Location: North 66.97174, East 13.84861 (from Map)
Romsdal, Norway
Difficulty: (YDS) class 3
Climbed August 9. 2020.
Information:
How to get there:
From Bodø drive towards Fauske, but turn right ont Hwy. 17 (coastal hwy. south) shortly
after crossing a big bridge. The turnoff is signed for Saltstraumen as well as town located further
south in Norway.
Follow Hwy. 17 south, you will pass into Gildeskål, then cross a bridge and drive south with the
fjord Holmsundfjorden on your right. The fjord narrows as you near its southern end, it is now
called Sundsfjorden. Immediately, before the road starts to curve right (at the very end of the fjord)
leave Hwy. 17 going left. Keep left and follow a construction road that climbs the hillside. This road
levels as it crosses a hilltop, about 530 meter of elevation. You will arrive at a road fork, take the
left branch and drive until you find parking near (above) a small power plant building. A big water pipeline
is coming down the mountain side. Park here, this location is near N66.95135, E014.22583. The elevation
is about 340 meter.
Route description:
A long staircase heads uphill
parallel to the pipeline. There may be
some warning signs, one should only proceed when prepared to deal with
steep mountain terrain.
The stairs will take you uphill to a
wooden exit platform going right.
Be aware that some steps are damaged as well as missing near the top.
Leave the exit platform and follow a well marked trail uphill to gain
more gentle terrain. The trail then turns left and follows the
natural, broad passage that will get you to the 700 meter level connecting
to the small 739m summit having the lake Litle Sokumvatnet on your right
hand side. Traverse this hill all the way across, descending too early
to the right hand side is really not an option.
The next task is to hike across, generally north-east, about 3 kilometer
to the south side of the twin lakes called Hattvatnan. This crossing is
not easy since the terrain has many distinct gullys running north-south.
In order to avoid too many inconvenient ups and downs one should most
likely head quite a bit north in the beginning, then more east across
to the lakes. Contour around the lakes (east then north), then continue
north-east up the small, but distinct valley that should be followed
all the way to the small glacier that is located on the south side
of the peak. This location is approximately at N66.9944, E14.3276,
elevation about 1100 meter.
Turn left and ascend along the edge of the glacier, cutting directly
across to the main south ridge of the peak a bit higher up.
Continue to follow the ridge, but stay on the glacier for easier
movement. Continue as high as convenient. When exiting the glacier
you may then be directly below a steeper section of rock.
Find (easy YDS class 3) a scramble way to the plateau above.
Fiannly, walk the very gentle last section to the summit cairn. Comments:
The forecast was not very good, clouds and rain showers.
I drove from the DNT hut Gjælentunet and was parked
at the trailhead by 0900. The staircase had a couple
of signs warning against using them. I had no idea about
any alternate route and started uphill on what looked like
a very nice set of stairs. Near the top, a section of
the staircase was all destroyed.
It looked worse than
it was, a bit of careful scrambling brought me back on
the last section of concrete steps.
The hike was quite nice from here and really no issues
until I was off the ridge and needed to pick my way across
to the two small twin lakes. I had rain and fog with very
limited visibility - not perfect. Still, my route across
was actually pretty nice. Careful
navigation brought me up the small, narrow valley. A lot of
snow here and generally easy walking. I was happy to
reach the glacier and put on crampons. With my ice axe
in one hand, I proceeded uphill until just below a rather
steep, but short section of rock.
It was already 1345 when I stopped at the summit cairn. It would
be a long day. The terrain and the (lack of good) weather had
combined to make progress slow. I stayed around
about 15 minutes, then descended along the same route. Back near the
twin lakes, I decided to try a route staying mre left
(closer to the Sokumvatnet lake). This turned out to be a mistake,
the terrain was rougher and this section definitely took longer
on my return. I was happy when ascending the
739 meter hill, knowing that the rest of the route would be
pretty easy. Passing the section
of the staircase that did
not have any steps required care,
but was not difficult.
I was back at my car by 1800, so a 9 hour trip, not bad
given the less than favorable conditions.