Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Brudefølget, Rollsbotnskorka, Litleskorka, July 24 2008


To the main Brudefølget/Rollsbotnskorka/Litleskorka page (maps, route descriptions, etc.)

 

Part of the route

Part of the route
(Click for larger image)

Three fine peaks and a chase for beer

I had been under the (wrong) impression that Brudefølget might require the safety of a rope, but when I read the Brudefølget page in the "Til Fjells i Vestnes" book, it seemed that Brudefølget was merely a scramble. Probably airy, but still merely a scramble. So I decided to go and have a look for myself.

As the easiest route to Brudefølget runs across the saddle between Litleskorka (1164m) and Rollsbotnskorka (1333m), it was only natural to go for a grand slam - all three peaks on the same trip. I chose Øvstedalen as my starting point. I knew this trailhead well by now, having visited both Sandfjellet/Storbua and Storlihornet from this trailhead. The last leg on this road is a bit steep, and when I hiked Sandfjellet/Storbua, I parked just before the last hill. I planned to do that today as well, but I was already halfway up the hill before I realised I had driven too far. Because of loose gravel, I didn't want to stop. I drove up the hill in full throttle, as the road was quite rough near the top.

Grrr, for the rest of the hike, I would be dreading the thought of driving back down. Just a too hard touch on the brake, and I would be in trouble. But OK. Worries aside. I had three steep mountain tops ahead. I would probably face challenges that made a lousy hill seem like nothing at all.

Litleskorka was the first peak on my to-do list. The hike up to the top was straightforward (marked, and no difficult sections). I left the car 10:35am and reached the top 11:50am. The vertical gain was 760m, and I was satisified with the ascent time. It was a very hot day, but as I had downed 1 liter of water before the hike, I still felt quite good. This was an advantage, clearly, as I still had two higher peaks to do.

Litleskorka (from a different hike)

Litleskorka (from a different hike)
(Click for larger image)

 

Brudefølget was the next stop. I didn't go all the way to the Litleskorka - Rollsbotnskorka before traversing the upper side of Dalsbotnen. Brudefølget was rising steep in front of me, and I wasn't quite sure where to go. But for starters, I would be heading up the steep hill, which only got steeper and steeper. I avoided some scrambling by keeping left.

The scrambling begun when I got on the Lauparen - Brudefølget ridge. Instead of searching for the easiest passages, I stayed on the ridge crest all the way to the first cairn. And had fun in doing so. From the first cairn, a huge gap separated me from the summit cairn. The book said I should descend slightly to the east in order to get back onto the ridge. The descent was exposed, but not difficult. Caution was necessary, but I got back onto the ridge without any problems. I was now in the gap between the two cairns, and after an easy scramble, I reached the top of Brudefølget 1:35pm.

The Brudefølget south peak

The Brudefølget south peak
(Click for larger image)

 

This was indeed an OK place to be. While I let my GPS establish/prove the elevation, I scrambled on the north ridge up to the point where I felt a strong need for a rope. Then I headed back to the cairn, from where I studied the south peak. I had passed this peak upon my ascent. This was a steep bugger, but probably very doable. However, the upper part seemed very exposed, and I decided not to spend time investigating it.

I descended my ascent route back to the ridge between Dalsbotnen and Rollsbotnen. I disliked the descent. It was steep enough to cause trouble if I stumbled, and the ground was either slippery grass or loose scree. I was now heading for Rollbotnskorka, and traversed higher than I did when coming from Litleskorka. Rollbotnskorka's northeast ridge was easy enough, and I followed a visible path upwards. I had been wondering exactly how the path would take me up the steep section below the summit, but it didn't. A convenient traverse bypassed the steepest section, and I reached the summit 3:50pm, without any difficulties.

The satisfaction of having been to three fine peaks was huge, and I suddenly decided that it would be mighty nice to celebrate this with a couple of beers once I got back home. But there was a problem; I had no beer in the house, and the stores would stop selling beers in 2 hours and 10 minutes. I was at 1333m elevation, and there were no open stores down by Tresfjord. I would (at least) have to drive to Vestnes. I had to decide between going for the beer or relaxing on the mountain, enjoying the day. The decision was easy.

Below Rollsbotnskorka summit

Below Rollsbotnskorka summit
(Click for larger image)

4pm, I wrapped things up on Rollsbotnskorka and descended quickly down my ascent route. Back in the saddle, I decided to descend the southeast ridge, although I didn't know whether it would be straightforward or not. It was not straightforward, and I found myself on top of one steep cliff after the other. These obstacles were always solved by moving further to the right, but this was a messy ridge. The time was 4:48pm when I reached Kleivvatnet, and I seemed to be doing quite alright. 

I passed a couple of people who were relaxing above Kleivvatnet. They had seen me hurry up the mountain, and now they saw me in hurry down the mountain. We chatted briefly, before I continued my fast descent to the trailhead. Once I reached the flat section (the slabs), I slipped and fell. As I write this report, more than one month after the hike, there is still a big black mark on my hip. 

The time was 5:12pm when I was back at the car. I had 45 minutes to drive down the ugly hill, then get back to the highway and drive to Vestnes. That seemed doable. I was probably not breathing at all while I drove down the ugly hill, but it went OK. And I had to go fairly slow all the way back to the highway, as both sheep and cows can suddenly turn up on this road. The time it would take to stop the car on this gravel was slightly terrifying. But, 5:50pm, I was standing outside the store in Vestnes, being a proud owner of a six-pack.

Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 300D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6

 
Javascript slideshow

(Full size images)

 

  Flash slideshow

(Images scaled down.
Right-click on images and select 'open in a new window' for full size version)
(No panoramas)

 

To Litleskorka

0. Trip tracks 1. The three peaks 2. Leaving the trailhead 3. Up the Litleskorka east ridge 4. The trailhead 5. Øvstedalen 6. Sandfjellet 7. Storskorka 8. On the summit ridge 9. Litleskorka summit cairn

Views from Litleskorka

10. Wide-angle view from Litleskorka 11. My hikes from Øvstedalen 12. Brudefølget 13. Lake Dalsvatnet 14. Brudefølget

To Brudefølget

15. On the way to Brudefølget 16. Steep ascent to Brudefølget 17. Storskorka and Litleskorka 18. On the east ridge 19. Passing the south peak 20. View down the east ridge 21. The first cairn ahead 22. The south peak 23. The summit ahead 24. Both cairns 25. Approaching the summit

Wide-angle views Brudefølget

26. Wide-angle view from Brudefølget 27. Lauparen

Zoom views Brudefølget

28. 85mm zoom view from Brudefølget 29. 85mm zoom view from Brudefølget

Other pics from Brudefølget + descent

30. The north ridge 31. View down 32. Kvitnyken 33. The gap between the two cairns

To Rollsbotnskorka

34. To Rollbotnskorka 35. Pjusken region 36. Below the summit 37. Rollsbotnskorka summit 38. The ridge towards Litleskorka 39. The ridge towards Brudefølget 40. Brudefølget zoomed in 41. Lauparen and Brudefølget

Wide-angle view from Rollsbotnskorka

42. Wide-angle view from Rollsbotnskorka

No Javascript: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42

 

westcoastpeaks.com Other Møre & Romsdal mountains Other Norwegian mountains