Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Næremstindan

Høgsvora, Dec 31 2007

This route is described on the Høgsvora main page

 

The routes up & down Høgsvora

The routes up & down Høgsvora
(Click for larger image)


There could not be a better way ..

to end 2007. Gorgeous weather, a beautiful peak and awesome snow conditions (fresh powder). Svein Myhre (fjellinordvest.net) suggested this trip, and since I had reached my personal ambitions in respect of bagging new mountains this year, I was quite happy on visiting a mountain that I'd been on before. My March 2006 ski-trip was fresh in mind. At least I remembered the fun south ridge and that my dog walked all the way down from the top. On this day, however, my aging little friend would enjoy the company of my neighbour Pål.

I asked Arngeir Syversen to come along. He's now into the peak-bagging business as well, and hadn't been to Høgsvora. I had a very nice hike with Arngeir to Melen on Dec. 25th, and a fantastic ski-trip to Ådalstinden on Dec. 22th, where I met Svein on the summit.

Who breaks the trail?

We agreed to met 10:30AM at the Høgsvora trailhead on Vaksvikfjellet. In one way, it's a late start. On the other hand, we had more than enough time for this mountain. Besides, chances are that someone has left earlier and broken the trail. As we headed out 10:45AM, we were quite happy to see that the trail had been broken, and I had talked to two people who were heading up the south ridge. Everything was set for just enjoying the day.

The south ridge ..

.. is an aesthetic ridge. At least I think so. It's narrow in a few spots, and while some could find it a bit airy, it's not a difficult ridge. As the cornices change, it impacts the route to a certain degree. I remembered one point from last year's trip that was a bit airy. I was standing on top of a large cornice and because of the shade, I couldn't see the ground ahead of me. At least not very well. It took me a moment or two to move on. I was also carrying my dog, which made balance a bit more awkward.

Today, the same cornice was a different ball game. The cornice was much higher, and could certainly not be skied. The guys ahead of us had made a detour around the cornice. It was not a big deal, but added flavor. The ridge could have been long, flat and boring.

I enjoyed every moment of the ascent. Skiing up here without the weight of the dog in the backpack was overwhelming. Arngeir struggled with skins that did not do what they were supposed to, and had to work hard for this pleasure.

Windy top

We reached the top 12:46PM, which meant that the ascent had taken us 2 hours. Carrying Troll up here in 2006, it took me 1h:45m to reach the top. As I figured we had kept a fair and normal pace today, I reckoned I must have been skiing quite hard in 2006.

I almost caught up with the two (other) skiers ahead before they reached the top. They headed out almost half an hour ahead of us. They turned around immediately, and found a sheltered spot below the top. It was evident that the summit was quite windy and cold today.

It was indeed, and taking pictures was work and not pleasure. I've never seen Svein spend less time on pictures. He skied back down to the sheltered spot.

Now ..

.. what we came for. The descent. While Svein cruised down and seemed to have as much fun as you can get, I struggled with skis (170cm) that were not adequate for deep powder snow. The skis buried themselves into the ground and sent me deep into the snow. Face in, time after time. Longer and wider skis are now on my shopping list.

But even while looking more and more like a snowman, it was still fun. A whole lotta fun. A number of skiers were on their way up. Probably betting on good tracks up the mountain...

13:55PM, we were back at the trailhead. Next on the agenda was Sukkertoppen. The dog needs the exercise. No rest for the wicked.

Pictures

Slideshow, all pics on this page:

To the south ridge

1. View from the trailhead (138KB) 2. The sun shines on Høgsvora summit (255KB) 3. On the way to Høgsvora (142KB) 4. Amazing colors (124KB) 5. In Kvanndalen (234KB) 6. Trolltinden on Ørskogfjellet (151KB) 7. Geitenibba seen from a favorable angle (164KB) 8. Pause in front of the south ridge (205KB) 9. The first skier down the mountain (179KB)

On the south ridge

10. On the south ridge (213KB) 11. On the south ridge (164KB) 12. On the south ridge (299KB) 13. Arngeir. With some air behind (228KB) 14. On the south ridge (289KB) 15. Big cornice (203KB) 16. Having passed the cornice (291KB) 17. Summit ahead (229KB) 18. Svein and Arngeir following (196KB) 19. Arngeir arrives the summit (148KB) 20. Høgsvora summit (151KB)

Wide-angle views from Høgsvora (w/compass)

21. Wide-angle view from Høgsvora (728KB) 22. Wide-angle view from Høgsvora (797KB) 23. Næremstindan south flank (251KB)

360 deg. 50mm views from Høgsvora

24. 50mm view from Høgsvora, part 1 of 2 (1148KB) 25. 50mm view from Høgsvora, part 2 of 2 (1115KB)

Zoom views from Høgsvora

26. Zoom view from Høgsvora (521KB) 27. Haram tops seen from Høgsvora (946KB)

Descent

28. Arngeir on the way down (231KB) 29. Arnt descending, with quite a panorama (411KB) 30. Arnt descending. Bad style, but fun (225KB) 31. Arngeir and Arnt with Geitenibba behind (291KB) 32. Svein descending (189KB) 33. Arngeir ahead of me (176KB) 34. Svein, enjoying his upgraded equipment (153KB) 35. More dogs on Høgsvora (224KB) 36. Svein sweeping past me (260KB) 37. Looking back on Høgsvora (191KB) 38. Not dark quite yet (232KB) 39. Kvitnyken, which Odd Arne had just skied (187KB)

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