Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Løkeberget (579m) from Snipsøyrvatnet, Dec 12 2010
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The route from Snipsøyrvatnet
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My colleague Terje Øvrebø and myself had planned to ski down from Haddalshornet on this Sunday, if the skiing conditions were acceptable. But after days of rain and then a sudden overnight drop in temperature, skiing had to be postponed. A hike was more in order, and I proposed Løkeberget from Snipsøyrvatnet. This was one of the very few routes on Hareidlandet island that I still hadn't done. We had both been to Løkeberget before, but only along the route from Løsetvatnet.
We met by Snipsøyrvatnet and agreed that the service road (open to the public) was too icy to drive. So we parked by the main road and headed out 12:27pm. While the service road was utterly boring, the hike up the forest was just strenuous. The snow didn't carry our weight, and there was a lot of it. The snow, I mean...
Steep terrain above Svartevatnet
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Once we arrived on Løkeberget's east ridge, the snow was firmer hiking got a bit easier. A snow shower was on the way, and being a fan of contrasts, I welcomed the change in weather. And the snow was perfect timing after the cold weather. Walking close to the edge offered some cool views down to Svartevatnet. After the strenuous approach, we could finally enjoy something...
High above Svartevatnet
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The wind was picking up, and once we got the summit cairn in view, it was clear that the summit would be a very windy place. We arrived at the summit cairn 2:08pm - 1h:41m after heading out and took cover behind the cairn...
Arriving on Løkeberget summit
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There wasn't much to do up here, so we turned around after a few minutes. We discussed descending via Stornakken, but ended up glissading down our ascent route. A bit further down in the forest, Terje did his best to satisfy the photographer...
Yi-ha down the forest
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We returned to the trailhead 3:11pm - 2h:44m after heading out. Strenuous as it may have been, I enjoyed the route and concluded that if one follows the ridge via Storanakken, this would also be good skiing route. Perhaps I'll return one fine winter's day...
