Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Giskemonibba, 687m

Fylke/Kommune : Møre og Romsdal/Ørskog
Maps : xxx
(Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary factor : 114m
Visited : May 2006
See also : Geitenibba
See also : Sprovstinden
See also : Vargurksla
See also : Høgsvora
See also : Snaufjellet
See also : Lebergsfjellet
See also : Verahornet

Giskemonibba and the trailhead

Giskemonibba and the trailhead

Introduction

Giskemonibba is a characteristic top on Ørskogfjellet, easily identified on your right-hand side when you drive E39 up from Sjøholt. Strictly speaking, Giskemonibba is a northern spur on the Snaufjellet massif, but there is enough drop between the two tops to recognize Giskemonibba as a separate mountain.

In summer, you can drive all the way to Kvanndalssætra and avoid 3,7Km on foot. The road is closed in winter, and is a rough road to drive when open. If you have a large car, borrow a smaller one. The bridge across Ørskogelva river is narrow.

There are also other routes up the mountain, but the route from Kvanndalssætra is more convenient. The path is easy to follow and it only takes 45 minutes to the top. The views are good, and you will get a good overview of Ørskogfjellet from the summit.

Primary factor:

Giskemonibba (M711: 687m, Ø.K.: 686,79m, UTM 32 V 392423 6931891) has a primary factor of 114m towards the higher Snaufjellet (893m). The defining saddle (approx. UTM 32 V 392223 6931292) is found by Lake Heivatnet. On the M711 map, the lake drain two ways. On Økonomisk Kartverk, the lake doesn't drain at all! In either case, you cross the 575m contour on the way towards Snaufjellet. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), the saddle is within the range 571-575m, interpolated to 573m.

My GPS reported 687m on the highest rock as average over a 10 minute period.

Giskemonibba seen from Liafjellet

Giskemonibba seen from Liafjellet

Trail descriptions:

Notes: Class ratings are in reference to YDS. Click here for more information.

The trails described below are not necessarily the *easiest* trails to this mountain.

Kvanndalssætra - Giskemonibba (summer/autumn)

Difficulty : Class 1 (YDS)
Exposure : No
Comments : Easy hike
Distance : Approx. 2Km to the top
Time : Approx. 45 minutes to the top
Starting Elev.: Approx. 370m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 320m (total)

Map of the area
Map of the area
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Detailed map
Detailed map
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Access

From Ålesund, follow highway E136->E39 towards Åndalsnes. From the E136/E39/Olsvika roundabout near Breivka, follow E39 to the RV650 (Geiranger/Stordal) / E39 junction above Sjøholt. Follow E39 approx. 4.9Km and turn right onto the forest road towards Kvanndalen. Assuming the road is open all the way, drive 3,7Km to the Kvanndalen parking. You see a trailhead to (a.o.) Giskemonibba here. Along the way, you pass a narrow bridge across Ørskogelva. A large car won't be able to pass here.

The route

In short, the path follows the ridge all the way up to the top. You cross the stream twice below 500m elevation. The rest of the ridge route is quite obvious. You have view down towards E39 most of the way. The summit is marked by several cairns. One of these holds the summit logbook in a blue container.

Descend your ascent route, or return via Snaufjellet; Descend to Heivatnet, ascend Snaufjellet's NW ridge (Tovardane), traverse the summit and descend to Kråvatnet just S of Koldafjellet. Down by the lake, you may find a path leading to Kvanndalssætra. I have not hiked this route, but it looks fairly easy based on the terrain.

Giskemonibba (center) seen from Verahornet

Giskemonibba (center) seen from Verahornet

Trip report, May 19 2006

Friday evening, and time for an afternoon walk. I chose Giskemonibba as the goal, and had plans to scramble up the couloir leading directly up to the summit from the west. I got confused about the forest roads and ended up on the road into Kvanndalen. As I didn't know if the river could be crossed, I decided to hike the normal route.

A 4WD truck was parked along the road, but drove away fast when I came along. I found this a bit weird. The truck then parked just before the bridge, and considering the rough road, I decided to ask him about the road higher up. Seemingly nervous, avoiding eye contact while lighting a cigarette, he was unable to tell me anything about the road except that a narrow bridge had prevented him from getting further. So if he didn't know this area, what in the world was he doing up here? Certainly not hiking or fishing. I decided not to dwell on this, and left the guy alone.

I passed the narrow bridge and the road got slightly rougher. But I drove on and reached the trailhead. The time was 17:15PM and my dog "Troll" immediately laid down. I carried him in the backpack for five minutes, then put the backpack down and said "walk" with a firm voice. No response. I tried again. ****W*A*L*K****. It was like putting a coin into a toy rabbit. He stepped out of the backpack and walked like he never walked before.

We reached some surviving snow along the stream, and after a couple of snowrolls, Troll ran past me with his mouth wide open, looking at me. It wasn't hard to recognize a dog having fun. So why this stupid act at the trailhead? This happens 9 times out of 10. Perhaps he enjoys bugging the life out of me. Crow mentality.

We reached the top 17:45PM. It was indeed a short hike, but it was nice to be up here. I enjoyed the views and the fact that snow was melting rapidly in the mountains. Fun to see how things look when the snow has gone. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, but the Ålesund region was cloudy. I had chosen the right area for my afternoon walk. It was still early in the afternoon, and I decided that I would stop by Nysæternakken before returning to Ålesund.

We left the top 18:00PM and were back at the trailhead 18:20PM. Next stop was Nysæternakken.

Pictures from the May 19 2006 hike

Note: Apologies for the poor picture quality. My camera was at the repair shop, and I had to bring along the 4-year old Nikon Coolpix 4500.

To Giskemonibba

1. Crossing Ørskogelva (329KB) 2. The trailhead (230KB) 3. Surviving snow (185KB) 4. Giskemonibba ahead (129KB) 5. The valley below (576KB) 6. Troll catching up (330KB) 7. Troll on Giskemonibba (286KB) 8. Giskemonibba summit (234KB)

360 deg. wide-angle panorama from Giskemonibba

9. 360 deg. wide-angle panorama from Giskemonibba (1101KB)

Other pictures from the top

10. Lauparen (154KB) 11. The Trolltinden (Brustinden) massif (270KB) 12. Smørskredtindane (208KB) 13. Sandvikshornet seen from Giskemonibba (100KB) 14. Nysætra on Ørskogfjellet (276KB) 15. Fjordview from Giskemonibba (132KB)

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Other pictures of Giskemonibba:

1. Views, up in the hillside (611KB) 2. Medium zoom view from Smørhylla S. (617KB) 3. Sprovstinden (183KB) 4. 56mm view from Næremstindan 5. 85mm zoom view from Svartevasstinden 6. Ørskogfjellet tops 7. 50mm panorama from Sandvikshornet, part 1/2 (1441KB) 8. 50mm view from Middagsfjellet (805KB)

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