This trip was a repeat attempt at summiting Galdhøpiggen (2469m), the highest mountain in Northern Europe. Earlier in the semester Sven Heaps and I had been beaten off the mountain by inclement weather and equipment failure. Several distinct changes had been made for this attempt, some of which were of a direct result of our earlier defeat.
– The attempt would be made on foot not skis: we had discovered that the approach road to the ski centre was extremely steep, this would mean that to go by ski would be tiring on the ascent and dangerous on the decent. As it was now later in the season we were expecting there to be less snow in any case.
– In addition to Sven Heaps and myself the group would now include Will Muscroft and Jannis Benjo. Will is also from Worcester Uni and has completed multiple climbs with us previously. Jannis is from Germany and we have gotten to know him fairly well during the course and on other trips.
– The internet was consulted to check for any road closures that may have affected our journey and the information line was called when we were on the road in order to confirm that the roads were still clear.
Other than these points the overall plan remained the same as the previous attempt;
-Day one: Travel to Jötunheimen national park, dependant on arrival time and weather conditions either walk up to the summer ski centre and pitch there or pitch tent at car and walk to ski centre the next day.
-Day two: Hike to ski centre and pitch tent then practice rope work, rescue techniques, ice axe arrests, etc.
-Day three: summit Galdhøpiggen, Keilhaus Topp and Svellnose on same route previously planned.
-Day four: Summit Galdhøe, Velspiggen and Kjelhøe on same route as previously planned.
-Day five: Return to Kristiansand.
As Sven and I had already planned the route and logistics there was little to do planning wise previous to leaving other than organising and collecting some winter kit from Len (crampons, ice axes, deadmans, ice screws and a 40m rope).
Overall the summit attempt on Galdhøpiggen was successful however we were not able to summit any of the additional objective peaks due to weather conditions and equipment failure.
A breakdown of the trip follows.
-Group gathered at Konsgard alle 7 and depart Kristiansand.
-Once past Oslo road information service is called to confirm that all roads are still clear and open. From this we learn that one pass is only open between 0800hrs and 2000hrs.
-Arrive at Raudbergstulen early evening and decide to pitch the tent at the car and walk up to the ski centre the next day, weather calm and sunny.
-Next morning, strike camp and prepare to walk up to ski centre.
-Decide to follow road rather than ski track as it has been cleared for approx. 2KM and is partially clear all the way up due to the snow melting.
-Warm sunny day, relaxed pace and plenty of stops.
-Meet 2 Norwegians girls who are also planning to summit the next day on skis. They ask if they could follow us over the glacier as they don’t have a rope and we agree.
-Reach ski centre early afternoon and pitch tent next it.
-Afternoon/evening spent relaxing, practicing walking with a rope, ice axe arrests and crevasse rescues. It is decided that Sven and Will will be at the ends of the rope and alternate leading the group and choosing the route as they have experience walking in winter conditions where Jannis and I do not.
-Using the ski centre Wifi we check the weather forecast and discover that there is a possibility of the bad weather forecast for the end of the week coming in early, we decide that if this is the case we will play it by ear and cut off the additional summits if this occurs.
-Overnight poor weather conditions come in with strong winds, poor visibility and snow.
-We decide to attempt the summit as planned and set off to meet with the girls who have camped closer to the glacier than us.
-We meet the girls who are on their way down the mountain as they have decided that it is too dangerous for them.
-We decide to push on as we think we are suitably equipped and experienced to make an attempt.
-Once we reach the girls campsite near to the glacier we rope up and put on our crampons.
-Sven leads the first leg across the glacier, we take a break in the shelter of some rocks on the western edge of the glacier and then Will takes over the lead.
-A short time later we suspect that we are heading in the wrong direction, after consulting the GPS we discover that we have headed up the wrong valley and decide to contour round the hill side to regain our intended route.
-After contouring round we must descend and cross to the glacier in order to follow the ridge line to the summit.
-We decide to do this by zigzagging down a snow covered gully, it turned out to be steeper than first anticipated and was therefore a little unnerving. At one point, mid crossing Jannis’ crampon came off but Will and I created axe anchors in order to make him secure whilst he re-attached it.
-Once we reach the ridge line Sven takes the lead, for approx. the last 300m Sven has to kick steps in the snow in order for us to follow, this slows our pace but is necessary due to the steepness of the slope.
-We reach the summit and after catching our breath and taking some photos we decide not to follow the route to the additional peaks but to return to the tent by reversing the route we had taken to the summit.
-Will leads us down and the decent occurs without incident.
-Once we reach the tent the weather conditions are improve and after checking the weather forecast we discover that the wind had been gusting up to 100kmph at the summit.
-We retire to the tent at approx. 1630hrs as the wind picks up.
-Checking the forecast for the next day we discover that the weather is going to deteriorate and decide to return to the car the next day rather than complete the planed route.
-At 1800hrs the wind is gusting much stronger and the porch pole snaps. Because of this we decide that we cannot spend the night at the ski centre. As we are packing away our equipment and taking down the tents the other poles snap and we have to cut them out of the tent.
-We descend from the mountain and reach the car at 2000hrs.
-Our return route is via Lillehammer and Oslo as the pass that would allow a direct route is now closed.
Overall the trip was physically and mentally demanding, but extremely satisfying and enjoyable.
Route Plans:
There is no Route plan for day 1 as we were just following the road for 8KM from Raudbergstulen to the summer ski centre.
