Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Gjuratinden (1712m) & Hoemskardtinden (1430m),
Apr 22 2012
To the main Gjuratinden page (maps, pictures, other trip reports)
The route, as seen in Google Earth
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The first time I noticed Gjuratinden was January 8 2006 - on Blåskjerdingen. I had recently moved to Ålesund and I visited Blåskjerdingen together with my friend Petter. We saw many mighty fine peaks in the distance, but a handful stood out above the rest. Gjuratinden (aka Juratind) - 67,5km to the east was one of them...
Over the coming years, I visited a number of "mighty fine peaks" in the region, including Romsdalshorn, Kyrkjetaket, Finnan, Kongen, Bispen and Breitinden - to name a few. But I never made it to Gjuratinden. A friend in Oslo kept reporting one failed winter attempt after the other, and even if I was invited to one of these trips, I didn't really feel up to the task. A winter ascent of Gjuratinden sounded quite serious. And after moving to Gurskøya in 2008, the Isfjorden region seemed suddenly further away than ever.
Eventually, I forgot all about Gjuratinden. But in 2012, I learned that my friend Odd Arne had a couple of failed attempts on this mountain. I was not surprised. This mountain just doesn't allow visitors, it seemed...
But when Odd Arne announced that he would make his third attempt on Gjuratinden this Pentecost, and when he mentioned that "in case I was interested ...", I went plumb insane. My girlfriend Anne was busy in Hardanger and I had the weekend all to myself, so I sent a message back to him that I might be interested, but asked him to check if it was OK with the others. I found it best to send a message, because if I had called him, he might have a hard time understanding me. That phone call would have gone something like;
- Hello, I (omigod omigod) have been (omigod omigod) thinking about what you said (omigod omigod omigod omigod) regarding [grunts...] Gjuratind, and I [heavy breathing] (omigod omigod omigod omigod) find the idea ... (omigod omigod [heavy breathing] omigod omigod) quite interesting...
Odd Arne got back to me a bit later and reported that the team was OK with one more member. I reported back that I was very interested, but decided to keep the communication on an electronic basis for a little while longer...
Gjuratinden
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The omnipresent avalanche danger these days was an issue. Avalanches coming from recently fallen snow was going off everywhere, and no route seemed safe. But after a week of high temperatures, the danger had become significantly reduced. Still, we decided for an early start. At least, we could reduce the danger while ascending the mountain.
The departure from Grøvdalen was set to 05:30am, well aligned with my 02:30am ferry from Hareid. I must admit it's rather hard to go to bed at 7-8pm on a Friday night, so the short story is that I didn't sleep at all. At 01:30am, I treated myself with 4 cups of coffee and then set course for Isfjorden. I took the roof down and enjoyed music with explicit lyrics. I was having the time of my life...
Waiting for the 02:30 ferry from Hareid
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There were only a dozen cars on the ferry, but I still expected the crew to find a way to make my crossing a miserable one. They seldom fail. I allowed myself a 20-minute nap. But after 10 minutes I was brutally awakened when a Securitas guy knocked on my window to inspect my ticket...
Once off the ferry, quality of life improved dramatically and I had a nice drive to Isfjorden. 10 minutes after parking the car, Odd Arne, Øystein, Johnny and Ole arrived at Rabben Sæter. After introductions and final packing, we were on our way 05:47am.
It's been a while since I carried a load like this; a pair of skis, two ice axes, crampons, personal climbing gear, a 60 meter rope, 3 litres of water, food, knife, a SLR camera, skins, extra clothes, sports tape, medicine kit, repair kits, etc. After checking closely, I found that I was so motivated that I hardly felt the weight.
At 6:07am, after having walked 1,1km and ascended 280 vertical meters, we could put the skis on. I did notice this loss of weight, and what a delight it was!
On skis!
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Now was a good time to get acquainted with the rest of the team. I knew Odd Arne from before, after trips to Breitinden and Svartevasstinden. Johnny, Ole and Øystein all seemed like very nice guys. They had all been in steep terrain before, and no one seemed particularly bothered about the fact that we were on our way to an ugly-steep mountain...
The avalanche danger had been a concern, but the steepest hillside between 800 and 1000 meters seemed solid enough, and we had now passed the high-risk areas. All focus could now be directed towards the real ascent of the mountain.
Mindful about the surroundings...
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Gjuratinden stood out more and more mighty, and I started to hear omigod omigod in my head again...
Gjuratinden
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At 9:30am, we arrived on the southwest ridge and took our skis off. We would proceed on foot from here. I took a look up the ridge, and wasn't quite sure what to think, but I remember asking - "why do I keep doing this to myself?"...
The southeast ridge
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Satisfied with the "I don't know, but it seems I'm destined to" answer to my own question, I proceeded up the ridge. The initial scrambling was easy. But easy street took a sudden halt when it was time to cross a steep couloir. Odd Arne took the lead and I heard myself object strongly, watching him trying to defeat gravity. I guess he got fed up with my yelling, because he settled for a vector that was at least 5 degrees less steep. I was arguing with myself if fainting was an option, but decided to follow on. If this was my last day on earth, then there could be no better place to spend it...
The first couloir
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To my surprise, I survived the first couloir (I call it that because I'm convinced some numbnuts [no offense, just respect...] do ski here...) I actually thought that the second couloir was less steep - until I reached the top and looked back down. I seriously considered if fainting was still an option, but as the others seemed to be just as scared as you would be in a hot tub with a cold beer, I decided to suspend the drama for the time being...
After all, dealing with this fear is the primary reason why I allow myself to go through this pain. It's all in all very rewarding...
The second couloir
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Odd Arne announced that we had arrived at the belay point, and I felt relaxed. No more steep snow for the time being. Why is it that I could so -easily- expose myself on steep rock, but get so uncomfortable on semi-steep snow? I don't know...
The plan was that Odd Arne would lead with two ropes, Johnny and Ole would follow on prusiks and that Øystein and me would bring in the ropes. It was a good plan, but then Øystein and me had forgotten about the fact that we would stay one hour in the shadow, and we were getting quite cold along the way...
At the belay point
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The "suspense" was intense. What would the route be like? Not to mention the crux! Finally, it was our turn. When he took off, Odd Arne suggested that we should wear crampons, although he also suggested the opposite after reaching the summit. I found it hard to make a decision, so I decided to keep them on for the time being.
The communication between Odd Arne and the rest of us was done via walkie talkie. I'm sure there are all sorts of opinions on this, but I found it to be quite clever. I've been in walls where people were shouting all over the place. Who were shouting, what were they shouting, and who were they shouting too? I don't care much if anyone thinks this is bad style....
The initial scrambling was easy, but when I arrived at the crux, I found it a bit difficult. After one failed attempt, I considered taking the crampons off, but I realized they weren't the real problem. I tried again, but I kept struggling. I was in desperate need of some progress, and chopped the axe into the rock above me. I got a grip! As I was belayed, I had little to lose. I trusted the grip, and pulled myself one step up. Mix climbing, yeah! That was it! The rest was trivial. I arrived on Gjuratinden summit 12:09am, and it felt fine. Just fine...
On top of Gjuratinden
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To be honest, the smile on the summit was just for show. In fact, I didn't feel anything at all. That insane sensation one is expected to feel was evenly spread out between the point I was given the chance to participate to the point where I had defeated the crux. That period of time (more than a week) gave me so much energy. Arriving on the top was nothing in comparison, and I don't think I'm the only person in the world who feels that way. Besides - I wasn't home free just yet...
On top were also two other climbers that I had met when I arrived at Rabben early morning. Not having ice-axes, they decided to climb the summer route. Odd Arne was kind enough to lower them down from the summit block.
After enjoying some nice minutes on top, it was time to get ready for the descent. To minimize problems while pulling the rope, Odd Arne wanted to rappel straight down the southeast face. Those without any particular experience from abseiling steep walls were probably not looking too much forward to this, but I felt totally OK with it. Not that I am very seasoned in this game, but at least there would be no snow involved! Well, not until the landing anyway, so I decided to do the rappel with my crampons on. It was decided that Øystein would be the first one out...
Øystein gets ready
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It took quite some time before Øystein reported that he was down, but he had run into some problems with the rope. Now that was all sorted out, I was next. Normally, I find rappels to be big fun, but I'm a bit nervous every time I decide to have the prusik below my ATC. The initial abseil went fine. An overhang took me by surprise, and I slammed into the wall and the whole mountain smelled like gun smoke after the crampons-vs-rock encounter.
After rappelling 40 meters, my prusik jammed. I didn't understand what had happened, but the rope was all twisted, and I was stuck. I was able to swing onto a ledge and got rid of the prusik. Then I continued down as far as the rope allowed me to, and then I only stopped for pictures. I wanted to get past the couloirs, and I was in a hurry!
The others soon caught up with me, and the view back was quite memorable;
Couloir (gully) crossing below Gjuratinden
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Back at the skis, I felt 20 pounds lighter. I had the survived this mountain! Only a silly avalanche could ruin my day, but I wasn't going to allow that to happen. We decided to visit Hoemskardtinden (1430m) on the way down. There was no excuse for bypassing a bonus peak such as this one, and we were all in a jolly good mood too. Especially since we had descend 250 meters on skis before taking on Hoemskardtinden...
Towards Hoemskardtinden
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The ascent didn't take long and at 2:44pm, we stood on top on Hoemskardtinden. There was just no end to how good this day was going to be...
On Hoemskardtinden
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Our final task was to return to Rabben, safe and sound. The descent to 950 meters was ... quite unforgettable ... and from there on, we chose to descend one by one. Just in case. We returned to Rabben at 4pm (sharp) - close to 10 hours after leaving. The others decided to go for a plunge in the river, but I was only keen on getting home and to get some sleep. I had a long drive ahead of me. When I arrived Gurskøya in the evening, I had driven in total 330 kilometers. A couple of beers were awaiting in the fridge. I think even the label read Omigod...
A warm thanks goes out to Odd Arne, Johnny, Ole and Øystein for a fantastic mountain adventure. Hope to see you all again!
The good life in the Isfjorden region...
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