Snøfjellet

  • Snøfjellet
  • 1579 m
  • Primary factor 622 meter
  • Location: North 62.74749, East 008.76103 (GPS on the summit)
  • Romsdal, Norway
  • Difficulty: (YDS) class 3
  • Climbed August 5. 2020.

Information:


How to get there:
Locate the town of Sunndalsøra, connected to E-6 by the road from Oppdal running down the valley Sunndalen. From Sunndalsøra, drive through town and head north (sign for Kristiansund). You will almost immediately go through a tunnel that is almost 8 kilometer long. Shortly after this tunnel, turn right on a smaller road signed for Innerdalen. Drive to the end of the public road, there is a good sized parking area here.
Route description:
First, follow the road to Innerdalshytta. This is a good dirt road, but only to be used by the people working at the two huts. The road climbs a pretty long hill then descends to the lake. The first hut (where one can stay) is named Renndølsetra, Shortly after this, a trail forks left immediately before the bridge and river. Take this trail up along the left side of the river.
Only a few hundred meter onwards along the road you will find a self serve DNT hut as well as the private hut Innerdalshytten. Both places offer accommodation (cheap and expensive).
Follow the well marked trail as it climbs parallel to the river. When you approach 650 meter of elevation, the trail turns sharply left and more uphill. There is also a sign here. Continue along the well marked trail to reach the Bjøråskaret col at elevation 1180 meter.
Turn left and climb the ridge to the first (false) summit point. There are unavoidable sections with bigger rocks here. Overall, it still seems best to reach the very top of this first ridgeline. From this local summit, the best route (avoiding rocks) stays all the way right and follows the edge of the steepish cliff on your right. Continue across the very shallow saddle, following the right hand side of the ridge until close to the cliffs that block access ahead. Turn left and follow a climbers trail along the natural (pretty wide) ledge, all the way to the corner. At this point turn right and climb uphill. The route is well marked with cairns here. This is a rather short section with (easy) (YDS) class 3 scrambling. The slope quickly becomes very gentle, but there are still areas with cumbersome rocks. Overall, again it seems best to stay right (close to the cliff) and follow this line to the very big cairn placed at the summit.
Comments:
I arrived with Heidi on August 4. after our nice stay in Valldalen. We parked and walked the short hike to Innerdalshytta where we had booked 2 nights.
After breakfast at 0800, I left the hut around 0845. A good pace moving uphill, I made the col and the first 800 vertical meter at 1000, from here I slowed down as the terrain got a bit more cumbersome. Surprisingly strong wind, the gusts made me move. Unfortunately, the very best place to walk seemed to be right on the edge of the big cliff on my right side. The wind coming directly across (from my left), was strong enough to discourage the best path. I still moved ok on and between the bigger rocks. The ledge going left was nice, a clear climbers trail showed the way to the small ridge. Good cairns here and a short, easy scramble that still earns the route a (YDS) class 3. A made the summit at 1115, so 2.5 hours from the Innerdalen hut, quite acceptable.
A spell of weather with rain kept me company at the summit. I needed to put on my jacket. A few pictures, but the clouds destroyed what would have been a nice view. I signed the summit register. The mail box keeping the register had a sign saying "Snøfjellet", then "The big five", what peaks comprise this set?
A small check revealed the names of the other 4 peaks: Viromkjerringa, 1374m, Kongskrona 1814m, Dronningkrona 1816m, and Grøvelnebba, 1428m.
I left the summit at 1130, and picked my way closer to the cliff on the return ridge traverse since the wind was less of an issue now. Still, there are unavoidable areas with rocks, now slippery from the rain, I am not at all faster going down hill. Back at the hut at 1415, so 2:45 down.

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