How to get there:
Billingen is a good point to start from. Billingen is located
on Hwy. 15, between Stryn and Otta. Coming from Stryn (or Geiranger),
Billingen is about 12 km after Grotli in the direction towards Otta.
Driving time from Bergen is about 6 hours.
In the opposite direction, approximately 33 km after Sjåk.
Driving time from Oslo is probabely about 5 hours.
There is a trailhead with a DNT sign for the trail that runs up the
valley Torddalen, parking for 4-5 cars in the winter. The elevation
is 732 meter and the precise location, north 62:00.589, east 007:51.699. Route description:
From the trailhead by the road at Billingen, ski up the field passing a few
buildings. Slightly further up, the river Torda runs in a gorge while the
river Store Føysa comes down in a distinct valley slightly right when
facing uphill. Locate the bridge that crosses Torda and continue up the slope
just west of Store Føysa. The slope is more uniform if you stay a bit
west of the river. Climb this hill (about 500 vertical meter) and then contour
into the valley in order to reach the river fork at 1260 meter. One should climb
almost to 1300 meter in order to do this, avoiding the steeper slope down near
the river. Descend to the river fork and cross the river. The left fork comes from
the lake Langvatnet (1422m), while the right fork comes from the lake
Skarvedalsvatnet (1548m), where we are headed. Instead of following the river, head north-east
up the gentle slopes and pick a route that contours north of point 1616 at the
1500 meter level. The route now tourns more east into the flat valley between
Gråhøe (1945m) on the north and Skarvedalseggje (1961m) to the south.
From here, climb slightly steeper, but easy terrain, into the valley between
Gråhøe on your left (west side) and Ø. Gråhøe to
the right (east side). Shortly before reaching the saddle, one can continue the
gentle ski ascent directly towards the summit. Comments:
I did this trip with my son Pål Jørgen, age 14. We started from
Bergen in the early afternoon on a Thursday, and stayed overnight at the hotel
in Stryn. The next morning we drove to Billingen and started skiing around 0915.
We established base camp at elevation 1590 meter at location N62:03.943, E008:03.719,
just north of Skarvedalsvatnet (1548m).
Breaking trail in fairly deep snow, while gaining almost 900 vertical meters took
us 6:45.
We had surprisingly strong (gale force) wind throughout the night, building significant
snow drifts around our tent. By 0700 the wind died down and we had near perfect winter
conditions for our "Grand Tour" of Storebreen with adjoining peaks.
We started skiing the next morning at 0800, hit the summit at 0900. Next, we continued
to Gråhøe (1945m) at 1000, further across the Storbreen Glacier to Digerkampen (1944m).
We left Digerkampen around noon and made Blåhøe (1959m) at 1330. A nice ski down
between Blåhøe and Gråhøe got us back to base camp around 1400.
We spent another night and skied back to the car on Sunday morning in about three hours.
One may note that this peak is the most isolated 2000 meter peak in Norway, also, somewhat
surprisingly, it does not have a name on the M711 map. It is commonly known as Gråhøe,
however, this is the peak further west.
Resources:
Images
Starting the climb,
Pål Jørgen with a good sized backpack.
Hwy. 15 runs along the valley floor.
Torddalen,
the trail to the DNT hut Torsbu follows this valley.
Digging out,
early morning after a night with stong wind.
View from west to north,
The foreground starts with Blåhøe (1959m) behind Gråhøe (1945m) and ends with a part
of Dordiholet in front of Digerkampen (1944 m).