Norwegian Mountains

Storåsen, 395m

Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/Fusa
Maps : 1215-II Varaldsøyna (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Maps : 1215-III Fusa (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary factor : 217m
Hiked : Dec 2004
See also : Rødsfjell
See also : Våganipen
Storaasen seen from Ottanosi

Storåsen seen from Ottanosi

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Introduction

My guess is that Storåsen is seldom visited. The views from the summit are limited due to high trees, the forest hill is barely seen from the highway and there are no trailsigns along the highway. Storåsen almost disappears among the (much) higher mountains that surround the Fusa lakes Henangervatnet, Skogseidvatnet, Gjønvatnet, Vengsvatnet and Skjelbreidvatnet.

I'm not sure which is the best route up the forest, but the route described here is quite unproblematic, and should take you to the top in half an hour or so. The route is partly trail, partly off-trail.

Primary factor:

Storåsen (M711: 393m, Ø.K: 395m) has a primary factor of 217m towards the higher Rødsfjell (589m). The saddle is found just north of lake Vesletjørna. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 180m contours on the high route, but not 175m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 178m.

Trail descriptions:

Notes: Class ratings are in reference to YDS. Click here for more information.

The trails described below are not necessarily the *easiest* trails to this mountain.

RV48 - Storåsen (summer/autumn)

Difficulty : Class 1
Exposure : No
Comments : Partly trail/off-trail
Distance : Approx. 1,5Km to the top
Time : Approx. 30-40 minutes (w/o pause)
Starting Elev.: Approx. 130m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 270m

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

From Bergen, follow highway E16 towards Oslo. At the E16/RV 7 junction (roundabout) at Trengereid, turn right onto RV 7. Follow RV 7 to the RV 7/RV 48 junction after Bjørkheim (approx. 13,9Km from the Trengereid junction). Turn right onto RV48 and follow this road for approx. 31Km. You're now on the way down towards lake Skogseidvatnet. You have a distinct cliff (Høghovda) to your left. To your right, you should see an old tractor road. Find parking at the start of this tractor road. This exit is 1,1Km from the Holdhus junction, if you need an additional metric.

The route

Follow the tractor road until it ends. The road gets quite boggy and wet after rain, but you can walk on the side of it. At the end of the tractor road, turn left and head towards some broken cliffs that provide stairs up to the meadow above. You may see visible paths here. Either follow the paths (as long they seem to run in the right direction) or go off-trail. Head southbound across the meadows until you find it natural to head directly towards the top.

There is no cairn on top. Unless there is thick fog, the high point should be fairly obvious. Descend your ascent route.

Trip report Dec 05 2004

This was not a good week-end. I was out "feeling the weather" the day before, and learned that it would be wise to stay in the lowlands. I had set my eyes on Horga (673m) by Mundheim for this Sunday, but when I drove towards Fusa early morning, second thoughts were developing. It was pouring down, and the wind was hitting on the car. The fog was guaranteed to be dense above 600m elevation. Already 5 minutes after I left home, I learned that the weather was out of the ordinary. The road in Sedalen was flooded, and closed. The weather forecast said we should expect 100mm precipitation (every day) for this - and the days to come.

It was dark when I headed towards Fusa, and I was tired. Troll had woken me up way too early. After the nose-licking, I awakened for the time being, and I figured we could just as well get some breakfast and head out. While driving towards Fusa in the pouring rain, I had the time to discuss with myself if I should go for Horga. There were good arguments both ways, but finally I gave in to myself and dropped Horga. Because of the dog, and only because of the dog. I remembered the whining from Altfjellet the day before, when the wind and the rain were whipping on his face.

So I changed my plans and decided to go for Storåsen. It is always convenient to have a forest hill around, when you need one. I had no clue about any trails on this hill, and the maps didn't reveal much. My eyes fell on a tractor road that at least would take me a bit up the forest. Fortunately, the fog didn't hang low on this hill, so I didn't have to pay much attention to navigation.

We left the car 09:50AM. Troll wanted to stay in the car, so he ended up in the backpack. "Come on, you'll enjoy this. You just don't know it yet". When we ran out of a tractor road, it was just a matter of heading upwards. After a short while, the top came into sight, and by 10:30AM, we were on top of Storåsen. We got a few glimpses of the higher mountains nearby, but I was quite happy of not being any higher. We headed down the same way, and stopped by Solåsen in Samnanger, before we returned to Bergen.

Pictures from the Dec 05 2004 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.

1. Tysselvi river was wild this morning (79KB) 2. Vaaganipen seen from Storaasen (116KB) 3. A glimpse of Roedsfjell from Storaasen (153KB) 4. Storaasen high point (238KB) 5. The top of Storaasen (114KB) 6. Mountains around lake Gjonvatnet seen from Storaasen (113KB) 7. Up these broken cliffs after the tractor road (191KB) 8. Heading down the tractor road (170KB) 9. Russaasen, a neighbour hill (105KB) 10. Storaasen trailhead (223KB) 11. The start of the tractor road (150KB)

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Pictures from other hikes:

1. Rødsfjell (297KB) 2. Skogseidvatenet & Henangervatnet (318KB)

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