Hardangerjøkulen

Hardangerjøkulen
1863 m.
Near Finse, Hordaland, Norway.
Location: 60 deg. 32.833 North, 7 deg. 26.738 East
Primary factor 560 m.
Climbed May 9th, 2002

Information:

How to get there: The natural starting point is the railway station Finse, the highest point on the railroad connecting Bergen and Oslo at 1222m. The train from Bergen takes 2 hours 15 minutes, from Oslo the time is substantially longer.
Route description: A good time to do this is in May, there is a marked ski trail from around March (Easter time) and until June. The route heads south from Finse, towards N. Kongsnuten, where a small hut, Appelsinhytten, is located. Then more west, following the east side of the Middalen glacier, turning east behind the N. Kongsnuten, then climbing more steeply to the last rocks at this side at 1765 m where there is a small hut (named Jøkulhytta) operated by the Red Cross. From here gently uphill to the highest point, or rather glacier plateau. In the season, the trail continues west across the glacier to Dyrehaugane and back to Finse.
Comments: I did this climb with my friend Arnt Flatmo. We started at Finse around 1035, reached the small hut "Appelsinhytten" in about 30 minutes, and the summit plateau after about 1:45. My 1:200.000 scale map lists 1876 m as the elevation, while the current NGO 1:50.000 map says 1863 m. The definition of elevation of a glacier could consider the level of ice, or some average snow cover. Obviously, this elevation changes with the season, with a considerable accumulation of snow each winter. My GPS indicated at least 1875 m, its reading on the nearby Ramnabernuten (1729 m) being only one meter wrong. It is therefore likely that we actually were 1875 m above sea level on the day of the climb. We actually climbed the summit twice, first in fog from Finse, later in the day in sunshine and very good conditions on our return ski from Ramnabergnuten.

Resources:

Images
- Hardangerjøkulen, and nearby mountains seen from the air.
- Hardangerjøkulen, as seen from Finse.
- On the trail to Appelsinhytten, one will pass this large boulder. View of Hallingskarvet behind.
- Appelsinhytten, can be seen in the distance, N. Kongsnuten is the prominent rock slightly right of center. The trail runs below this rock, then around on the right and continues up behind it.
- Hallingskarvet, as seen from Hardangerjøkulen. The highest point, Folarskardsnuten, is just left of the main pass that breaks the long, steep south face.