Gråhorgi
  • Gråhorgi
  • 1074 m
  • Primary factor 116 m
  • Location: North 60:28.741, East 005:59.855 (GPS at the summit)
  • In Hordaland, Norway
  • Saddle: The east Trongasmogskard at (955-960) meter
  • Saddle location: North 60:28.924, East 005:59.610 (GPS in the saddle)
  • Climbed January 25, 2004

Information:

How to get there: Drive from Bergen along E-68 to the traffic circle at Trengereid, continue right along Hwy. 7 towards Kvamsskogen. Just after a tunnel, you pass the lake Frølandsvatnet, after this lake, look for a road going left (near a power plant with a visible pipeline coming down the mountain), the sign says Kvitingen 14 kilometer. Follow this road all the way to the lake Kvitingsvatnet (334-368), Kvitingen 14 kilometer. Follow this road all the way to the lake Kvitingsvatnet (334-368), where you find parking on the right hand side. There is a (2004) NOK 40.- charge for parking. The road continues, but is a service road for the hydro-power system only. In winter, this road may or may not be plowed a little bit further, however, one should always park at the designated parking area.
Route description: For the most comprehensive information about this and other Hordaland mountains consult the WEB pages of Arnt Flatmo.
Ski along the road from Kvitingsvatnet (334-368) towards Holmavatnet (580-619). Before reaching this lake (near the dam), when reaching the 500 meter elevation, leave the road and continue north-east along a pretty distinct ramp that climbs just left (west) of the ridge. In summer, the trail is marked with red "T"s, in winter some cairns may still be visible. Continue uphill until reaching two small ponds, here the route will contour slightly right and drop gently into a small gully with a creek from the pond marked at elevation 772 meter. As this passage drops into the valley that comes up from the south, stay left and contour further up the valley. The summer trail heads up near the creek between two knolls, we skied up staying left, through a very distinct pass just left (west) of the leftmost knoll. This traverse runs under steep terrain, the safety wrt. avalanche should be evaluated before crossing here (see picture from the descent below). Either way, you will now reach lake Trongasmogtjørni at 825 meter. From here, there are two passes, west and east of the mountain Bjørnaknausen (1119m). Take the right (easternmost) valley and climb gently to the saddle between Bjørnaknausen and Gråhorgi at elevation 958 meter. The terrain from this saddle towards the summit looked very steep when we were there, but our visibility was low and fog complicated navigation. Skiing, the best route continues down the valley, heading north-east until you reach a small pond at elevation 880 meter. From here, one can ski south-east and enter the broad north-east flank of the mountain. The slope is easy and very smooth, good skiing both uphill and downhill. Climb this slope until the 1060 meter level. A very distinct cliff band runs north-south just before the summit. This is most easily circumvented on the north side. Beware, it is high and steep enough to cause potential danger, in particular, when approached (as we did) in fog and limited visibility. As soon as this last obstacle has been laid to rest, the summit is just a few meters ahead, forming the north end of a north-south summit ridge. The summit has some distinct, pointed rocks, but no real cairn.
Comments: I did this climb with my friend Arnt Flatmo. We started at 10:00, skied to the summit at 13:30 and returned to the car at 15:30. The weather was miserable in Bergen, better in the mountains, however "flat light" and fog dominated the higher part of the route.
Note that the M711 map of Norway lists the elevation as 1070 meter, however, the 5 meter contour maps give a more precise elevation of 1073.5 meter. Thus, we have decided to use 1074 meter as the elevation of this mountain.

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