The first time I visited Arctic Norway was when I had just turned 18, on a 6 week expedition to Oksfjordokelen with BSES Expeditions. Some would say that was a long time ago.
Big sack, Bad hair... 18 years old in the ArcticIt was a turning point for me and I hold that trip mostly to blame for my slightly "speshawl" life choice, and the cumulative 49 months I've spent in the Polar regions since. Phew. A lot has happened in the last 17 years, but don't worry, this isn't going to be a history lesson.
I would have looked out of the plane window with novice eyes knowing nothing about what I saw. I could ski only a little bit and the highest thing I had climbed at the time was Snowdon...
Last year, two good friends of mine, Dougal and Susie, flew to Tromso on their way to Spitsbergen but when they looked out of the window at the Lyngen Alps with the eyes of ski mountaineers they started hatching a cunning plan. So we booked flights (mine courtesy of the airmiles paid for by the US tax payer - God Bless America!) and started planning. Another friend, Alison Culshaw, a ski and mountain instructor from Chamonix, was to join us to make a dream team of 4.
OK, now you have two options...
Option 1: - arrive in Norway from London on time and change your watch to reflect the different time zone and drink free coffee on the plane
or
Option 2: - arrive in Norway to think you have an extra hour of play time to spend your well earned money on a nice expensive coffee and hot dog.
The correct answer is Option 1. Schoolboy error is Option 2. Doh. Dougal and Susie learnt this the hard way, needless to say the expensive coffee wasn't as much as the new flight....
100 years this December - Amundsen beat Captain Scott to the Pole
Sitting at the bus stop
Look carefully at the light above the stairs...
Rather conveniently, some expedition buddies who run The Polar People, a little travel agency specialising in Polar Regions, had recently bought a little red house 45 minutes NE of tromso, which they are starting to rent out. The perfect place to base from for a few days before venturing further afield.
Our "Little Red House" (and littler white boat shed...)
looking across to the Lyngen Alps Peninsula
So we gathered a day late (after a night in the car for me as they had the keys to the cabin) and went to the little red house. Wow, what a spot. On the beach, looking out across the fjord to the Lyngen Peninsula in the evening sun. Beatiful. A simple place in some ways, but wood burner, electric stove and hot water means it's better than camping! No shower yet, just sink and bucket, but they're fitting one later this year.
Anyway, on to the skiing. As always, it takes a couple of days to work out conditions so we tried to pick peaks with a variety of aspects to start with.
Ski Day 1 - Stortuva, 1109m
We had a day before Alison was to fly in so headed up the peak behind the house, skiing to and from the cabin. Stortuva - a grey start to the day so didn't take the big camera and realised as it cleared to blue skies that I'd left my compact on the table. Oops. Anyway, it was pouring the next day so we collected Alison and planned the trip whilst drinking tea in the cabin by the log burner. Hard life.
Ski Day 2 - Gabrielfjellet, 1213m
Bushwhacking - def: "Cut or push one's way in a specified direction through dense vegetation"
I believe bushwhacking is norweigan for "ski touring warm up." The trees are far enough apart to get through going up, too close to get through coming down without tree hugging. It was only the start of each day though, they didn't last long.
Alison "Bushwhacking" through below Gabriellfjellet and then higher up on the N facing open ridge heading for the summit with the Lyngen Peninsula behind.
Something we hadn't really thought about much was how the 24hr sunshine would affect snow conditions compared to that of the alps, which we were all used to. This meant touchy feely skiing on the first couple of days to get to know what was going on. So, after ascending the northern slopes of Gab in bombproof conditions (didn't leave the ski crampons behind again...) we weren't particularly excited about skiing back down again, however we'd spotted a West facing gulley and decided to hunt it out, only to find perfect spring snow. One of the best descents of the trip, realising that west is best until the weather changes. of the 24hr sunshine, West seems to freeze better than other aspects.
Tea and lunch on the summit - not a particularly alpine start...
West is Best ! :-)
Option 1: - arrive in Norway from London on time and change your watch to reflect the different time zone and drink free coffee on the plane
or
Option 2: - arrive in Norway to think you have an extra hour of play time to spend your well earned money on a nice expensive coffee and hot dog.
The correct answer is Option 1. Schoolboy error is Option 2. Doh. Dougal and Susie learnt this the hard way, needless to say the expensive coffee wasn't as much as the new flight....
100 years this December - Amundsen beat Captain Scott to the PoleThe delay gave me a chance to wander the streets of Tromso though - strange but cool city - mixture of polar history, coffee shops and graffiti it seems...
Sitting at the bus stop
Look carefully at the light above the stairs...
Rather conveniently, some expedition buddies who run The Polar People, a little travel agency specialising in Polar Regions, had recently bought a little red house 45 minutes NE of tromso, which they are starting to rent out. The perfect place to base from for a few days before venturing further afield.
Our "Little Red House" (and littler white boat shed...)looking across to the Lyngen Alps Peninsula
Anyway, on to the skiing. As always, it takes a couple of days to work out conditions so we tried to pick peaks with a variety of aspects to start with.
Ski Day 1 - Stortuva, 1109m
We had a day before Alison was to fly in so headed up the peak behind the house, skiing to and from the cabin. Stortuva - a grey start to the day so didn't take the big camera and realised as it cleared to blue skies that I'd left my compact on the table. Oops. Anyway, it was pouring the next day so we collected Alison and planned the trip whilst drinking tea in the cabin by the log burner. Hard life.
Ski Day 2 - Gabrielfjellet, 1213m
Bushwhacking - def: "Cut or push one's way in a specified direction through dense vegetation"
I believe bushwhacking is norweigan for "ski touring warm up." The trees are far enough apart to get through going up, too close to get through coming down without tree hugging. It was only the start of each day though, they didn't last long.
Alison "Bushwhacking" through below Gabriellfjellet and then higher up on the N facing open ridge heading for the summit with the Lyngen Peninsula behind.
Something we hadn't really thought about much was how the 24hr sunshine would affect snow conditions compared to that of the alps, which we were all used to. This meant touchy feely skiing on the first couple of days to get to know what was going on. So, after ascending the northern slopes of Gab in bombproof conditions (didn't leave the ski crampons behind again...) we weren't particularly excited about skiing back down again, however we'd spotted a West facing gulley and decided to hunt it out, only to find perfect spring snow. One of the best descents of the trip, realising that west is best until the weather changes. of the 24hr sunshine, West seems to freeze better than other aspects.
Tea and lunch on the summit - not a particularly alpine start...
West is Best ! :-)Ski Day 3
Smalaktinden, 1244m
Alison had some work to get done so we dropped her off in town and headed off to the SW side of the Troms region to Smalaktinden, a stunning peak with a big and beautiful West face. Just what the Doctor ordered. A Bushwhacking warm up, stunning ascent on the N side to the ridge.
Smalaktinden, 1244m
Alison had some work to get done so we dropped her off in town and headed off to the SW side of the Troms region to Smalaktinden, a stunning peak with a big and beautiful West face. Just what the Doctor ordered. A Bushwhacking warm up, stunning ascent on the N side to the ridge.
Good firm conditions on the climb up...
...and the view's not bad either!The standard route takes the N bowl and cuts onto the summit ridge from there. However this year has seen a lot of snow (unlike the alps) and wind so cornices were over developed - our route was blocked so we climbed up onto ridge above the west face instead. Conditions too poor to climb the ridge, we descended the west face a little and then bootpacked up as far as we could get, waiting for the snow to turn. It did, and perfect turns followed!
Bootpacking up as the sun moves onto the west face
Perfect spring conditions on the upper face - with an amazing backdrop behind
Not bad lower down either...Ski Day 4
Tromsdaltinden, 1238m
A track to avoid bushwhacking this time, this is Tromso's local mountain, and still pretty impressive. You gently climb a few km up the valley and then start on the West slopes to gain the ridge. Amazing views in all directions before reaching the summit ready for the descent.
A nice path through the valley bushwhack zone
Starting out on the lower slopes
Reaching the ridgeWe waited on the summit for a while, to eat lunch, take in the amazing views and to let the sun move round onto the slopes below to soften the surface layers up. The we set off to seek out different lines on the slopes above the bowl.
There are lots of brilliantly looking couloirs below the summit itself but there are lots of entrances and not many exits so we took the safer option, which was still pretty steep and lovely!
Dougal on the steep slopes with the SW ridge behindNow we had a feel for conditions we thought it was time to escape our little red house and head over to the Lyngen Peninsula, so after Tromsdaltinden we headed off, caught the ferry to Svensby and searched out a campsite. We found the most amazing spot on the northern end of the road on the peninsula, where we watched the midnight sun and got ready for the days ahead.
Travelling light as always...
On the ferry to Svensby
Relaxing at camp - not a bad spot...
And so we had arrived on the Lyngen Peninsula - ready to ski another bunch of mountains with some paragliding thrown in.
Run out of time! Part 2 coming next week...
2 comments:
Love yoyr photos, awaiting part two with pics from beautiful Kvaløya mountains? From Siv :)
Nice! Looking forward to the next instalment. Sarah x
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