Location: North 69:44.102, East 018:35.497 (GPS on the summit)
Kvaløya HP, west of Tromsø, Norway
Climbed June 13, 2004.
Information:
How to get there:
This mountain is the high point on the island Kvaløya west of
the city Tromsø. To access this island, cross the bridge that is located
(visible from) near the Tromsø airport. After crossing the bridge, turn
left on Hwy. 862 and continue 6 kilometer to the small village Eidkjosen. Make a right turn there
and continue 4 kilometer. Do not make a left towards Sommarøy, but
continue straight along the fjord. A few kilomter after Ersfjordbotn, you will
have Store Blåmann up to your left and parking
for several cars on the right hand
side of the road. This parking area which is also the trailhead has coordinates
north 69:44.039, east 018:38.534 and is less than 10 meter above sea level. Route description:
There are two routes on the lower part of the mountain, the first and in my
view best trail starts right opposite of the parking, then heads gently uphill.
At the first horizontal rockband, this route circumvents this obstacle on the
left side.
The alternative trail starts a few hundred meter further (north) along the road at
GPS location north 69:44.369, east 018:38.569, elevation 10 meter. There is a wooden
sign by the road saying Blåmann at this location. This alternative trail
avoids the rock band on its right side, then traverses up a long ramp in order to
merge with the first trail in the more level area above the rock band.
Returning to describing the first trail, as you head up this trail bends left and turns
the corner of the rock band before ascending in a small gully. The trail is easy, but
in a few places one may easily loose it as local variations sometimes are confusing.
If you find yourself on a trail that seemingly heads back down, then turn and search
for a missed switchback. A few more cairns in strategic locations would have helped
the routefinding. Higher up, the trail crosses a more level area. From here, you can
see the summit and the rest of the route. The trail crosses left (well marked here) and
ascends a gully more steeply in order to gain the ridgeline (as seen from below). The
upper part of this gully contains the "summer crux", two short sections of rock scrambling
with some exposure below. There is a very good crack for holding on and this section
is (YDS) class 3 (see picture below). Higher up, the climb is likely quite a bit
easier under summer conditions. We experienced a long snow climb, partly on rotten snow
resulting in little or no protection from an ice axe. In particular, the upper section near
the summit was quite steep.
A few key waypoints along the route: 420 meter at north 69:43.877, east 018:37.263, 540 meter
at north 69:43.990, east 018:36.879, the plateau before the final section at 710 meter, north
69:44.046, east 018:36.291.
On descent, when approaching the rock band from above, a clear trail marked with numerous
cairns heads left on a gentle descent.
This trail continues left and is well marked by cairns all the way.
Eventually, it turns the end of the rock band and continues
more directly towards the road, ending
at the alternate trailhead as described above. Comments:
I did this climb with Bjørn Hafskjold. We started 0815 and reached the summit
after 3 hours. After 15 minutes with less than perfect view, we returned at a
leisurely pace in another 2 hours. We explored the alternative route in the lower
section. The upper part of the mountain (above the "summer crux"), was covered by
snow. Our route went directly towards the summit on a quite long and (near the top)
fairly steep snow climb. I felt my toes after kicking an almost "endless" number of
steps. Clearly, the summer season when this climb is quite popular among Tromsø
people had not arrived yet.