Norwegian Mountains

Litlagullfjellet, Sep 16 2005

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"Pilatus" attempt

On this rainy afternoon, I headed up to Gullfjellet, determined to give The "Pilatus" couloir a decent shot. I started out from Osavatnet 17:00PM and arrived the base of the couloir 18:55PM. The rain had made the rocks wet and slippery, but inside this couloir, wet rock is the least of your problems.

"Pilatusgjelet" consists of loose rocks and scree from top to bottom. You have to be "light as a feather" on your way upwards, and if there is more than one person in this couloir, they should climb in parallel. Strictly speaking, no one should attempt this couloir in summer/autumn. The couloir is a classic winter route and popular by those who like to ski down steep couloirs.

But I wanted to see if this couloir was doable. On my last visit, I turned around to prevent a couple of sheep from being killed in case I started a rockfall. I had forgot about the details on where I turned around, but here I was, and I suddenly wondered if it was fair to blame the sheep.

The first true problem was a huge rock, blocking the couloir. It could be bypassed to the right, but I didn't trust the smaller boulder, stacked randomly on top of each other. It looked like everything would collapse on contact. With me under. At least, that was how I felt it there and then. It was fairly steep, and even if I had some nuts and slings ready, there were no places to put them. Every rock I touched, moved.

Further problems seemed to await me above this point. A spot that seemed even steeper than the present one, made me give up on this couloir for good. The upper spot didn't have any loose rocks, most likely because it was too steep. Perhaps if I had company, I would feel a bit tougher. But this was it. I turned around and headed back to the trailhead via Litlagullfjellet/Kinndalsnipa. 3 hours after I left it, I was back at the car.

Pictures from the Sep 16 2005 hike:

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1. View down Pilatusgjelet (267KB) 2. Pilatusgjelet turn-around point (377KB) 3. View from Litlagullfjellet (400KB) 4. View from Litlagullfjellet (1946KB)

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Other pictures from this couloir:


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