"Anyone who has ever heard the voice of the mountains can never forget it". Tibetan proverb.
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The view from the summit of Glittertinden, the second highest peak in Scandinavia.
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This is on paper quite a big day: traversing the two highest mountains of Norway in a single day. In normal conditions we should be quite excited about it, but after going to sleep at around 4AM yesterday we are having breakfast at 11AM in Glitterheim cabin and rather discussing how to quit this adventure. We are still quite tired from yesterday and to face a stage like the one we have planned for today we should have been out skiing already hours ago. With the map in hand we discuss our options and come to the conclusion that turning around is not a much better option, just a safer one. The way back to the car is very long and it would be mentally very hard to go back following the fjellski tracks with the feeling of failure on our shoulders. Instead, we decide to go for it and start skiing at 1PM. Classic alpine start. The weather is amazing, sun is high up in the sky and it is quite warm already. It almost feels like holidays!
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Carsten and Lands sunbathing on the way up
to Glittertinden.
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We start hiking and soon we hit the ridge that will lead us all the way to Glittertinden, the second highest mountain in Norway at 2465 moh, and actually the highest one in winter thanks to a thicker ice cap. We take it very easy and take a long break halfway up to enjoy the sun, a few kvikklunsj, saucisson and sunbathe a bit without t-shirts on top of some dry rocks. What a life! After the break it feels hard to move and the last meters to the top feel quite hard, although the mountain is not steep at all from this side. A few pictures at the summit and we quickly get ready to get down. It is quite late, a bit windy and chilly up here. I was here a few years ago on my first trip to Jotunheimen. That time around I had my splitboard and I don't remember this mountain to be very fun to ride but I do remember an amazing couloir going straight from the summit plateau down to another flat and open plateau above Spiterstulen valley. I didn't manage to convince any of the guys back then to ski it, but the more I talk about it the more convinced Carsten and Achim seem. I am not very happy about not being able to see the conditions of the couloir, but that's life when traversing. Achim and Carsten drop before me, and quickly after, their screams of pure joy give me a hint of how the snow and the line is. I start skiing and quickly understand why they are enjoying themselves so much. The snow is amazing and it feels rad to be skiing good lines on this trip and having this terrain completely for ourselves with Galdøphiggen (2469moh), the highest mountain in Norway, standing tall right in front of us. About a minute later we are all at the bottom of the gully screaming, laughing and discussing how cool that line was, while we look back at the tracks we left on the snow.
The next section is rather flat and we use it for relaxing our tired calves and for enjoying the views of the next massif in front of us. From left to right: Galdhøpiggen, Bukkehø, Store Bukkehø, Nørdre Bukkehø, etc. We can also see the summer ski resort right in front of us. It is truly a magnificent view.
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| The west couloir of Glittertinden in dreamy conditions. |
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| Svellsnosbrean glacier front and Leirhøe (2334 moh) in the background. |
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| Lander slowly making his way down the steep icy slopes. |
We only have to traverse a slope avoiding some rocks to make it all the way down to the road that divides Spiterstulen valley in two. We walk on the road passed Spiterstulen cabin, cross the river and put on the skis again to start skinning on the other side of the road. The whole valley is already in the shade when we start the supposedly longest stage of the whole Jotunheimen Haute Route. I wouldn't recommend anyone to follow our steps and start this stage at 7PM though. The night is rather short but it DOES get dark at this time of the year. We follow the river for a bit and after a few hundred meters we turn right to start heading up towards the glacier that separates Galdhøpiggen and Tverråtindan. This is not really the way up Galdhøpiggen. For going up to the summit we would have had to take a steep slope that starts right in front of Spiterstulen cabin on the other side of the river. It is very late and we have decided to not summit this mountain because we don't think the most direct way down from Galdhøpiggen has enough snow to be skiable. It is a quite steep south face and taking into account the little snow we saw at the couloir of Besshø (also facing south) yesterday, it is quite optimistic to think that this one is gonna look any better. The alternative to the exciting south face of Galdhø is skiing up and down the uninteresting east face which is a bit of a detour. I did it with my splitboard a few years back and I wouldn't recommend it unless one likes flat and boring terrain. My estimate is that this detour would take us at least 3 extra hours, meaning most likely spending the whole night out skiing. We are quite tired and keen to go for the fastest way to Leirdalen where our tents and food supplies are waiting for us.
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The Pass: Our last big obstacle of the day. Skarstinden looming in the background.
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We soon arrive at the glacier front and to get onto it we decide to remove our skies and first walk on a rocky ridge to gain elevation and find a section where the snow is thicker and safer. We take a break here in between some wind-sheltered boulders, to eat, drink and put on the harnesses before traversing this long glacier. After about 10 minutes walk up the ridge that crosses the glacier front like a spine, we decide to put the skis back on and also the ski crampons, since this section is quite steep and it looks quite icy too. We are happy that we decided to use the ski crampons, this 300 m elevation section feels rather runout and the skinning becomes quite technical, keeping us very focused on sticking the edges of our skis to the slope. If we fall here we would probably slide quite far down and hit some of the big boulders below us. I take breaks every now and then to breathe, relax and make sure I execute every kick turn with the right technique. After a good 45 minutes of technical skinning the slope finally eases down and we find ourselves on top of a quite flat glacier that extends quite far westwards until another ridgeline; probably our last significant obstacle before skiing all the way down to Leirdalen. It is about sunset time and we are happy that we left the steep section behind. It is beautiful up here but also quite cold. We continue skinning while admiring the beauty of the mountains surrounding us. To our right, we can see the ridgeline that steadily reaches the summit of Galdhøpiggen. The south face of the mountain doesn't have enough snow to ski. There are some patches of snow but they do not connect from the summit to the glacier where we are. It does look quite sketchy with this amount of snow. Good decision guys! To the left we can see the steep face of Tverråtindan which definitely looks in better condition. In front of us a sea of snow with a very small gradient that terminates at the ridge that we are heading for. We cannot see the ridge yet from here but we are a bit worried about this section. In the map, it looks really steep and not really skiable but is the fastest way to reach Leirdalen. This might be the crux of the day. It takes us about 1h to cross the entire glacier, it is getting darker, colder, and we are hungry and exhausted but this place is so relaxing and beautiful that we quite enjoy being able to relax and focus on just moving our skis one after the other.
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Into Nørdre Illabrean glacier with the steep ridgeline and Ymmelstinden (2305moh) in the background.
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We reach the end of the glacier by midnight and soon we get a confirmation of what we feared before. When we look down on the other side of this ridgeline we find a slope too steep to ski below a buttress of ice and rocks. Fuck! There is no way we are going back. It's so late and we are dog tired. After taking a longer look at the slope it looks like it would be possible to downclimb the top section and then walk down the slope further down with crampons on. We are a bit worried about being able to get passed the rocks safely but we also take a bit of time to look at the mountains around us and the last beautiful lights of this long day. It's amazing to be in such a remote place at this time of the day surrounded by glaciers, ridgelines, steep rock faces, snow and ice. We don't want to waste too much time overthinking so we start unpacking both crampons and ice axes. We don't find any safe place to build an anchor so we decide to not use the rope and hope for the best. The first section is sketchy, falling here is not a good idea. We take our time and slowly make our way down the frozen rocks. Only 10 minutes later we are already on the snow slopes below the band of rocks, still in steep terrain but relatively safe. It was easier than it looked from up there. The exhaustion and the darkness don't help. This section probably feels much easier if you have to cross it in the middle of the day and are well-rested. We walk down about hundred more meters and decide to put the skis back on when the snow doesn't feel too icy. A bunch of jump turns and we are down the valley in flatter terrain and happy to be done with the most challenging section of the day. We enjoy skiing an easy section to the light of our headlamps until we reach the river that will hopefully take us all the way down to Leirdalen. It is quite fun to ski on top of the river bed that forms a natural halfpipe but we also have to keep an eye on some sections to not fall on the river. It wouldn't be very fun to fall on icy waters right now; the air is already cold enough, in the range of minus 10-to-15 below freezing. At some point we reach a section of the river with a big drop; a waterfall, to be precise. We discuss if we should try to do the drop and continue following the river but taking a closer look we see more chances of a terrible fall and/or ending in the river than a happy ending to this jump, so we decide we rather find an alternative. We take off our skis and climb up the steep left side of the river. We think that the slope right above is gonna be skiable and is gonna lead us down to the road. This section turns out to be more exposed and tricky than initially envisaged but we all manage to get on top of the slope. Soon I realize that this is the slope that comes from Bukkehøe and Nordre Bukkehøe. I hiked these mountains a few years back with the mountain club from the university and couldn't help but think of how nice it would be to do them on skis. From here on is just a few hundred meters of easy skiing following the Normalruta down from Bukkehøe. Finally, we make it to our tents at around 3AM. I am so fucking destroyed! Who said this is fun? I open my tent and completely crash on the sleeping mat before taking off any clothes and with my skiing boots sticking out of the tent. Achim and Carsten quickly start preparing food. Good lord that these guys still have some energy left.
20 minutes later...
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| Skiing down the river with the help of our headlamps. |
- Lander! Dinner is ready!
- Sorry guys I am too tired to move and eat anything.
But they convince me to move my ass to their tent, which is already warm thanks to the cooking stoves, and I am truly grateful for that. The dry food and the tea taste amazing. It's so nice to put something else than muesli bars in the belly. It has been another ridiculously long day. 13 hours of skiing, 37 km and about 2300 meters of positive elevation. The good news is that tomorrow should be a very short day in which we are only doing one stage to complete this amazing trip. Everything has gone to plan so far and it seems that we are gonna make it. I can't believe it!
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