Rasmustind
- Rasmustind
- 1224 m
- Primary factor 1006 m
- Location: North 69:21.687, East 019:31.688 (GPS on the summit)
- Troms, Norway
- Climbed May 1. 2005
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Information:
How to get there:
This mountain is the local high point in the area between Lakselvdalen (east)
and the low saddle connecting Balsfjorden (west) with Sørfjorden (north).
From Tromsø, drive 64 km south along Hwy. E8 to the intersection with access
north to Lakselvdalen from Seljelvnes. Drive approximately 4 kilometer uphill to the highest
point on the road. Before this road starts descending into Lakselvdalen, find parking on the
side of the road. There is a small forest road going left at this point. This is the trailhead,
precise location is north 69:17.520, east 019:27.668, with an elevation of 230 meter.
Route description:
From the trailhead, go more or less straight uphill towards Holmevassfjellet, you leave the trees
behind at elevation 450 meter, loc. north 69:17.999, east 019:27.441. This mountain has several
humps, the lake Holmvatnet drains north-east. Get into this drainage and exit left (north) finding a
good line across to the saddle Halsen, elevation 410 meter. From here, head up the ridge to north-east,
passing point 590 and aiming for point 769. This ridge gets more narrow as you climb, beware of the
cornices on your left (north-west) side. Just before the top, there is a 10 meter section that should
be skied with particular care as the steepness on your right has increased substantially.
Next, ski along the Kistefjellet summit ridge, this ridge is wide and flat. At the far end, visit the
Kistefjellet summit, a very nice viewpoint. The continued route
descends down to the 670 meter saddle north-east of Kistefjellet. The north side of this mountain seemed
steeper than expected from reading the map. It may be best to backtrack a little, then do a descending traverse
north of the summit.
From this saddle, the skiing is easy uphill to point 828 and further north-west in the direction of
peak 1106. The pretty steep valley Tverrelvskardet is on your right, contour around and above it on the
west side and descend to the 810 meter saddle at the base of Rasmustind, loc. north 69:21.259, east 019:31.186.
From this saddle, climb directly to the summit, possibly staying fairly close to the (south-west) ridge.
Note: An alternative, shorter and easier route to this mountain starts near the farm
Luneng, about 5km east of Laksvatnbukta. This is at the very end of Sørfjorden. This route then proceeds
directly south up Tiurdalen to the same 810 meter saddle described above. However, the route across Kistefjellet
is more scenic, with spectacular views of the famous Piggtind. A complete traverse of this mountain area is
an attractive option, but transport between the two trailheads must then be organized.
Comments:
I climbed this peak solo. The trip turned out to be harder/longer than anticipated. I started from the
trailhead at 0730 and it took a full 3.5 hours to reach the base of the mountain. This was partly due to strong wind.
The final slope was icy and since the wind was still gale force, I left the skis in the saddle and climbed the peak
on foot in one hour, reaching the cairn at 1200, noon. I found some shelter behind the big cairn and left the summit
at 1215. Right across the valley is a fairly impressive peak with a horizontal summit ridge. According to the map, this
peak is 1223, one meter lower than Rasmustind. One can only hope that the map reflects the ranking of these two
peaks in a correct way. I returned following my route of ascent, but ran into rotten snow below 500 meter causing some
extra effort and delay. Finally back at my car at 1520, almost 8 hours - a tough day after the 10 hour Jiehkkevarri trip
the previous day. This route is indeed very scenic, the views of Piggtind never stops to capture attention and imagination.
This was peak number 2 in my T5 trip.
Next peak Hjerttinden.
Previous peak Jiehkkevarri.
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