Feb 4 - 9

This past week has been an exceptional one for me in terms of getting a whole bunch of ski touring in despite the usual hours at work. For the sake of mixing things up I thought I'd post all the tours in a list, Krupicka style.

Monday, 2700 metres of vert.  5 hours
Skinned up to Linken and enjoyed some low density pow down the backside to the little power station. Skinned up another lap, by which point the sun was shining and I couldn't resist skiing a south facing run beside Øra down to the treeline (first time I've had sunshine on my face since November!). Then another lap down the backside. After a brief break at the bottom of the hill to wax my skins which were glopping a little, I met up with Jan Eirik by chance and we skinned up to Tredje Toppen together. Strengthening winds made us sceptical about snow stability and we decided to play things safe by skiing the ridge between Mørkholla and the Tredjetoppen bowl. Our cautious route was evidently a wise move, as a bit of jumping up and down near a convexity at the top released a 20 metre wide soft slab about 30 cm deep in new drifted snow.
The skiing was exceptional!

Tuesday 3000 metres of vert. 5 hours
Feeling surprisingly fresh after yesterdays outing I decided to farm some more powder which is rarely so good up here in the north. I skied five laps from Linken down the backside to the power station. Managed to lose a drink bottle and a beanie from the crampon pocket on my Camp rando pack... Anyone seen 'em?
Windy day but still wildly good skiing!

Wednesday 1350 metres of vert. 2.5 hours
Met Jan Eirik and skinned up to the plateau between Andre and Tredjetoppen,  then enjoyed some powder in one of the middle of the "Fem Fingre" in the sun down to the treeline before skinning back up to the ridge and dropping in on the backside. With all the wind over the previous two days the conditions on northern aspects had taken a turn for the worse, with widespread breakable crust above tree line.

Friday, 1000 metres of vert. 1 hour
Did some hill repeats/ intervals: six laps of the lower slope at Narvikfjellet.
First time I've done intervals with my new race weight setup, and I'm stoked at how much of a difference a few hundred grams per foot makes!

Total vert: 8050 metres            Total time: 13.5 hours
A great week with a decent amount of vertical (for me), and my legs are feeling good. Living in a place which allows such great accessibility  to be able to skin 8050 metres of vertical without even getting in a car, is a luxury. That said I'm looking forward to getting further a field and onto some new mountains in the coming week.

Below are a couple photos from Wednesday's outing down one of the Fem Fingre.

Novafjellet: the never-ending tour

Late last night Jan-Eirik called and we made some hasty plans for an outing today. He had some family obligations before 9am and I had to be at work by 4pm, however this relatively short time frame didn't stop us from conjuring up an overly ambitious plan of enchaining Trangdalsfjellet and Novafjellet.

Objectives for the day: Trangdalsfjellet on the left and Novatind on the right

The tour started with skinning along a military access road, our quick pace induced not only by our ambitious plans, but also the signs we passed telling us that we were in a restricted area.

The first crux of the day came when we attempted to climb through the steep, ice encrusted passage beside an icefall on the way up Trangdalsfjellets south face. With no crampons we conceded that our plan was a little goofy and bailed on the first peak. What followed was a lengthy, wallowing skin around the mountain, gradually gaining altitude only to gradually lose it again to get to Novafjellet. It turns out this tour involves a ridiculous amount of flat and gently undulating terrain. Our intended route of descending the north face of Trangdalsfjellet would have negated most of this flat touring but our bailing only served to lengthen it.

After close to two hours of this flat touring we were glad to reach the final summit slope on Novafjellet. Jan-Eirik kept a steady pace breaking trail whilst I slogged on behind him glancing at my watch and counting down the dwindling time before my shift started at work.

View from the summit towards Harstad- photo from Jan-Eirik

We reached the summit just as the light was fading, with stunning views over the mountains and fjords to the west. Unfortunately the descent was in some of the flattest light conditions I've ever encountered, but the snow was decent and we'd just visited a new summit so complaining seems silly.

10 sec. clip showing the view from the summit.

Spanstind and some new snow

After a great start to the winter with record snowfalls in October, we've had a snow drought which lasted for nearly two months. Nothing to complain about though because cold temps ensured that it was still possible to skin laps locally, however the focus was more on training than quality ski descents. Finally in the past two weeks we've been getting some more snow and the skiing has been getting better and better.

Last Wednesday I headed out with Jan Eirik and Gerold in the midst of a storm for some skiing on Spanstind- going up the summer route from Bukkemyra. With howling winds and visibility down to 10 metres we didn't make it to the summit, but enjoyed some decent powder down lower. Some instabilities in the new snow were cause for concern, with several micro-slabs pulling out on ski cuts we made.

The next day Jan Eirik and I headed back for round two, this time parking the car at Lapphaugen and skinning up in calm, clear conditions. Due to the instabilities in the new snow which we'd noticed the day before we took a conservative route up the ridge and topped out in 2:20, including time spent to dig a quick pit. On the summit we enjoyed a few minutes in sunlight nearly strong enough to cast a shadow, the first time in over a month. And the descent was very decent, with the best snow around tree-line.

Finally lines are filling in and the peaks are getting in shape for some real ski mountaineering! All photos are from Jan Eirik- Takk for tur!

Also the first instalment in Kilian Jornet's multi-year mountain speed project was released a few weeks ago. Below is the trailer. I'd recommend watching the whole film. You can buy it here.

Rombakstøtta for Xmas

The past two weeks have featured some longer days at work and the time available for getting out into the mountains has been limited, instead I've been discovering the painful variety of satisfaction which comes from interval skinning sessions on groomers.

Rombakstøtta as it looks on the approach.

Yesterday morning however, after 17 hours at work in the previous 24, I decided that it was time to get some real touring done and get myself a summit to stand on. Rombakstøtta, or as the locals like to call it Tøttatoppen, is a beautifully pinnacled summit only a few kilometres from town. Despite its imposing silhouette when seen on the approach, there is a moderate route which goes up from the SE and features only two short sections of easy climbing- no rope necessary.

The upper slopes of the local classic: S'et (photo from last April)

 I've had a growing infatuation with this peak over the past year, its distinctly jagged shape and proximity to town make it something of an icon for anyone who lives in Narvik and sees it on a daily basis. Contrary to first impressions of the peak, which suggest that it is too steep and rocky to offer any decent skiing, there are actually some great couloirs on its northern face including the famous S'et, a steepish line which twists and curves between some cliffs on the north face with immense views over the fjord below. I've skied 3 different lines on Tøtta it in the past and during the summer months its on one of my favourite mountain runs in the area, I must've stood on its summit close to a dozen times this past summer. Of all my time spent on this mountain I'd never actually stood on its summit during the winter (on another ski trips I'd dropped in lower off the ridge without visiting its summit) today seemed like a good day to finally remedy this situation.

Final scramble up to the summit of Rombakstøtta with the town of Narvik in the background.

Skinning through the forest on the approach was fast on a firm trail compacted by XC skiers and many weeks since the last snowfall. Up higher the snow cover was more marginal but skinning was still possible right up the 1150 metres on the summit ridge, to the entrance on S'et (which needs a little more snow before it'll be ready to ski). I left the skis here and continued on foot to the summit, I was glad to be familiar with the route when climbing the short dihedrals which offer plenty of holds which were hidden under snow. Climbing these moves I was so familiar with from the summer was great fun, jamming my ski boots in the wide cracks and wrapping my gloved hands around the juggy holds which a few months ago I was scrambling over. I topped out a little under 3 hours after setting out and signed the summit log. From here it was a quick scramble down back to the skis and some fun turns back to town before a classic Christmas eve feast and a few litres of mulled wine. A Happy Chrismas indeed!

There Goes The Sun- Nonsfjellet and Segeltind enchainment

Last Wednesday at 12:02 pm the sun set in Narvik and it won't rise again for another five weeks, but rather than using this as an excuse for not getting out in the mountains this past week has featured some quality ski tours.

Skiing at this time of the year in the supposed "dark time" is not as difficult as most people would imagine; with a decent headlamp and a starting time which ensures you make your descents between 10 am and 2 pm the skiing can actually be pretty damn good. The few hours of twilight which we do get every day are like an extended sunrise/ sunset, with lots of pretty pink hues, even if it can be kinda murky at times. And if you're lucky and time things right making ski descents illuminated by Aurora Borealis are the sort of mind-bending experience which lead you to actually start looking forward to this season with a strange sort of anticipation.

Skiing under an Aurora Borealis sky- a mind bending experience and highlight of this time of the year.
Photo courtesy of Markus Eriksson

Anna suggested an outing on Nonsfjellet for Saturday, a summit which neither of us had stood on before, despite skiing a nice little couloir close to it last year. We parked the car near a few farmhouses at the head of Segeldalen beside Grovfjord and soon found a narrow track through the woods leading up the valley.

Skinning conditions were fast on a firm snow base and with the help of some ski crampons we were able to skin all the way to the summit, 2:30 for the roughly 1200 vertical metres and 8 km from the car. The descent on the south face was a treat, with nice steep turns towards an orange glowing horizon. Unfortunately my camera wasn't coping very well with the cold temps and hence I didn't get a single photo.

There was an implicit and unspoken agreement that if we had the time we'd ski Segeltind as well on the way back to the car. This peak is a a 5-star classic of the region, its east face is conspicuously visible from Narvik as a steep looking and perfectly planar slope shaped like the square sails on old fishing boats. It has been on my 'to ski' list for quite some time and so we didn't waste any time in making our way over to the peak.

Segeltind is the distinctive A4 shaped peak on the left. This is the view from a window at home.
Photo by Markus Eriksson.

After a long but uneventful traversing skin track we made it on to the perfectly planar slope and got crampons on, not knowing what sort of snow conditions we would encounter higher on the face, but expecting some boiler plate. In reality we found the snow to be much softer than we had anticipated, with a knee deep bootpack making for a laborious ascent directly up the slope.

Standing on the long summit ridge, the light was fading fast, so we didn't waste any time in stripping skins for the descent. And what a spectacular one it was! With views of the distant city lights of Narvik being reflected on the fjord, awesome peaks framing the view and our turns in the soft snow on the roughly 33 degree slope being illuminated by headlamp. Spectacular stuff, and I'm bummed I didn't have a functional camera to try to capture any of it.

Total round-trip time including stops and negotiating some tight trees on the way out was 5:20 for about 1800 metres of vert and two new summits.

Back in Norway- a Partisan abortion

Since Marmolejo I had a few weeks travelling back to Norway: Santiago, Buenos Aires, New York City, Montreal and Stockholm within 2 weeks, I felt like some sort of jet-setting businessman except that instead of a briefcase I was lugging around a busted up ski bag and instead of a suit I was clad in a duct-tape patched ski jacket.

Arriving back in Narvik I was happy to discover that the the snow is unseasonably deep, with some early season storms bringing snowline close to sea level. In the five days since I got back I've had 4 tours, with a total of 4700 metres. The most noteworthy outing was today's attempt on the celebrated Partisanleden with Micke (the guy who wrote the guidebook for skiing in the area- literally) even though we ended up bailing on our intended route.

This is the view you get with one hour worth of skinning from town

After finishing work at 8am I went home for a quick snack then met Micke at the base of the mountain at 9:30, we skinned up the closed ski runs at a decent tempo, reaching Tredjetoppen in less than 1.5 hours. From here our first descent was on a few inches of dry pow, wind affected in many places, but surprisingly good for this early in the season.

A few soft turns from Tredjetoppen (the sun doesn't get any higher above the horizon at the moment).

Enjoying the view into Skamdalen from the top of Moskočohkka.

Reaching Moskočohkka our assumption that the snow was thick and firm enough to allow us to downclimb without a rope was called into question. With only a few inches of sugary snow coating the rocks in the steep sections, the idea of continuing seemed rather foolhardy. So we turned around, and enjoyed a nice descent down to Forsnesvannet.

Beisfjordtøtta as seen from the start of our down climb.

We turned around at this point because the prospect of down climbing this cliff band coated in a thin layer of snow seemed a little sketchy.

 Even though we didn't follow through with our intended plan, I had a really good time, got to ski some nice descents and got a good workout with 1700 metres in about 4 hours. Looking forward to getting back there with a rope and a few stoppers in my pack.

Last turns of the trip: Cerro Marmolejo

With only a week left in South America I thought it was time to up the ante and try to ski something a little higher than anything I've attempted in the past. Cerro Marmolejo at 6108 metres seemed like a good candidate with easy access from Santiago and more snow than any other peaks of a similar altitude.

Camped at 4610 m, the summit of Marmolejo is hidden by the snowy lump in the centre of the image

Its currently early November-the beginning of summer in Chile. With all the ski resorts having closed for the season over a month ago, after what has been called the most abysmal snowfall year in recent memory, I wasn't optimistic about finding too much snow. So it came as a shock to see that during the last month the snowline had only receeded about 200 metres. After a mere hours hike from the closest road (I hitch-hiked from little pueblo of San Gabriel) I was skinning.

A self portrait on day three just before reaching my high camp and just after deciding that being dressed solely in black tights like a ninja was perfectly reasonable behaviour for a 27 year old.

On the first afternoon at an altitude of around 2900 metres I was forced to cross a creek- having tossed by skis across its 4 metre span I was tentatively making my way across, stepping from one slippery boulder to the next when, in a moment of clumsiness that is likely to stay with me for the rest of my life, I dropped one of my ski poles and watched, dumbfounded as it was caught by the current and carried downstream and under a thick snow bridge. Despite spending over an hour trying to retrieve it: intentionally collapsing snow bridges and even going so far as to strip off and walk through the current in case I might be able to feel the ski pole with my bare feet, I knew it was gone for good.

Realising that having lost a pole wasn't really enough reason for me to cancel the trip, and also knowing that I didn't have enough time to head down to Santiago to find a replacement, I decided to simply continue on. On the second day it dawned on me just how great having two poles is, and how I had always taken it for granted, especially when you have a 20kg pack and are planning on climbing an additional 3200 metres...

This incident set the tone of the next few days as my mood alternated being 1) Being focussed on reaching the summit and skiing down from it, 2) Wondering what chance the sort of person who loses a ski pole a few hours in to a 5 day trip has of skiing from the summit of a 6000 metre peak and 3) Realising that I really ought to simply enjoy being in the mountains and not be so concentrated on the summit as the point of the trip.

I didn't arrive in my "high camp" until early afternoon on day three and made myself busy drinking tea, enjoying the views over the Loma Larga group and trying to conjure some motivation for an early start the following day. The afternoon was a warm one and lying outside the tent in the sun was pleasant, but in the same vein of self-deprecatory thoughts I'd had since losing my pole (see point #2 above) I started thinking about how perhaps I didn't have enough warm clothes for the summit push, especially if the wind picked up...

Immense views of the Loma Larga group from my high camp at 4620 metres.

A 20 second video showing an overexposed version my view from the high camp.

Sunsets from the tent never get old

My alarm went off at 5am, and after melting some snow for a quick cup of tea and forcing some oatmeal down, I was out of the tent and skinning up the moonlit mountain at 5:30. The past few weeks of living at 3000 metres or higher had paid off and I found that I was covering ground much faster and with less effort than I had on Taapaca. On the other hand the cold was much more severe than I have ever experienced in South America, and I didn't have any mitts or even spare gloves with me. By 8:00 I had reached 5350 metres, and if I continued at this pace I knew I ought to reach the summit between 11-12:00. The sun had risen long ago, but as I was climbing the western glacier, I was still in the shadow and wasn't getting any warmer. I continued up, crossing vast fields of sastrugi formations which varied from 20 cm to nearly a metre in height. I was even forced to put ski crampons on to cross a few patches where the wind had blown the snow away, leaving only blue ice.

If bottomless powder is at one end of the pleasure spectrum in skiing, then fields of sastrugi at high altitude like this would be at the other end. Great views atleast.

My fingers were so cold that I opted to skin with my hands tucked into my pockets, even though this forced me to slow my pace. My toes were starting to give me cause for concern too. I knew that once the sun was on me, I should be warmed up, but on further thought I knew that another 700 metres in elevation was going to balance out any warming effect of the sun. I made the snap decision that even though I was uncertain about how warm I would be in an hours time, higher up on the mountain, I didn't really feel like taking the chance to find out. Continuing on regardless crossed my mind, but just seemed like it'd be pushing my luck a bit too much, and besides the skiing was only going to be memorable for all the wrong reasons...

So I stripped the skins and high-tailed it back down to my camp, where I spent an hour in my sleeping bag before re-gaining feeling in my feet and hands. Then I packed up and enjoyed the rest of the ski descent. In total I had skied a little over 2600 metres of continuous vertical, not bad for November! 

I hitch hiked back to Santiago and by 6pm was munching on a piping hot empanada (queso y pollo) and sipping an ice cold beer (Escudo).