Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Gamlemsveten on skis from Søvik, Mar 21 2007

This route is described as route #1 on the Gamlemsveten main page.


Trip report, Mar 21 2007

After a miserable weather period, a high pressure finally came along. 5 minutes after I woke up this Wednesday morning, it was evident that I would go skiing somewhere in the afternoon. As the day went by, I tried to figure out a win-win situation for me and the dog. Gamlemsveten popped up as an alternative. Lots of snow had fallen, but Gamlemsveten was exposed to wind. Perhaps Troll was able to walk the mountain road?

I left work earlier, and was all set to go from the Søvik trailhead 16:10PM. I wasn't thrilled about the clouds that had moved in, but I was happy just to avoid the strong wind that we fought 14 months earlier. That hike was a true struggle.

The road from the trailhead had been plowed, so I skied in the outskirts, while Troll was walking the road. This condition didn't last long, and soon I was skiing on the road, while Troll was combating the tracks from a snow-trac vehicle. It didn't take long before I put him in the backpack.

Higher up on the mountain, the wind was picking up, and the amount of snow decreased. Troll did yet another leg of walking, while I started to wonder if we would get similar conditions as last year. Eventually, I had to put on full winter gear, goggles included, but this was nothing like last year. I clearly remember one point where Troll was unable to make forward progress. Today's trip was just a "walk in the park".

We reached the top 17:40PM, and the place was a bit hostile. I found shelter for the dog behind the main cairn, while taking pictures. We didn't stay long. I had planned for the dog to walk all the way down, but I decided to keep him in the backpack until we reached 600m elevation, where the wind would have settled.

Despite what the pictures might indicate, skiing was easy and fun. I skied outside the road most of the way, and could practice Telemark on a nice crust with a thin layer of snow on the top. I didn't hit a single rock on the way down. Troll kept a good pace down the mountain, also thanks to the hard tracks left by the snow trac vehicle, passing us on the way down. We were back at the car 18:45PM, and sunset was around the corner. We were blessed by the presence of a white-tailed eagle, observing our descent.

Still wearing my full-winter outfit, I decided to drive back down to Ålesund with the car roof down. If I am dressed for Gamlemsveten on a windy day, then 1,5 deg. C in 80Km/h shouldn't be a problem. And it wasn't. It was actually quite nice. The dog seemed a bit disappointed at first, but after entering "full circle" position, his "lights" soon went out.

Pictures from the Mar 21 2007 trip

To Gamlemsveten

1. On the mountain road to Gamlemsveten (239KB) 2. Skiing conditions improve (266KB) 3. Tverrbotshornet on my right (188KB) 4. The steepest slope is ahead (116KB) 5. The upper part of the mountain (151KB) 6. The wind and the snowdrift increases (164KB) 7. Snowdrift (205KB) 8. The summit is near (160KB) 9. A rough place (131KB) 10. The summit cairn (172KB)

Wide-angle views from Gamlemsveten

11. Wide-angle view from Gamlemsveten (565KB) 12. Wide-angle view from Gamlemsveten (276KB)

Zoom views from Gamlemsveten

13. Zoom view from Gamlemsveten (1569KB) 14. Zoom view from Gamlemsveten (443KB) 15. Zoom view from Gamlemsveten (902KB)

Descent

16. Cornices close to the road (193KB) 17. Troll on foot (141KB) 18. The white-tailed eagle (189KB)

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