Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Blåtindane, Nov 18 2007

This route is described on the Blåtindane main page

 

The southeast ridge

The southeast ridge
(Click for larger image)


Urge

It was Sunday, and the weather was just OK. I hadn't been above 1000m elev. since Sep 28, so today, I just had to. Since I would bring my little buddy Troll, I didn't feel like skiing. I looked at the map and tried to find an easy top that I could reach on snowshoes. Blåtindane seemed like a reasonable candidate. I could drive to the base of the mountain, and from there, it was just straight to the top. I was quite prepared to take on whatever obstacle the forest had to offer, in return of a short distance (3Km+).

Concerns..

Driving up Måndalen, I talked to some people about the best route to Blåtindane. An older man, obviously familiar with the local mountains expressed a strong concern.

 "Are you going to Blåtindane today?" 
- Yes
"All by yourself?"
- And the dog of course (but my fury buddy didn't impress as much as a St. Bernhard would have..)
"Have you been there before?"
No..
"Do you have a map?"
No..
"Do you have a compass?"
No. But I have a GP...
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
YES!

Then the old man explained the best route. I drove up to the local farm and asked for permission to park. The interview round repeated itself.

Farm owner: "Are you going to Blåtindane today?"
Yeeeees......

Then another couple came strolling down the forest road.

Farm owner: "He's going to Blåtindane.."
The couple: "Today???"

I certainly got a feeling of being regarded as an abnormality. Since time was not on my side, I had to move on. I was kindly granted parking at the farm, and the farm owner explained the forest road system to me.

11:30AM, I was on my way with my little buddy in the backpack.

Easy start

The old man said I should follow his steps up the forest, rather than follow the forest road. And so I did. That was a very good advice, as there was hardly any snow in the dense pine forest. When I stumbled onto the top of the forest road, there was yet another dense forest section that I could follow. This was very positive. My backpack weighed almost 15Kg, and the more energy I could save, the better..

But then...

Above the pine forest, I was facing the birch forest with deep, rotten snow. In the beginning, it was too steep for snowshoes, but eventually the terrain allowed me to put them on. After hauling myself up through the forest, I felt the energy was just flooding away. I wouldn't say that I was in bad shape, but I was certainly not in the normal 1000 vertical meter push shape..

Himalaya

Above the forest, things got easier. Until the final hill towards the top. Since I hadn't brought anything to eat or drink, I felt I was in the process of dying. Plain and simple. With 200 vertical meters left to ascend, I had to find a rhythm just to survive. 5 steps. Then pause. Then 5 more steps, etc. I guess the final steps to Mt. Everest feels the same.

Omigod

During ascent, I had noticed to eagles high up in the sky. 10 meters before the top, I had to take yet another pause. I put the backpack down. The camera was in it. And then, from the summit cairn, in spitting distance, an eagle suddenly left. Then another. I was able to grab the camera and get a few shots of them flying away, but I couldn't stop thinking about the picture I could have had if I had it in my hand.

Blåtindane summit was reached 13:42PM. It had taken me 2h:42m to ascend 900 vertical meters. In comparison, two days later, I visited Kjøsen (1117m) on the other side of the valley. The 900 vertical meters to Kjøsen (also with a 15Kg backpack) took me 2h:20m in optimal conditions (high forest road + frozen snow + food & water).  This comparison tells me that the push up to Blåtindane was a tough one. And tough it felt too.

Dizzy

After a short stay at the top (it was quite windy), we headed back down. Troll walked from the top and down to the birch forest, where the snow didn't carry his weight any longer. Lack of food and water had made me dehydrated and dizzy. I found running water in the birch forest, but it was simply too late. I descended the forest in a "drunk" condition and can only be grateful that I didn't break or twist a leg. I left the summit 13:52PM and was back at the car 14:59PM.

On my way home, I called my friend Torill - my food & water mentor - and got (as expected) no sympathy for my misbehavior. But it felt good to confess. And when the headache settled just after 22:00PM the same evening, I concluded that it had been yet another good day in the mountains...

 

Pictures

Slideshow, all pics on this page:

To Blåtindane

0. Trip tracks (375KB) 1. Blåtindane seen from Måndalen valley (302KB) 2. The trailhead (234KB) 3. On top of the forest road, approx. 330m (401KB) 4. Off-trail in the forest (260KB) 5. In the birch forest (327KB) 6. Blåtindane comes into view (868KB) 7. Small hump befor the summit (341KB) 8. Eagle leaving the summit (475KB) 9. Eagle leaving the summit (335KB) 10. Eagle leaving the summit (385KB) 11. On Blåtindane high point (242KB)

Wide-angle view from Blåtindane

12. Wide-angle view from Blåtindane (1120KB)

Zoom views from Blåtindane

13. Zoom view from Blåtindane (833KB) 14. Zoom view from Blåtindane (1638KB) 15. Zoom view from Blåtindane (1289KB)

Other pics from Blåtindane

16. Stavvatnet (644KB) 17. Trolltinden and Svartevasstinden (382KB) 18. Svartevasstinden (363KB) 19. Troll on Blåtindane (198KB) 20. The other Blåtindane tops (255KB) 21. Venåssetra (294KB)

Descent

22. The sun shines on Blåtindane (388KB) 23. Descending (264KB9 24. Troll descending Blåtindane (146KB) 25. Goofy cloud (149KB) 26. A nice light (171KB) 27. The sun shines on Urhaugen (236KB) 28. Nice colors in the sky (180KB) 29. Kyrkjetaket seen from the trailhead (363KB)

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