Thread: TR: Norway delivering..

So, every spring not only the birds start to migrate up north, but skiers as well.. Why? Well, it could because of the skiing or the cheap whale meat that comes for sale every spring...

It is just to jump behind the wheel...1200km & 13 hours of fun ahead..



The first days were miserable..Rain,sleet,high winds and zero viz.. But good snow,surprisingly! The winter
definately keeping its hold..

Awesome steeps at björkliden..


Rikgsgränsen was classical arctic jedi skiing...but occasional face shot made the day..



After couple of nights sleeping in the damp van, I caved in and drove over to the norweigian side to
a small hut and watched the main stormfront arrive from the north pole..



Oh yeah,Baby! Bring it on!



Aaaaand where there is pow, there are maggots ripping it up. In this case one of our own, SouthEasternMaggot, decided to fly in! Not only that, he brought in decent weather as well!!
Awesome!

Sun,pow and first turns.


As the weather was really,really variable, we were on a constant lookout where to find some viz..
The next day the best visibility seemed to be on the sweden side, so we went up for a tour to ski Låktatjåkka.

SEM all amped up.



Good snow, some 20cm of windbuff on solid base...



The views would be nice...but as it is,weather is a fickle little fucker up in the north...



Douh!!! The clouds came rolling in and within minutes it was total soup. As the mountains are in the abisko area biiiig and round domes, things turn ugly in bad vis. Absolutely no reference points and 100m+ drops hiding around every corner.. So it was basically get back to the car or wait.
Instead of bivying in the open,we decided to navigate few km to Låktatjåkka refuge...good practice with zero viz..



SEM trying to get the bearings where the fuck he has ended up... 200km above arctic circle, in a snowstorm,with a total stranger...



After 4 hours of dozing of and copious amounts of coffee, we decided to push it to the top.
Beeing an optimists, we were hoping for a small window of viz so we could see to ski down..

"Is that sun??!!


Nope.



After a half an hour of freezing our asses of at the top, in howling wind, we got what we were waiting for!
Well, almost enough viz to see 30 meters in front of you..but that is enough.



In the lower part both viz and snow got better.. 1km vert of boot deep...not too bad.



The next day opened up bluebird...jeesus norway can deliver on that kind of days!!!
Crammed the shit in the van within minutes and sped up north, towards Gratangen.
As the winds had played havoc on the north faces, we decided to check out the souther faces. Ended
up choosing Spanstinded as the weather was cold and we were out early, so the south face could hold some pow..

Up you go.



Looking good, things feeling stable and snow getting better.



Ok views..



at the headwall snow was perfect.


SEM looking dissapointed as he cant skin any further..



So he had to ski down a bit...



...to be able to skin a bit more!



The snow was soooo good we decided to skin to the adjacent peak as well.



SEM opening up.



PNW transplant checking out the goods.



And after 1400m of best that norway can offer, it was time for some Afterski at the apres ski..
Beer tastes very good even at 68´latitude.



Next morning opened up sunny. As the snowpack seemed stable, we decided to check out some new terrain. Been up north the last 10-15 years, sometimes 2-3 times a year, and still I have only scratched the surface on the possibilities. The narvik-tromsö-lyngen area is just gargantuan, wich so much possibilities for touring.

Last second studying before heading to terra icognita..



Classic norway skinning, bushes down low, open high up.



Our goal of the day, Nonsfjellet. As I had forgotten my topo maps home, we were really going in
quite blind.And had I realized in what kind of shape the E face would have been, we would have gotten crampons and gone straight to the face..



But, the B plan was looking tasty as well..



Higher up things got harder and steeper so it was time for some bootpacking..yes!



SEM enjoying it.



But, norway being...well...norway...things can go south very,very quickly. As we got to the upper ridge
weather was closing in.. And the ridge being exposed on all sides, we decided it was no place to be in zero vis. DAMN! So close to the top..



Oh well, at least you get to do some jumpturns over a cliffband.



SEM testing his edges in the upper part.

And opening up a bit in the mid part...



and going full steam in the lower section..



M.O.N.E.Y.




The End.





Thanks SEM for the company, had a blast!

Sweet Stoke! I am off to Norway (Svalsbard) in 3 days and am soooooo excited. Thanks!

Nice d00dz! The arctic can be sooo good when the weather plays along.

SEM must have some serious good weather karma to trump your bad weather karma

Interesting terrain, Thanks for sharing!

Always a rock solid tr delivery, Meathelmet!

Fantastic. Thank you.

Beautiful trip report.

Awesome. Hopefully I can make my way up there next year.

Meathelmet, you're my hero!

Maaan, I was thinking I was gonna make it up there this year, but unless I score a job up there, at this rate its gonna happen... :\ I'd really love to get back to Scandinavia, Amazing that its still winter and snowing up there, when I came to Europe 2 years ago this month it was already getting warm and sunny there....

What are your plans for the "spring"? Or is it still winter for the foreseeable future?

Originally Posted by StuntCok

Sweet Stoke! I am off to Norway (Svalsbard) in 3 days and am soooooo excited. Thanks!

I am off to Svalbard tomorrow...hmmm wonder if I will see you there?

Great pics MH, they've got me fired up as well!

You bypassed Narvik, unbelievable!

Great photos though!

Cool TR!

Originally Posted by dipstik

I am off to Svalbard tomorrow...hmmm wonder if I will see you there?

Great pics MH, they've got me fired up as well!

I am guessing we may happen to run into each other, unless Svalsbard is a much more popular ski destination than I thought it was. I leave in 24 hours!

I guess being a poor skier-farmer who has to plant his crop in May is a shit way of life after all.

Way awesome... that place looks tasty.

Originally Posted by Hohes

I guess being a poor skier-farmer who has to plant his crop in May is a shit way of life after all.

Literally plant a crop or figuratively? Explain pls.

OT, but literally put seeds in dirt (in the afternoon after skiing the peaks above my house, so no complaints really).

Meathelmet and I go back longer than rockered skis, well, not quite, but he's bugged me to join him in Suomi and then in Norge for several seasons in May and I can't and I wish I could.

/OT

Originally Posted by StuntCok

I am guessing we may happen to run into each other, unless Svalsbard is a much more popular ski destination than I thought it was. I leave in 24 hours!

Hell yeah! I'll be the guy with the camera.

Thanks guys! Appreciated.

Originally Posted by StuntCok

Sweet Stoke! I am off to Norway (Svalsbard) in 3 days and am soooooo excited. Thanks!

stunt & dip, go get some & bring back some good stoke...or you will get the hose.
and stay away from the teddybears..

Originally Posted by Alkares

What are your plans for the "spring"? Or is it still winter for the foreseeable future?

Skiing! will try to head to stryn at the end of the month and will come down to the alps at the end of the june, will be around 2-3 weeks then skiing stuff around bernese oberland-aosta.

Originally Posted by Hohes

Meathelmet and I go back longer than rockered skis, well, not quite, but he's bugged me to join him in Suomi and then in Norge for several seasons in May and I can't and I wish I could./OT

And I will pester you until you come.. But have to say, you seem to be sorted skiing wise there as well...damn.

Well done.Thanks.

Nice work Meathelmet! Good to see someone still getting it done late season.

Looks like a fun adventure.
Thanks for sharing.

nice. although those zones full of bushes look potentially unpleasant.

I'm now struggling to keep this SFW

Oh hey, a thread with pictures of me!

So, work sent me to Denmark for three months right in the middle of spring skiing season, or given the weather in Portland lately, Summer ski season. Had a decision to make: drag all of my skiing/touring equipment halfway around the world, or not? Turns out the schlepping ski gear via the rail and bus system kind of sucks, but its doable

Managed connect with meathelmet via Onward who I connected with via SiSt, who I randomly remembered lived in Norway. It's these kinds of connections that still make TGR a pretty special place- after a few emails, I had absolutely no concerns with flying to the northern tip of the world to meet and ski with a complete stranger. Unfortunately I brought my DSLR halfway around the world, but with an empty battery and no battery charger So, all I have are some iPhone pics...but it turns out that the iPhone cam isn't half bad:

It was really strange to me how much the area outside of Oslo resembles southwest VA/southern WV where I grew up:



Gear explosion!!



Do they sell these at the dealer?



Refugio calorie restoration time:



The view out the front door of our mini-cabin/hut:



Driving around Norway on a sunny day is a beautiful thing:







Our goal in sight:



The old skinner was set for about the first 200 m...



Upward:



The scenery does not suck:



Skintrack stoke:



Getting close...



More crappy scenery:



The view from the summit wasn't too shabby...



...neither was the skiing:



ON3P in Norway stoke



meathelmet about to drop:



The sunset that night did not disappoint:





More beautiful scenery stoke on the way to our mission the next day:




There were talks of setting up a camp in this valley next year to start picking off peaks...



The east face was indeed looking tasty:





After digging a pit and doing a bunch of CTs, Meathelmet starts skinning:



Summit so close! But dark clouds rolling in behind us:



Regardless, we got some fantastic turns down from the ridge:



Fin! Many thanks to Meathelmet, who was a gracious guide and excellent cook. I told myself before I went that this could be a once in a lifetime trip, but now I'm already thinking about coming back next year. Norway rocks!