Ulriken Routes: (SV5) Svartediket - Heimsteristene - Ulriken

The route The route

Illustrations of the route

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Note: Class ratings are in reference to YDS (Yosemite Decimal System).

Note: The trail described below is not necessarily the easiest trail to this mountain.

Svartediket - Ulriken via Heimsteristene (summer)

Difficulty : Class 3
Exposure : Yes
Comments : Advanced
Distance : Approx. 1,7Km to Ulriken tower
Time : Approx. 1,5-2 hours to tower
Starting Elev.: Approx. 80m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 520m

Map of the area
Map of the area
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Detailed map
Detailed map
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Introduction

This is an interesting route for the experienced hiker, looking for something outside the established trails. This route runs from the Svartediket dam, and pretty much straight up to the point where the Ulrikseggen ridge starts falling down to lake Svartediket. The route is logically divided into two sections - the forest hike, which is steep, but less problematic, and the route above the timberline, where class 3 climbing with exposure is required. You may vary the forest route, dependent on your will to seek exposed terrain, but my recommendation is to follow a straight line to the top. It may not be the climbing, nor the exposure that is the worst part, but the "fear" of having to turn back around if things get too complicated. The forest has a number of cliffs, and finding your route back down can be challenging. Do not rely on a GPS, as the reception in the lower slopes is bad.

I have called the route "Heimsteristene", which is not quite correct. "Heimsteristene" is the ridge that runs from Svartediket and parallel to Ulrikseggen. This route joins this ridge, and in lack of a better name, I have adopted it. The upper part of Ulrikseggen is called "Rusta", but I have no references to "Rusta" on this page.

Access

Drive to the Svartavatnet dam and find parking near the dam.

The route

The forest

From Svartediket, head towards the mountain. Locate a path that runs up to the nearest power mast (#1), which is fenced in. Seek left before the fence and head for a power mast further left (#2, towards Svartediket). Pass under this mast (there are cliffs below) and descend towards another mast (#3) further towards Svartediket. There is a lot of bushes that need to be fought with. This is true for the entire forest climb.

Halfway towards mast #3, locate a route that will take you upwards. Follow this route for 60-70 vertical meters and start traversing diagonally up to the right. In a while, you should run into a boulderfield. You are now directly above mast #2, but substantially higher up. The rest of the route runs pretty much straight up, but you need to bypass some obstacles along the way. There is a cliffband above the boulder that will force you on a diagonal walk up to the right. Don't lose contact with the cliffband, although there is a lot of juniper bush you have to deal with. You will reach another small boulderfield before you rise above the timberline. Continue upwards and you will get on top of a ridge (the top of Heimsteristene) with the final climb ahead of you. On your right is a pine forest that may serve as an escape route if the climb looks intimidating. Note that the entire forest route is steep, and although there are no particular advanced moves, you need to use your hands most of the way. An ice axe comes in handy to get a grip in the bushes, allowing you to haul yourself onto the next level.

The climb

Seek towards a large steep flat rock area (looks like a big cut in the mountain). In order to get there, you have to switchback between smaller flat rock areas. To the left of the "cut in the mountain", you will find a natural route, where you climb step-by-step upwards. This is a fairly easy route, class 2+. Higher up, the route gets much steeper, and you run into the difficult parts of the climb. When you no longer can advance upwards, then seek left. Pass a small pine tree and continue in the direction Svartediket for a few meters until you find a route you think you can climb. A small birch offers a good opportunity to advance one level. This is an exposed class 3 move, where you need to get hold of the birch to drag yourself up. Soon after, another class 3 move up a large rock follows, but fortunately, another birch helps you advance. After this point, there are no more difficulties, and soon you find yourself on the Ulrikseggen ridge. On your quest for a route up, you may have seen a plastic ribbon in the horizon, which surely indicates that someone has suggested that ascent is possible here. I will not recommend going up here. The move is class 4 and the exposure is bad.

From Ulriken, descend the Bjørndalen trail in order to return to Svartediket.

Trip Report Mar. 31 2003

I had been thinking about this route for quite some time, but had no idea about what it would involve. On this "summer's day" at the end of March, I decided to have a look at it. I tried to determine a route from distance, but when I got close, all perspectives disappeared. I just had to go wherever the terrain allowed me to go. Just below the first mast, a fence forced me to the left. Further cliffs sent me further left before I could start the climb. Once I was on my upwards, I pretty much stuck to that line all the way up.

I had brought an ice axe, which came in handy time after time. Although the forest doesn't look very steep, it is, and the obstacles are many and need to be dealt with. There were of course options to the various difficulties, but I was quite set on trying to remember the route, in case I had to turn back around. As such, I decided to stick to a straight route upwards, regardless of the obstacles. There were a few slightly exposed points at the beginning of the forest, but the exposure vanished up through the forest, even though it got steeper. There was always some bush or tree to hold on to.

The original plan was to move towards the right above the timberline. I had considered the very edge of Ulrikseggen ridge too steep to climb. Standing below it, it looked scary, and I was on my way to bypass this cliff. But then I decided to at least have a look, and see how far I could advance. I followed a natural route close to a big cut in the cliff. The exposure grew gradually more significant, but I didn't feel uncomfortable.

My route was eventually blocked, and I had to move sideways (left) in the steep slope. After a short search for a route, I was able to advance up one level, through stretching for a small birch with one hand and using the axe for security with the other. This move was followed by an equal move just above. By now, the upper walls on the cliff were towering above me, and no parts on the entire hike had been this steep. I felt the two moves were some kind of "points of no return", which meant I would go to quite some strenght, avoiding having to climb back down. Fortunately, I had now ascended the roughest parts, and soon I saw a clear moon above. A good indication of that the horizon is near. And within few minutes I stood safely on the Ulrikseggen ridge.

I was very satisifed with the effort and headed home via Bjørndalen. Did some shopping, picked up the dog and headed back up again. On my way upwards, I met some that I had passed on my way down. Odd feeling. The dog was more than happy to get the afternoon walk, and less than two hours after I had left the tower, I was back again.

Pictures from the Mar 31 2004 hike:

Move cursor to read notes, and click on the images to see full version.
Some of the thumbnails may have been cropped to fit the format.
Pictures are presented in the order they were taken.

1. Easy forest (306KB) 2. Small boulderfield (259KB) 3. Bush jungle (269kB) 4. Typical forest obstacles (283KB) 5. Above the forest. Continue up here (193KB) 6. View down to Svartediket (311KB) 7. A recently done route to S. Midtfjell (221KB) 8. The upper route (402KB) 9. A forest further to my right (196KB) 10. The upper route (175KB) 11. Paraglider (78KB) 12. The actual start of the climb (185KB) 13. My route runs to the left (313KB) 14. First crux. A useful tree. (276KB) 15. Second crux. Another useful tree (301KB) 16. View from Ulrikseggen (264KB) 17. Arriving Ulriken Tower (221KB) 18. Celebration (142KB) 19. The tower seen from Langrinden (160KB) 20. Ulvanosa seen from Langrinden (92KB) 21. Landaasfjellet seen from Langrinden (248KB) 22. My route seen from Svartediket (116KB) 23. The entire route (178KB) 24. The upper part of the route (163KB)

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