Norwegian Mountains, Sogn og Fjordane
Spefjell (1104m), on skis, Feb 26 2012
To the main Torstadnakken/Spefjell page (maps, pictures, other trip reports)
The Spefjell route - seen in Google Earth
(Click for larger image)
The day after Anne and me skied to Krokberg above Hafslo, we sat course for Sogndalsdalen and Spefjell. The weather was still gorgeous and my back was considerably better than the day before. We drove to Svedal - the same place as we headed from on our trip to Torstadnakken in February 2011. The same (elderly) woman who granted us parking in 2011 also granted us parking on this Sunday morning. At 11:15am, we were on our way up from Svedal, looking forward to a superb day in the mountains.
Heading out from Svedal
(Click for larger image)
Luckily for us, the temperature was low during the night, so the snow (more or less) carried our weight up the forest. Otherwise, the ascent would have been a nightmare. When we reached the valley between Grøssete and Navarsete, the snow settled and promised us a mighty fine run down later in the day. We aimed for Navarsete - very hard to pinpoint from the forest because of all the snow. Once there, it was just too tempting to visit the nearest roof...
Navarsete
(Click for larger image)
We had lunch by one of the cabins and afterwards we continued southeast to a place that seemed to get us to the upper part of the mountain without going through avalanche-prone terrain. Although we had brought the regular avalanche gear, we felt this passage was safe today. But under worse conditions, we would have taken a different route (north) from Navarsete.
Above Navarsete
(Click for larger image)
It didn't take us long to reach the summit plateau, and after half a kilometer across the flats, we reached the top of Spefjell 1:19pm - 2h:04m after heading out from Svedal. The original plan had been to continue towards Grøthovden (1128m), but fog had begun to fall down on the mountains north of us and visibility seemed to vanish within a short time. We decided to descend along our ascent route and come back for Grøthovden another day.
On top of Spefjell
(Click for larger image)
Descending the upper part of the mountain was just as fun as we had hoped for. But it soon became apparent that the fog was a false alarm. Well... these things happen.
Glorious fun!
(Click for larger image)
The forest above Svedal now offered wet and difficult snow and the descent was awkward. But when we returned to the car 2:07pm (almost 3 hours after heading out) the overall feeling was that we had a great day on the mountain. And I look forward to return for Grøthovden in February 2013...
PERFECT snow!
(Click for larger image)
