Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Laupsnipa via Øydeskrede, Apr 30 2009
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Part of the route
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The main purpose of this hike was to see if I could find a route from Laupsnipa or Keipen (Laupskeipen) and down to the shore. I knew that this mountainside below Keipen was tremendously steep, so I didn't have very high expectations. But finding out is often better than just assuming..
On the way up Laupsnipa, I caught up with 4 women and two dogs. It was nice to see others on this fine mountain. I was told that last year, they did 10 Herøy tops in 13 hours (Sollia included). That's impressive! I met them again on the summit, after I had done some research on the terrain below Laupsnipa. It was just too steep for my taste.
I moved on in the direction of Keipen, and attempted to descend via two steep gullies, but it just got too steep (and slippery!) for my taste. The time was now 7:45pm, and I wasn't really sure when it got dark (a good mountaineer should know these things..), but in any case, I could always follow the ridge to the west and see if something "turned up".
The ridge, westbound
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550m west of Keipen (a point marked 523,5m on Økonomisk Kartverk) I observed that the ridge south ridge wasn't particularly steep in the upper part. I assumed it would get more nasty further down, but at least I would have the time to head back up and descend along the normal route. Things went quite OK until I had done 1/3 of the route, then the mountainside got significantly steeper. I was now on top of a massive slab area, and below was a goat - clearly surprised about the incoming object.
There was small forest and bush on both sides of the cliff I was on, and I had to choose which way to go. I went to the right (west) and scrambled down a number of ledges, while clinging on to bush and trees. The goat I had seen was the representative of a small tribe of goats, kids included. They were occupying the "safe" route, but to avoid scaring them off, I continued my descent across some ugly terrain, and then traversed towards safer ground well below them. And finally, I was down by the shore.
I don't know what the map name Øydeskrede refers to, but it could be a place name. I could see a cabin at Skrede, 600m to the west, and looked for ruins of old buildings, but didn't see any. The name itself has a "dark" touch to it - Øyde (desolate) + Skrede (avalanche). I'd better move on...
The descent route
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I figured I was "home free" now, and would make it back to the car before dark, whenever that would be. I reckoned the distance along the shore to be approx. 3km, which wasn't too bad. In the beginning, jumping from rock to rock was fun, but it soon got a bit tiresome. Especially the part with wet rocks. As I was keeping a pretty fast pace, concentration was key. "This is good for the brain", I told myself, in pursuit of motivational factors...
Having passed the first point, I saw that the nice shore was now replaced by a giant rock wall. The disappointment was huge. I actually knew that there was a wall, having looked at some pictures a few months ago. But I had completely forgotten about it. The time was almost 21pm, and now I felt that I was in a bit of a hurry.
The OH-NO part of the hike
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I scrambled up a boulder field as fast as I could, and it's needless to say that I was quite thirsty by now. At 180m elevation, I got onto a plateau below Laupsnipa and began searching for a route back down to the shore. The terrain was quite rugged, and I didn't get a good overview of the terrain between me and the shore. However, there were not many places I could go, so the route was almost given.
Back at the shore again, the trailhead was now only 1,7km ahead. The time was 9:30pm, and I assumed that dusk was imminent. The Voldnes point seemed so far away, but the upside was that the rocks were smaller, and I could keep a faster pace. Along came an eagle, passing just above me, without giving me any form of attention. The bird was obviously on its way .. somewhere, and had no time to chat. A minute later, I heard a big splash in the water, and I could see the head of a very upset and whining otter. Then it dived and disappeared before I got my camera out of the backpack.
I reached the car 10pm, and it still hadn't turned dark. While driving home, I knew that I will always remember this hike. A mountain doesn't always have to be grand and tall to become memorable..
Part of the route
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