Seldalsnuten, 1548m

Mountain area : Raundalen
Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/{Voss,Granvin}
Maps : 1316-II Ulvik (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary Factor: 198m
Hiked : Sep 2003
See also : Horndalsnuten
See also : Skipadalsnuten
See also : Olsskavlen
See also : Nordbotnnuten
Raundalsegga seen from Larsfonnfjellet

Raundalsegga seen from Larsfonnfjellet

Introduction

Seldalsnuten is the middle peak on the Raundalsegga ridge stretching from Voss to Fallet (the Ulvik/Raundalen pass). Seldalsnuten have Skipadalsnuten (1496m) and Horndalsnuten (1461m) to the west and Olsskavlen (1576m) and Nordbotnnuten (1471m) to the east. Seldalsnuten is also the 2nd highest mountain in Voss Kommune (sharing 2nd position with Blåfjell, 1548m) and the 2nd highest mountain in Granvin Kommune. Olsskavlen ranks as the highest mountain in Voss and Granvin. There is however a debate regarding the Kommune border on Olsskavlen. Some claim that the Kommune border run across the northernmost of the two Olsskavlen cairns, and this would mean that Olsskavlen would be the highest mountain in Granvin, while Seldalsnuten and Blåfjell would rank as the highest mountains in Voss. Considering that the Voss/Granvin Kommune border run across all the other summits, I find it difficult to understand why Olsskavlen should be an exception.

The views from all summits on this chain of peaks are fantastic, and from Seldalsnuten and Skipadalsnuten you can see Hurrungane on Sognefjell on a clear day (110Km away, direct line). Seldalsnuten takes its name from the Seldalen valley just south-east of the mountain. You can reach Seldalsnuten directly via ridges from Raundalen in the north and from the Granvin region in the south-west. The route description provided on this page has Raundalen as the starting point.

Primary Factor

Seldalsnuten has a primary factor of 198m towards the higher Olsskavlen. The saddle is found NE of Seldalsnuten, and has a fixed point (Rastaklov, 1350m) on the M711 map. No interpolation have been done.

Trail descriptions:

Note: Class ratings are in reference to YDS (Yosemite Decimal System).

Note: The trail described below is not necessarily the easiest trail to this mountain.

Reimegrend - Skorafjellet - Seldalsnuten - return via Skipadalsnuten (summer/autumn)

Difficulty : Class 2
Exposure : No
Comments : For experienced hikers
Distance : Approx. 19Km round-trip
Time : Approx. 7-8 hours round-trip (w/o pause).
Starting Elev.: Approx. 490m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 1250m (total w/Skipadalsnuten)

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

Access

From Bergen, follow highway E16 towards Oslo. From the central traffic light in Voss, drive straight ahead (towards Gjernes, not Oslo). Drive approx. 1.8Km and turn right onto highway 13 (towards Granvin/Bruravik). Follow this road for approx. 700m and turn left towards Mjølfjell. Follow the Mjølfjell road for approx. 20,3Km. You should now see the road down to "Reime St." on your right. Continue on the main road for yet another 600m and turn right onto a gravel road. Follow this gravel road for approx. 400m and park on a turnout on the left hand side. Further down the road, you see the railroad with a gate on either side.

The route

To Seldalsnuten

Walk across the railroad (close the gates) and continue on the forest road on the other side. Follow it to the end. The gravel road turns into a forest trail and turns towards the right at the end of the green acre on your right. Follow this trail for 5 minutes, and it will take you to the bridge across the river Raundalselvi.

Once across, follow the trail towards the left. Don't go off on any trails towards the right just yet. After 100-200m, the trail Y forks. The left trail follows the riverside. Take the trail towards the right. The trail is visible until you reach the 3 Reimesstølen buildings. Go right of the first and the second building (ruins). The third is further to the left and hard to see. After passing the second building, you arrive a meadow (wet). Head straight across and locate the trail on the other side. It is important that you find this trail.

At approx. 610m you arrive some boggy ground, and you may lose the trail. Maintain the SE direction and if you have not found the trail by 680m, then traverse the terrain. The trail is visible from 680m and up to a small valley just west of point 902m. From here on, prepare for off-trail hiking. In front of you is the ridge across Skorafjellet (left), Dyrebotnen valley and Fribottseggi ridge (right). Aim for Skorafjellet. The side close to Dyrebotnen is steep, so seek to the left until the terrain allows for normal walking. Follow this ridge all the way to point 1437m, which marks the top of this ridge. You will have two cross two traversing ridges before you can get on the ridge that leads to the summit.

There is a discrepancy on my GPS map vs. my GPS readings. My cairn waypoint is 21,4m west of the map 1548m point. Based on my GPS altitude reading, the summit is approx. 1554m. I choose however to stick with the height given on the M711 map. Descend your ascent route or include Skipadalsnuten on your return route.

Return via Skipadalsnuten

Head back towards point 1437m. Before this point, get on a high ridge that takes you directly down to the Seldalsnuten - Skipadalsnuten saddle. The descent to the saddle is easy. The ascent up the other side looks intimidating. But do not worry. Seek to the right in the saddle, and just before the saddle drops towards Dyrebotnen, find some natural stairs on your left. In a minute you are on a safe route up to the high point above the saddle. If for some reason you do not want to climb up from the saddle, turn left (south) and descend until you reach a long rocky couloir that takes you back up the mountain.

Descend slightly before you climb up to the Skipdalsnuten plateau. Stay left of the cliffs to your right. You neither gain or lose elevation by sticking to this route. Once past the cliffs, you get Horndalsnuten and Skipadalsnuten point 1496m in view. Continue to the Skipadalsnuten 1496m summit. After your summit visit, head back to the cliffs and climb up on the leftmost side of the long cliffband. This is very easy scrambling. You are now on top of the Fribottseggi ridge. You may choose to hike up to the second Skipadalsnuten summit (1495m) on your right before descending.

On your way down from Fribottseggi, aim for the grassy mountain side that drops down to Dyrebotnen. If you descend too early, you will have some problems with slick rocks (and you arrive too high in Dyrebotnen). If you descend too late, you will have problems with the cliffs above Dyrebotnen. The route should however be quite obvious, as you have it in view when you move over to the right hand side of the Fribottseggi ridge.

Once down in Dyrebotnen, cross the stream, pass a large cairn up on the right hand side in the valley. Set course towards the small valley west of point 902m and descend the forest route you followed upwards.

Trip Report Sep. 05 2003

This Friday, I decided to take one of my (many) remaining days of vacation and go for Seldalsnuten. Seldalsnuten was the only peak on the Raundalsegga ridge that I hadn't visited, and I looked forward to completing this ridge. The weather forecast was fairly good, and I looked forward to a good day in the mountains. When I arrived Voss 08:00AM, the mist hung just above the lakes, and I wondered how this would evolve. 20 minutes later, on my way up Raundalen, the mist was surrendering to the sun and when I reached Reimegrend, the sky was clear. I asked some locals how to find a trail down to the bridge, and I was pointed towards the perfect trailhead. 09:05AM, I was on my way.

This was my second hike from the Raundalen side (not counting a failed Horndalsnuten attempt in -25 deg. C) On the Olsskavlen hike I fumbled with the trail early on, and was determined to find the right path this time. After crossing the Raundalselvi river on my way to Seldalsnuten the trail forked immediately. I knew there was a trail going along the river, to my left, so I followed the one to the right. The trail took me south, instead of south-east. At 650m I realized the direction was totally wrong (I was 500m away from the correct trail at this point) and decided to hike off-trail through the forest up to the ridge leading to point 902m.

On my way across the ridge, I looked hard for the trail that would join the ridge. I noticed a cairn in a small valley before point 902m, and hoped that I would find the route on my way down. I reached point 902m 10:25AM, and decided the rest of the route when I got the Skorafjellet and Fribottseggi ridges in view. 11:08AM I passed the cairn at point 1167m and had a small break. I moved over to the west side of the ridge to plan the descent route. There was only one obvious route down to Dyrebotnen, and I hoped I would be able to identify this route on my descent. I then headed over to the east side of the ridge and stared straight down into the Trollabotnen valley. The snowmelt this summer was significant. By now, I got the Seldalsnuten - Skipadalsnuten saddle in view. The Skipadalsnuten side of the saddle looked steep and scary, and I wondered if I was in for some serious scrambling. Soon after I was on the Seldalsnuten ridge and arrived the summit 12:06PM, 3 hours after leaving the trailhead. The hike upwards had been hot, but strong winds on the summit suggested a rather short stay. After a quick meal, I was on my way towards Skipadalsnuten.

On my way to the saddle, I noticed a long couloir of rocks that provided a safe way to the Skipadalsnuten plateau. But I was curious about the saddle and chose the latter option. Down in the saddle, I concluded that the steep wall could be scrambled, but this would be a very exposed mission. But after seeking to the right, I found a good route that took me directly onto the ridge. The distance from the saddle to Skipdalsnuten summit was approx. 2,2Km and I reached Skipadalsnuten 13:30PM. I noticed a narrow, interesting ridge that came from Fribotnen. Perhaps a route for some future hike. The winds still suggested that being on the move was the best idea, and I turned around after a round of pictures.

I stopped by the 1495m point before heading down Fribottseggi ridge. My descent route was obvious from above, and descending to Dyrebotnen offered no problems, whatsoever. I also noticed that Skorafjellet could be easily reached from Dyrebotnen. On my way towards point 902m, trails came and trails went. I sought to the cairn that I had spotted below point 902m, and was very content when I found the trail after some searching. I lost the trail halfway down the forest, but found it again through sticking with the direction. On my way down towards the river, it became apparent that I had never been on the correct trail on my way upwards. I arrived at the trailhead 15:29PM, and the hike had nearly taken 6,5 hours.

Pictures from the Sep 05 2003 hike:

Move cursor to read notes, and click on the images to see full version.
Some of the thumbnails may have been cropped to fit the format.
Pictures are presented in the order they were taken.

Going up

Not a great start of the day (66KB) The promise of a great day (67KB) Horndalsnuten seen on the way to Seldalsnuten (132KB) Reimegrend (161KB) View from the route to Seldalsnuten (263KB) The routes up and down the mountain (293KB) View from cairn at 1167m (256KB) The descent route (436KB) High on Skorafjellet ridge (157KB) Trollabotnen (236KB) Skipadalsnuten comes into view (353KB)

Seldalsnuten views

Skipadalsnuten plateau (237KB) Olsskavlen seen from Seldalsnuten (367KB) Seldalsnuten summit cairn (129KB) South view from Seldalsnuten (427KB) Grim and Karaldenuten seen from Seldalsnuten (124KB) North view from Seldalsnuten (451KB) Mjolfjell seen from Seldalsnuten (204KB) Hurrungane seen from Seldalsnuten (74KB) Rjoandeggi seen from Seldalsnuten (337KB) Strutseggi seen from Seldalsnuten (178KB)

Towards Skipadalsnuten and back to trailhead

On route towards Skipadalsnuten (87KB) Facing the Seldalsnuten - Skipadalsnuten saddle (190KB) In the saddle (138KB) View towards Seldalsnuten (183KB) Skipadalsnuten ahead (319KB) View towards Seldalsnuten (263KB) Pond near Skipadalsnuten (159KB) Skipadalsnuten and Horndalsnuten (244KB) Skipadalsnuten summit plateau (376KB) Seldalsnuten seen from Skipadalsnuten (352KB) Near the clouds (123KB) South view from Skipadalsnuten (203KB) Descending Fribottseggi (300KB) In Dyrebotnen. View is north (173KB) In Dyrebotnen. View is south (133KB) Spooky (234KB) Reimesstolen (178KB) Bridge over river Raundalselvi (172KB) Back at the trailhead (155KB) Skipadalsnuten seen from Raundalen (128KB)

Pictures from other hikes:

Summit view from Torfinnshorgi (590KB) Raundalsegga seen from Byrseteggi (563KB) Summit view from Kaldenuten (508KB) Raundalsegga seen from Kaldanuten (210KB) South view from Aamidlenutane (309KB) Raundalsegga seen from Uraskarfjellet (745KB) Summit views from Vetlafjellet (1545KB) Ulvik mountains (334KB) Raundalsegga (229KB) Raundalsegga seen from Gråeggi (1158KB)


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