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Jøkulrunden on May 17th!

Date:
17.05.2024
Characteristic:
Backcountry skiing
Duration:
4:46h
Distance:
22.5km

For the first time I decided to have a go at celebrating May 17th (Norway's constitution day) at Finse. I therefore took the morning train from Bergen to Finse where I was ready to start skiing shortly after the train arrived at 10:30. As expected I was far from alone and could simply follow the constant stream of skiers heading towards Hardangerjøkulen . The so-called Jøkulrunden, a roundtrip via the highest point of the glacier, is also marked with wooden sticks during the spring but these were not really needed today. While I had started from Finse in a T-shirt, and many others were skiing in shorts, a relatively strong and cold wind resulted in a change to warmer clothing soon after passing by Appelsinhytta . For the same reason, the stops at both Jøkulhytta and the summit were cut short. Before continuing on Jøkulrunden I also >>>

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Onen from Austdalen

Date:
12.05.2024
Characteristic:
Backcountry skiing
Duration:
7:39h
Distance:
20.7km

For the second Sunday in a row I caught an early train to Voss to going skiing with Voss Utferdslag . This time our goal was Onen in Ulvik/Eidfjord . At 08:00 we were transported by bus from Voss to Osa and then up to Austdalen p-plass at around 760 meters above the sea level. During the summer it is possible to drive much further but today we could put on the skies only a couple hundred meters after leaving the parking lot. We followed the road to Austdølvatnet before taking a shortcut up to Langvatnet. When walking along the dam we briefly had to take of the skis a couple of times but after a lunch break next to the lake we could put the skis back on and begin the final ascent to the summit. The summit was reached without any issues and provided an excellent panoramic view. After a short break next to the summit cairn we returned the same way, including another extended >>>

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Skiing from Vikafjellet to Bavallen

Date:
05.05.2024
Characteristic:
Backcountry skiing
Duration:
10:26h
Distance:
34.3km

Sunday skiing trip from Vikafjellet to Bavallen organized by the Norwegian Trekking Association , or more specifically Voss Utferdslag . I started by taking an early train to Voss where I met up with the rest of the group for the bus ride to Vikafjellet. We were dropped off at the parking lot at the start of Sendedalen and were finally ready to start skiing shortly before 09:30. After an initial easy start along the lakes in Sendedalen we put on the climbing skins and began the ascent to Rjupeskaret followed by the first descent of the day to Murane where we had our first lunch break. From Murane we ascended towards Blåeggi where I made a short detour on my own to the summit before rejoining the rest of the group just north of Mykjedalsvatnet for the ascent to Skreieggi where we all visited the large summit cairn. We had our second lunch break northwest of Svartenut, where we were joined by a couple >>>

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Steinafjell and Nordvest for Juklavatnet

Date:
27.04.2024
Characteristic:
Backcountry skiing
Duration:
4:59h
Distance:
14.6km

For the second weekend in a row, Petter and I returned to Jondal to go skiing. This time the plan was to drive up to FONNA Glacier Ski Resort and start our trip from there. However, due to the final part of the road up to ski resort still being covered by snow, we did not take any chances with our summer tires and instead parked at Hestadalen p-plass . The skis came on immediately after leaving the parking lot and we made good progress up to the unnamed 1084 lake east of Svartaberget. From there we ascended steeply up Svartavassberget before the terrain levelled off as we approached the summit of Steinafjell , which we reached without any issues after roughly 1.5 hours of skiing. From Steinafjell we wanted to make an attempt at finding a safe route to Nordvest for Juklavatnet . Both of us had in advance arrived at pretty much the same suggested route. The question was whether >>>

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Ruklehaugnuten and Solnuten

Date:
21.04.2024
Characteristic:
Backcountry skiing
Duration:
11:54h
Distance:
31.9km

Petter picked me up at my place at 06:20 for our drive to Tørvikbygd and the first ferry to Jondal. After the short ferry crossing we continued northeast to Herand and Åsleitet where we planned to follow a gravel road up to the parking lot at Vårhaug. We had however not driven many meters on the Grimevegen toll road before we arrived at a locked gate where a local farmer in a tractor told us that the road was closed during the winter. We therefore had no choice but to return to the start of the gravel road and park there. But just as we were beginning to dread having to carry the skis up the steep extra vertical meters, the farmer returned and asked if we wanted a lift! We of course quickly said yes and hurriedly got ready, placed our gear and ourselves at the back of the tractor and off we went, trying to hold on >>>

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Midtfjell from Sjusete

Date:
16.03.2024
Characteristic:
Backcountry skiing
Duration:
5:00h
Distance:
13.3km

Inspired by an external trip report at tinderangel.no describing what looked like a very nice skiing trip from Sjusete to Midtfjell , Endre and I once more drove from Bergen in the direction of Voss but this time headed for Ulvik and the winter parking lot at Sjusete . As we approached the center of Ulvik we left the main road and instead followed a narrow gravel road southwest up from Vambheim. This included passing through an open gate just north of Gjerdet, but whether this gate is always open remains unknown. Done with this one potential hurdle we continued up to the parking lot at Sjusete, noticing that the gravel road was rather icy towards the end but hoping that this would improve before the descent later in the day. Plenty of space at the parking lot, in fact we were the only car and, expect for coming across a fresh scooter trail during the descent, we did not see any >>>

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Five summits southeast of Grindaflethytta from Brandset

Date:
09.03.2024
Characteristic:
Backcountry skiing
Duration:
11:29h
Distance:
41.4km

In order to make the most out of the excellent weather, and due to road work at Dalseide, Endre picked me up at my place just before six in the morning and together we drove to Brandset at Voss, only having to wait around ten minutes before we could pass through Dalseidtunnelen at 07:00. We arrived at the parking lot at Brandset around 08:30 and it did not take long before we were ready to start skiing. We started by following the icy road into Bjørndalen before leaving the scooter trails behind and making our own way up towards Bjørndalsvatnet. Below roughly 1100 meters the snow was very hard, more ice than snow, but higher up the conditions gradually improved and we therefore had pretty good skiing conditions for the majority of the trip. After a short break west of Bjørndalsvatnet we completed the final ascent to the >>>

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Skiing across Vidden after dark

Date:
19.01.2024
Characteristic:
Backcountry skiing
Duration:
4:53h
Distance:
21.1km

Started the weekend early to take advantage of the recent massive snowfall before it would start raining heavily during the next couple of days. After taking the cable car (230 kr) to the top of Ulriken (or more correctly to Ulriken Vest ), I put on the skis and headed towards Turnerhytten . The visibility was not the best and I constantly had to consider whether my plan to ski across Vidden would be doable after all. At Turnerhytten the visibility gradually improved and I decided to at least continue to Byfjellenes høyeste punkt before deciding. When getting there the visibility had thankfully further improved. Encouraged by also seeing other skiers I decided to continue. Shortly after passing Skjulet I connected with the trails of the other skiers and could then easily follow these all the way to Borgaskaret. It would probably have been possible >>>

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Skiing: Mjølfjell to Skiple

Date:
20.05.2023
Characteristic:
Backcountry skiing
Duration:
10:12h
Distance:
33.3km

After last weekend's successful skiing trip to Øykjafonn and Skipanuten I decided to have another go, but this time on my own and starting from Mjølfjell. I again took the early morning train from Bergen and arrived at Mjølfjell train station just before nine. From the station I followed the gravel road north into Rjonaddalen, where I carried the skis for the first 2 km, before putting them on a continuing beside the road where there was just enough snow left. I soon left the road for a shortcut to reconnect with the road up to Grodjuvet. This road normally continues all the way to the bridge across Grodjyvo , but today the road was soon hidden underneath the snow. By then it was too late to cross the partially open river and I instead continued north until I could safely cross via the mentioned bridge and start the ascent to Grodjuvenuten . After passing on the northern side of Skyttargluggane, all that remained >>>

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Øykjafonn and Skipanuten from Upsete

Date:
13.05.2023
Characteristic:
Backcountry skiing
Duration:
6:07h
Distance:
20.5km

When petter (Petter Bjørstad) asked if I wanted to go hiking or skiing this weekend I of course said yes, and we settled on a skiing trip to Øykjafonn and Skipanuten . After taking an early train from Bergen we arrived at Upsete stasjon shortly after nine, and after finding a way to safely get to the other side of the train tracks we started the 750 vertical meters ascent to Øykjafonn. After crossing the river coming down from Gangsdalsvatnet via a snow bridge we pretty much followed the ridge south all the way to the summit. Still plenty of snow, although there were also times when we had to navigate around areas where the snow had already disappeared. Excellent panoramic views from the large summit cairn. Next, we removed the climbing skins and continued south towards Skipanuten. The descent to the small lake between the two summits was overall straightforward >>>

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