On the north side of Ulriken, towards lake Svartediket and Isdalen, you will see a number of "Fare" (Danger) signs. This is "Dødsdalen" - valley of death. More than one hiker has been rescued after getting stuck in the steep slopes, and there has also been several fatal accidents here. Thus the name. From distance, the north side looks fierce, but looking closer, a number of doable routes appear.
This page will describe 4 routes down Dødsdalen; Ulriksskaret contains two distinct gullies forming a Y-shape. These gullies are just east of the Ulrikseggen ridge. I am referring to these gullies as "Ulriksskaret East" and "Ulriksskaret West". The name "Ulriksskaret" is found on the Norgesglasset 5m contour map (Økonomisk Kartverk) "Ulriksrenna" is a name that I am introducing here (in lack of an official name) for a gully 180m east of Ulriksskaret. "Høkerfossen" (from the Norgesglasset 5m contour map) is a steep, but easy route that runs from lake Skomakarvatnet that passes the Høkerfossen waterfall on the route to Isdalen. In addition, a 5th route (unnamed) has been added. I don't recommend this route, so it's not on the map. However, the section has some good area pictures.
Important note: All routes described here should only be attempted by hikers familiar and comfortable with steep and challenging terrain. The routes range from US class 2 (off-trail hiking - summer) to US class 4 (advanced scrambling/climbing - summer).
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.
Access This route should be climbed upwards. A proper description on how to approach this route from lake Svartediket will follow later. I approached this trail by hiking from Ulriken tower, down Ulriksskaret and turned east at approx. 350m elevation.
The route The route is a long gully (at least 250 vertical meters) running from near the Ulriken high point down towards Isdalen. In summer, this route is best climbed from below. Although the terrain on the sides of the gully allows you to bypass obstacles within the gully, this route description is based upon scrambling inside the gully. Most of the gully is fairly easy - (US) class 2/2+ in wet conditions (I don't know if this gully dries up during summer) Exposure is insignificant. A stream (amount of water will vary) is running down the gully, and the route pretty much follows the stream. The harder parts of the route is found high in the gully. 3 distinct obstacles need to be scrambled/climbed. The first obstacle is perhaps the most difficult point technically, but falling down isn't dangerous. A big rock blocks the gully, and with very limited handholds, things get a bit awkward. The side of the gully is extremely slippery. I have rated this point to (US) class 4. The next obstacle has been rated (US) class 3. Exposure is very limited, but the terrain is still awkward. Hint: Going backwards may be the best solution. The third and final obstacle is a major rock blocking the gully. There are doable routes on either side. The route to the left runs up a steep grassy slope, while the route to the right runs up rock. I recommend going to the right. A narrow ledge below the big rock takes you up to a place where you stand firmly. Now it's just a matter of advancing up to the rocks next to the big one, and you're home free. You need to find good handholds in order to make a secure move upwards. I have rated this point (US) class 4. Once the handholds are found, the route is easy, You should however avoid falling at all cost. It isn't airy, but high enough to get seriously banged up. Once above this rock, follow a boulderfield for a short distance until you are out in the open. Follow a grassy pitch up to your left, pass a distinct ledge (an excellent viewpoint) on your way to the Ulriken high point ridge. Visit the high point cairn (642m) before you call it a day.
Trip Report June 17 2004I had invited my friend Torbjørn Frøystein for a fun scramble on Ulriken this afternoon. By the time I picked him up, I had already taken the dog to Ulriken, as the upcoming scramble was totally incompatible with a dog in the backpack. The plan was to hike up to Ulriken, scramble down the Ulriksskaret east gully and attempt a scramble/climb up Ulriksrenna. I had already tried to descend Ulriksrenna 3 times, and knew that the toughest obstacle was at the top of the gully. On the way up to Ulriken, we followed some awkward routes near the Langrinden ridge trail. The more scrambling with exposure we could do, the more prepared we would be for the hard stuff. That was my theory. Torbjørn wondered what in earth had led me to discover these airy and cumbersome off-trail routes. There's really not a good answer to questions like that. Going down Ulriksskaret east gully was fun. Apr 23 2004, I had gone up here on snow, and found one point particulary steep. I was very curious to see what was hidden below. Looking from above, this gully had two notable obstacles. Both very slippery, but still not very difficult. I have rated the upper obstacle to (US) class 3 and the second to (US) class 2+. We were able to descend this gully quickly in a safe manner. We continued to descend until the ridge on our right hand side seemed to end, and crossed over towards Ulriksrenna. The crossing was cumbersome in places. With risk of being perceived as the perfect oddball, I insisted that we should stick to the gully, even if it was tempting to follow the grassy pitch next to it. The gully was slippery, to put it mildly. Several sections called for serious route planning. There was however no exposure here, so sliding back down was fairly unproblematic. We soon gained higher ground, and I was happy to finally point towards the crux of the route - the large rock blocking the gully almost on top. Torbjørn had a surprised look in his face. At that point, I don't think he perceived the section to be very doable. The most tricky point of the route was well before the large rock. Another (smaller) rock was blocking the gully, and demanded a climbing style, totally relieved of graze. Another small obstacle was passed before we were standing under the giant rock near the top of the gully. Having been above this rock a number of times, I knew the best route, which is actually fairly trivial. There were however no handholds for the final move, which made it altogether less trivial. The larger pieces of rock were loose and unreliable. I had to dig, and remove a significant amount of scree before I had produced two handholds that allowed a safe move to be done. I was overwhelmingly happy to finally have completed this section, and by the sound of Torbjørn's scream when he joined me, he seemed equally satisfied. We visited the 642m cairn before we headed back down. The hike took just over 3 hours and was fun from beginning to end.
Pictures from the June 17 2004 hike:
Move cursor to read notes, and click on the images to see full version.
On the way to Ulriken
Down Ulriksskaret east gully
"Ulriksrenna"
Ulriken high point
No Javascript: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
|
Access Drive to the Svartavatnet dam and find parking near the dam.
The route Follow Tarlebøveien road from Svartediket dam. At the northeast end of the dam you arrive a junction. Go straight ahead (the road to the left leads towards Rundemanen). At the southeast end of the dam, the road forks again. Go left. Continue until you have the Brakedalen valley up to your left. Leave the road where a stream runs under the road (the Ulrikseggen trail is just 100m further up the road). Follow the stream upwards. The terrain is cumbersome, and you will actively need to find the best route upwards. When you have a large grey cliff (Gråberget) to your left, you may find a good route directly below the cliff. Above the cliff, you have a crossing ridge between you and the upper gullies. Pass this ridge on the left hand side - still following the stream. When you have passed this ridge, you are at the Ulriksskaret basin, and have 2 distinct gullies above you. Depending on the amount of snow, the gullies form a "Y" shape. For reference on this web-site, I have named the leftmost gully "Ulriksskaret East" and the rightmost gully "Ulriksskaret West". "Ulriksskaret East" is described in a separate section below. From below, looks can be deceiving. Those used to steep terrain, would not consider these gullies very steep. But high up in the gully during winter, the exposure will creep in, and a fall will cause a dangerous slide, unless arrested. The characteristics of these gullies vary dependent on the amount of snow. As the gullies are facing north, the snow will last longer here. When there is significant amounts of snow, be aware of avalanche danger. Also note that cornices will build up in the upper part of the gullies. It is recommended that you evaluate the terrain from above before starting the climb up these gullies. "Ulriksskaret West" is by far the easiest gully. Cornices on top offer the steepest part. I have classified this as a class 2 route. One can find variations with class 3 difficulty if more challenges are required. In winter, this is a class 3 climb. Once on top, visit the Ulriken high point (642m) and the Ulriken tower (605m). There are many descent routes. The Bjørndalen route will provide the fastest return to the trailhead. More information when the new Ulriken pages are released.
Trip Report Mar 21 2004My friend Petter asked if I was interested in some local project this Sunday. The weather forecast wasn't good for the afternoon, so a local project sounded like a good idea. My first priority was to try out a route on the backside of Ulriken. The local nickname "Dødsdalen (valley of death)" has been like fuel for my curiousity. I had been planning to do this alone, but I was more than happy to have Petter's company. I had no idea of what the route was like. I had taken a look from the top a few days earlier, and it looked by no means difficult. The question was if I had missed any details. We left Svartavatnet 10:10AM. It was a brilliant morning. The sun was shining, although it would not shine where we was heading. Just as well, as there was a chance that the snow would hold. We had little problems following the terrain upwards, after leaving the road. In a while we arrived the basin, and I couldn't believe how increadibly easy the gully looked. When we reached the first snow, we mounted the crampons and took out the axes. It didn't take long before I noticed that the slope was steep enough. Still, one could easily arrest any fall in the lower section. We came to the "Y" fork. It was difficult to get a good impression of the leftmost gully. We discussed doing that gully afterwards. We continued up the rightmost gully. The terrain was still easy, and a fall would take us nowhere. I noticed Petter wandered off to the right, looking for a variation (class 3) to the route. I followed him up this route, which was on the right hand side of the gully. Soon, we had only a short snowfield between us and the top. A fall in this snowfield would require arrest. We discussed the angle of the slope, and agreed it was somewhere between 30 and 40 degrees. Just before the top, it was my turn to look for a tougher route. I headed for a steep pitch on the left hand side, but got second thoughts halfway up. I noticed that neither the axe or the crampons gave me the "feedback" I wanted. I was sliding and had to rely on the axe, which didn't really dig in. I decided to abort, but then got the shiver. I had no desire to downclimb face in, and face out was not an option due to the snow quality. Fortunately, I was in a position to move horizontally to my right to a safe spot. From there, I rejoined the main gully. There was not enough snow on the upper cornice to offer any form of problems, and 12:05PM we were on top of Ulriksskaret. After a closer inspection of the other gully, we decided to do this gully some other day. The exposure was breathtaking from above. It would be a different thing climbing it from below, but I'm fairly sure I would have wanted running belays up this gully. And bad weather was moving in. We agreed to head back down after a visit to the Ulriken high point. We took the Ulrikseggen ridge back to lake Svartavatnet and reached the car 14:05PM. A few hours later I took the dog up to Ulriken. It was raining in the city, but as I got closer to the summit, it was snowing more and more. On top, the weather was quite severe. Not in terms of wind, but if anyone was wandering about on the plateau, without proper clothing, and having lost the trail due to the falling snow and the very poor visibility, the could quickly run into problems. Within a very short period of time, a noticeable amount of (wet) snow had fallen. This type of weather is of course not unusual, and is neither the point here. I just wanted to make a note of the enormous contrasts that can be found on the city mountains. We headed back down and the dog was covered with wet snow glued onto his fur, from top to bottom (which is not a long distance for a dachshund). The city was nowhere to be seen. Then we hit the "twilight zone" between snow and rain, and behind a curtain of light snow, I saw the green, grassy soccer fields. Not an inch of snow had fallen in the city. 17:45PM, I left the summit in full winter dressing, and by 18:00, I had a city free of snow below me, 3-4 degrees warmer, with birds singing in the forest. Amazing contrasts. I felt somewhat "blessed" from the experience. The dog looked far from feeling "blessed", trying to avoid one mudpit after the other (as if it mattered). His pace down the mountain indicated he knew of a much better place to be right now. The sofa!
Pictures from the Mar 21 2004 hike:
Move cursor to read notes, and click on the images to see full version.
No Javascript: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
|
Access Drive to the Svartavatnet dam and find parking near the dam.
The route Follow Tarlebøveien road from Svartediket dam. At the northeast end of the dam you arrive a junction. Go straight ahead (the road to the left leads towards Rundemanen). At the southeast end of the dam, the road forks again. Go left. Continue until you have the Brakedalen valley up to your left. Leave the road where a stream runs under the road (the Ulrikseggen trail is just 100m further up the road). Follow the stream upwards. The terrain is cumbersome, and you will actively need to find the best route upwards. When you have a large grey cliff (Gråberget) to your left, you may find a good route directly below the cliff. Above the cliff, you have a crossing ridge between you and the upper gullies. Pass this ridge on the left hand side - still following the stream. When you have passed this ridge, you are at the Ulriksskaret basin, and have 2 distinct gullies above you. Depending on the amount of snow, the gullies form a "Y" shape. For reference on this web-site, I have named the leftmost gully "Ulriksskaret East" and the rightmost gully "Ulriksskaret West". "Ulriksskaret west" is described in a separate section avove. The "Ulriksskaret East" gully consists of 3 logical sections where you need to scramble in order to advance in the gully. The first scramble is trivial. The second scramble is also fairly easy. The problem is the slippery rocks. Pass on the left hand side. The third scramble is a very short pitch of class 3 climbing (no exposure) on the left hand side. After this section, you've reached the top of the gully.
Trip Report & Pictures June 17 2004See "Ulriksrenna" on top of this page for trip report and pictures.
|
Access From Ulriken high point (642m), continue 550m eastbound to lake Skomakarvatnet.
The route Follow the stream from lake Skomakarvatnet. When you reach Høkerfossen waterfall, seek left and locate a route that takes you safely down to Isdalen. There is no scrambling involved, just a steep grassy hill. When you have completed the descent, continue northbound through some bush until you join the Isdalen trail. Go left and follow the trail to Svartediket, or go right to follow the trail up Isdalen and then towards Ulriken.
|
Access Drive to the Svartavatnet dam and find parking near the dam.
The route Follow Tarlebøveien road from Svartediket dam. At the northeast end of the dam you arrive a junction. Go straight ahead (the road to the left leads towards Rundemanen). At the southeast end of the dam, the road forks again. 100m before the fork, locate a trailsign towards "Ulriken". This is the Isdalen trail. Follow it upwards for up to your left. Leave the road where a stream runs under the road (the Ulrikseggen trail is just 100m further up the road). Follow the trail for approx. 360m. Leave the trail and start heading towards a grassy hill just east of "Ulriksrenna" (described elsewhere on this page). The amount of wild bush is overwhelming, and takes the fun away. At 450m elevation, the worst bush part is over, and you can concentrate on the grassy hill. Either follow the hillside all the way up, or try to climb next to the cliffband on your left. The rock may however be extremely slippery. Once on top of the grassy hill, bypass the cliffs above you by going to the right. This will take you to the beginning of the "Ulriksrenna" gully.
Trip Notes June 22 2004Eager to explore further routes in "Dødsdalen", I aimed for a grassy hill running up the central part of the north side of Ulriken. I followed the Isdalen trail until an opening in the forest gave me a clear view towards this hill. The amount of bush almost made me turn around, but I decided to live through this torture. And then came the flies... Above 450m elevation, slippery grass (it had been raining for days) had replaced wild bush. My intention was to follow a distinct cliffband upwards, but the rock was too slippery. I had to seek further to the right. The hill was partly slick rock, partly grass. The slick rock was tremendously difficult to climb (as it was wet and slippery) and forced me to switchback all the way, looking for routes that prevented a slide back down the hill. As I reached the top, I did not consider scrambling the upper cliffband, for the same reason. This cliffband is however quite steep, and it may not be wise to climb here unless you know what you're doing. The good thing about doing this route is that it provides a fairly easy access to the central parts of Dødsdalen. From Ulriken Tower, head down to "Ulriksrenna" and seek right. This will lead you to the upper side of this route. Follow it downwards until the cliffband on your right ends. Then move to the right and head up towards the steepest parts.
Pictures from the June 22 2004 hike:
Move cursor to read notes, and click on the images to see full version.
No Javascript: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
|
Other hordaland mountains
Main Ulriken Page
westcoastpeaks.com
