Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Skolma via Skolmedalen, Aug 20 2009


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The route

The route
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Skolma is a popular mountain, and people normally hike this mountain from Ytreflø or Brandal.  Another option is to go off-trail up Skolmedalen valley, and if you do so, the chance of meeting other hikers (before you reach the top) is rather slim. And that is a shame, because this is a beautiful valley, with tall walls rising above. 

I became aware of this route when I started taking the express boat between Hareid and Ålesund. Seen from a distance, the route didn't look trivial, but on a walk from Kvitneset to Flø (Aug 9 2009), I had a better view up Skolmedalen, and I could no longer see any difficulties. The only thing left to do was to make the trip.

I asked my colleague Terje Øvrebø to come along, knowing he also appreciates slightly odd routes up mountains. Terje brought his own car. One car at Brandal and one at Kvitneset is clearly an advantage, because then you don’t need to walk the 2.4 km from the Skolma trailhead (at Brandal) back to Kvitneset.  

 

The route, seen from Kvitneset

The route, seen from Kvitneset
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Heading out from Kvitneset is always nice. It is a 1,5km walk to the valley entrance, and we didn't say no to some fun scrambling along the way. We followed a moraine up to a creek and stuck with the creek until it got too steep and slippery. At first, we headed up a grassy slope that led us away from the creek, but what appeared to be the obvious route soon led us back to it, and now we were above the steepest part.

 

The route up Skolmedalen

The route up Skolmedalen
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The "gate" to the upper valley was a distinct, grassy ledge, and it looked like a straightforward route. But on the way up, we noticed a wet slab area on top of this ledge, and there was some "excitement" as to whether we could pass without slipping and falling off. But it turned out that this section was of the friendly kind, and it was also clear that the rest of the route up the mountain would be easy.

We went over to the edge so we could see the shore, and noticed a couple of steep gullies. One had a very cool viewpoint (a rock), which just had to be checked out. I couldn't go all the way to end of the rock, as it was slanting downwards, but even from my fairly safe position - I got dizzy. It's the same ol', same ol';  - walking outwards proud and upright - only to find myself crawling back in..

 

Shore view

Shore view
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We also passed some cool cliffs, but refrained from any further climbing. An eminent sunset was in the making, and I wanted pictures from the top. We arrived on Skolma summit 7:06pm - 2 hours after leaving Kvitneset. Two Danes arrived shortly after and Skolma was semi-crowded on this nice afternoon.

 

Magic light on Runde

Magic light on Runde
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On the way down, we caught up with a teenager on the rocky trail. She was wearing a towel and pink clogs! She told us she had walked up from Brandal to see if the temperature in Lake Grøthornvatnet (500m) was good, but it wasn't. So she walked back down. Terje and I found that to be quite remarkable..

 

Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6

 
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To Skolmedalen

0. Trip tracks 1. The route up Skolmedalen 2. Scrambling along the shore 3. Walking along the shore 4. Small, but fun obstacles 5. Some steps are long 6. The Skolmedalen route 7. Upper part of Skolmedalen, zoomed in

Up Skolmedalen

8. A nice creek 9. Jåblom - Parnassia palustris - Grass-of-Parnassus 10. Big wall 11. Godøya 12. Big walls above 13. View down the valley 14. A small slab area 15. A short rest 16. Sukkertoppen & Ålesund 17. More walls 18. Inside a cliff 19. Any shortcuts? 20. Kvitneset 21. Up the ridge 22. Viewpoint 23. Slightly dizzy 24. Terje is airborne 25. Sula island 26. I rule this world! 27. The shore, towards Flø 28. Sula and the sky 29. Profiles 30. Skolma locals 31. On top

Skolma views

32. Signalhornet 33. Ocean light 34. Light falls on Runde

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