Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Vardehornet - Saudehornet round trip, July 23 2009
To the main Saudehornet page (maps, route descriptions, other trip reports, etc.)
Rough outline of the route
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My first hike after returning from summer vacation in northern Norway went to Saudehornet. The route went via Vardehornet, which I had not been to before. I knew about this route, but I didn't know how airy or difficult it would get. Besides, it seemed that it could start raining (again) any minute, and the rock was wet and slippery. The concern was if there would be any "point of no return" moves, only to find even tougher terrain ahead. The only way to know for sure is to try...
I left the Vikegeila trailhead in Ørsta 1:04pm, caught up with 3 other hikers and talked with them for a little while before I moved on. They were heading up along the normal route. Seeking a motivation for the long and steep mountainside ahead, I wondered if I could make it to the top before they did.
I didn't know if there was a path to Vardehornet, so I was mentally prepared for an off-trail ascent. I followed the normal route until it crossed the Vikelva creek, filled up my water bottle and went north-west, aiming for the ridge between Nivane and Vardehornet. I arrived at the end of the mountain road (which I should have followed in the first place). From here on, the mountainside was steep, but without any difficult sections. In retrospect, it would have been easier to ascend more to the west - towards Nivane...
My off-trail route up to the ridge
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Once I reached the Nivane - Vardehornet ridge, I got a nice view towards Skorgedalen. It didn't take long before I reached Vardehornet (1009m), and at 2:21pm, I could "claim" yet another top (hoorray and all that..). I still didn't have any impression of the ridge between the two Saudehornet tops, and to get that impression, I first had to ascend 380 vertical meters..
The route from the ridge
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The ridge to the northwest top was strenuous, and my motivation was no longer the other hikers, but the "next point" - somewhere up in the mountainside. As I got higher, the distance between the "next points" got shorter and shorter.
3:02pm, I reached Saudehornet's northwest top and I could take the ridge crest into view. The first part seemed trivial, but I wasn't able to conclude anything about the section closer to the main top. But I sure looked forward to get on with it....
The ridge seen from the NW top
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At first, I stayed "true" to the crest - only to find it time-consuming and without little added value to the hike. I was more keen on reaching the summit before the rain set in, than scramblng every rock along the crest. So I chose the outside route (walking) it until I was forced back on it.
Now I was facing a rather sharp section. Scrambling on top of it didn't seem safe at all. It was steep to the right, even steeper to the left, and I didn't understand where people normally go. I attempted scrambling down a tiny gully down on my right-hand side, hoping to find a place where I could traverse, but I didn't like this terrain one bit, and headed back up again.
I then took a closer look at the left-hand side of the ridge, which convinced me that the exposed - but yet easy route (YDS class 3) - went there. The one and only sensation after completing this section was pure pleasure.
Looking back on the NW top
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On the way to the main top, I met two girls - coming from the opposite direction. We exchanged some information about the routes ahead, and as I expected by now - the route up to the main summit was easy scrambling. I reached Saudehornet summit 3:25pm - 2h:21m after heading out. Then I recalled my "motivation" of getting there ahead of the other hikers and looked down the mountainside. Darn! They had left the summit just a few minutes earlier.
Looking back on the crest route
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3:30pm, I was on my way down from Saudehornet. It didn't take long before I passed the hikers I met a couple of hours earlier. As I hadn't been to Vallahornet earlier, I wanted to return via this top. And the Ørsta view from Vallahornet was just superb! It started to rain, and I found myself a neat shortcut down to the public path. This shortcut resulted in a phone call to my boot supplier the following day. "No patterns left on the sole. Need a pair of tens - quickly!". That would be my 12th (or 13th) pair in 10 years. Some summers are busier than others...
4:36pm, the hike was over, and Saudehornet summit was hidden inside a rainy cloud. It was a super hike, and I expect many more interesting hikes to this mountain in the coming years...
