Program:
-Day one: Travel to Jötunheimen national park pitch up the tent at the car
-Day two: Hike to the summer ski centre and pitch tent some practice rope work, rescue techniques, ice axe arrests, etc.
-Day three: hike up to Galdhøpiggen, maybe to Keilhaus Topp and Svellnose
-Day four: Summit Galdhøe, Velspiggen and Kjelhøe
-Day five: Return to Kristiansand.
Packing list:
I packed more or less the same cloth and gear like I packed on the bortelid trip. But this time I had to add an Ice Axe, crampons, a harnest, deadmans and ice screws. As group gear we carried a 4-person tent and a 40m rope. My Backpack was much heavier than on any other trip.
Group: The group included Sven Heaps, Luke Head, Will Muscroft and me. Sven, Luke and Will are coming from England are studying together in Worcester are living together and completed multiple climbs previously.
Execution of the trip
Monday:
We departed Kristiansand in the morning and arrive at Raudbergstulen early evening. We decided to pitch up the tent at the car and hike up to the ski centre the next day. The weather was calm and sunny.
Tuesday:
We started in the morning to hike up to the summer ski centre. The weather was still calm and sunny. On the way we decided to stick to the road walk with our heavy backpacks and made some stops on the way. After a while we met two Norwegians who are also planning to hike to the galdhoppigen on the next day with skis. We arrived at the ski centre early afternoon pitched up our tent and practise walking with a rope, ice axe arrests and crevasse rescues.
Wednesday/Thursday
The weather changed and come in with strong winds, poor visibility and some snow. But we decided to attempt to hike to Galdhopiggen as planned. After 20 minutes we roped up and put on our crampons on. First I had some problems with the crampons but after a while I got used to it. Sven leaded the first part across the glacier, we take a break in the shelter of some rocks on the western edge of the glacier and then Will took over the lead. After a while we suspect that we were heading in the wrong direction and discover that we have headed up the wrong valley. We decided to contour round to the hill side to regain our intended route. We went by zigzagging down a slope; it turned out to be steeper than we thought. In the middle of the slope my crampon came off. It was quite hard to re-attach the crampon on the steep hill and I was affright to lose my balance by re-attaching my crampon.
The conditions got worse and it was hard to see and to breathe because of the storm. After we reached the peak we decide to return straight to the tent.
We reached the tent at 16.30. After checking the weather forcast we discover that it is going to be really stormy (up to 35m per second). But we decided to stay the night at the summer ski-centre. At 18.00 the first pole snapped and we realized that we can´t spent the night at a ski centre. During the packing the other poles snap and we had problems to pack the tent. We packed our backpacks and try to go down to the car as fast as possible. It was very hard to walk down because some parts of the track are frozen so it was very slippery, the wind was very strong and our backpacks still quite heavy. Finally we arrived at the car at 20.00 and drove back to Kristiansand where we arrived at 6.00 in the morning.
General outcome
On the trip we increased many hard skills like: how to navigate in the winter without seeing many features or the understanding that the weather is a very important influence. We improved rescue techniques, how to use an ice axe and how to hike with crampons and rope on a mountaineering trip. Overall the trip was really challenging but it was satisfying to finally reach the top and to achieve the challenges.
Personal outcome
I did not have many experiences with hiking in winter conditions or with rope work. So I learned a lot about rescuing techniques and improved many hard skills that are necessary for mountaineering. I was especially challenged on my technique skills and benefited from more experienced group members.
Group dynamic:
It was interesting to become a member of an already quite cohesive group. But after a short time I felt accepted and we preformed really good. I would describe our group dynamic according to Tuckman´s model with the stage of performing because even under pressure (when the poles snaped and we had to leave or on the way to the peak with bad weather conditions) we performed very well. I think we didn´t passed the storming and norming stage even though I was a “new member” because I have gotten to know the others during the course and on other trip.
Route Plans:
On the first Day we just followed the road from Raudbergstulen to the summer ski centre.