Rolla

  • Rolla
  • 926 m
  • Primary factor 763 m
  • Hordaland, Norway
  • Location: North 68.75772, East 016.89183 (GPS on the summit)
  • Climbed July 21. 2020
  • Difficulty: YDS class 2

Information:

How to get there:
Locate the islands Rolla and Andørja north of Harstad. One may take a ferry directly from Harstad to Sørrollnes, or from the north, drive Hwy. 848 connecting by bridge to Andørja, then by sub-sea tunnel to Rolla. Take the small road that serves local houses in Sørrollnes. When it ends in a place to turn around, drive the very small road on your right. You will arrive at a signed parking (left) and a sign saying that the road going uphill is by permission only. Park here, this is location N68.73036, E016.84053, elevation about 15 meter.
Route:
Take the uphill road (keep right at some forks). There is a signed trail going left that just is a short-cut, you re-enter the road and follow this all the way to a flat spot (around 300 meter elevation) where a sign saying Rollastien heads left. Take this trail. The trail will get you to an open area where a new sign "Rollastien" points uphill (the right fork). The trail will now climb a rather steep hillside, zig-zag'ing uphill. On top, there is still an uphill slope, but more gentle. Next, pass between point 862 (left) and 896 (right) to reach the main summit crest. Follow on top, then slightly left (west) before a short, final climb to a very impressive cairn.
Comments:
My objective this day was Årbostadtinden. I completed this reasonably early and thought that a bonus summit on Rolla would be nice. This peak is really a bit out of the way, so a visit here when I was out on these islands anyway. I started at 1430 and had a nice hike up to the top of the steep part of the trail. Here, the weather turned bad, strong wind that kept increasing, teamed up with steady rain. Navigation became more critical, it turned out that I followed some red marks that led me to the 862 meter summit. Understanding this mistake, I descended and crossed to the proper ridge. The conditions were now marginal, hard to stand upright without being pushed around by the wind. I found the big cairn at 1705, no place to linger long. Descending went more according to plan, as is often the case, the weather got somewhat more friendly as I got down to lower elevations. I was back at my car by 1900, a pretty long drive back to Fjellkysten hotel, looking forward to a cold beer.

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