from Synnevaskjer

The descent

56. Fresvikbreen 57. Point 1570m 58. Descending Synnevaskjer 59. Descending Synnevaskjer 60. Descending Synnevaskjer 61. In control? 62. In control? 63. À memorable descent! 64. À memorable descent! 65. Anne, leaving a signature 66. Excellent snow! 67. Do I detect a smile? 68. Enough snow!

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