Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Skardsettinden, May 31 2008
To the main Skardsettinden page (maps, route descriptions, etc.)
Direct route to Skardsettinden
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this Saturday morning, with no particular place to go. I was looking for a nice hike, and decided to take the ferry across Romsdalsfjorden and see where destiny would lead me. My dog Troll kept me company, and it was just a beautiful day with high temperatures all around. Once place in Norway even saw 30 deg. C. In May!
A plan about visiting Stordalstinden was emerging, but then I suddenly remembered Skardsettinden. I had seen this magnificent piece of rock on my Skalten hike in 2007. On the internet I had seen that people indeed do visit this mountain. The target was set, and I was on my way to Fræna.
Seeing Skardsettinden ..
from the south gave me shivers. If that's not steep, then please tell me what steep is!! I looked at the dog and asked if he was up for an airy experience. He said nothing - just looked at me, and I wondered what to do. I couldn't leave the dog in the car, even if I was driving convertible. It was just too hot. I decided to drive to a farm and get some more information about the mountain. If it wasn't too steep, Troll could come along.
At the farm, I met Terje Harnes, a nice fellow who seemed to enjoy the visit. We chatted for a long while. He hadn't been to the top, but recommended me to head straight up the forest. That was the shortest route, he said. Terje said I could park on his property, and when I asked if he had a shady spot, he came up with the perfect solution. I parked the car in his barn - a shady and cool place. I left Troll with enough water before heading up the forest. Given the 500 vertical meter ascent, I told Terje I would be up within the hour, and back before two hours had passed. He didn't seem convinced..
Hello...
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The scramble
I left the farm 12:25PM. The forest was quite easy and I reached the grassy field 15 minutes later. The route up to the summit block was obvious and I soon ran into a path. 12:55PM, I entered the summit block and continued to move quickly up the mountain. Then I ran into a point which was more difficult than the terrain so far. Climbing up wasn't the issue. Getting back down was. For a minute, I was thinking about what I should do. Then I searched for an alternative route to the right, and found a trivial bypass. "That was a bit weird", I thought to myself. "Why not let the path follow the easiest route?"
I moved on and soon ran into a similar point. I also tried to find another route around, but there was none. But when I figured out how this point could safely be descended, I climbed up. I was in a steep landscape now, no doubt about it. I felt a good "rush" inside. The combination of airy, unknown terrain and a fast pace always give me this feeling.
Airy landscape
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A big couloir (Geitaslågå) opened up in front of me. Heck, this was just as being on a high peak in the middle of the Sunnmørsalpene mountain range! As a matter of fact, the scrambling reminded me on trips to Brekketinden and Hundatinden. I followed the path and soon stood in front of something I called a problem. The couloir was now a narrow gully, and climbing the gully didn't seem like something I wanted to do. I tried to climb directly up from the gully. In the beginning, handholds were excellent, but soon the slab section just got too exposed. I climbed back down and decided I had to find a different way to the top.
I headed down a bit and noticed a place where I could get onto the ridge above me. I wasn't too happy about this point either, although it wasn't technically difficult. But I had to hold on to loose moss and the exposure was ugly. I I made it up to the ridge, and even without having seen the rest of the terrain, I knew that the rest would be piece of cake. There was a cairn where I joined the ridge, so I wasn't the first one going this way.
It was, and 13:24PM, I was on top Skardsettinden, 59 minutes after leaving the farm. I sent an SMS to Terje and went over to a viewpoint in case he was scouting. He wasn't. I could see him paint the wall...
Descent
After a quick round of pictures, I headed back down (13:35PM). The only awkward point was the mossy part. I spent at least 5 minutes on this section. It would have taken seconds had it not been for my backpack. I kept a good pace down the mountain and the forest and was back at the farm 14:06PM. Terje reckoned that to be a quick hike. He offered me orange juice while Troll stretched his legs.
I figured it was time to walk the dog, and asked Terje how I could get to Raudtua (590m) the easy way. I was happy when he told me that a 2,6Km forest road would take me up to a trail head at 180m. I thanked him for the hospitality before moving on to Raudtua.
