Jump to content

[TR] norway - eidfjord - some climb 3/5/2011


Recommended Posts

Trip: norway - eidfjord - some climb

 

Date: 3/5/2011

 

Trip Report:

...having nicely warmed up on ice cragging in Rjukan, Doug and i continued west towards the coast.

 

the drive took us through the Telemark region and past Hardangervidda national park.

P1020110.jpg

 

P1020117.jpg

 

P1020121.jpg

 

it seems like every town has its own ski resort!

P1020130.jpg

P1020133.jpg

P1020135.jpg

 

P1020140.jpg

P1020142.jpg

 

the terrain is super beautiful, the pictures just don't do it justice. the rolling hills and perfectly-spaced trees looked amazing for skiing.

 

 

03/04: drive to Eidfjord

03/05: climb some ice

03/06: drive to Bergen, hike up Fløyen

03/07: drive east to Vang

 

Eidfjord is a village of about 900 on the Hardanger Fjord in south-western Norwegian county of Hordaland.

 

big thanks to Andreas Spak for answering our emails about Eidfjord. his guiding company (Rjukan Adventure) runs some trips there and has put up a small website about the area (http://iceclimbeidfjord.com/).

not much info is available about the area, although Will Gadd, Caroline George, Chad Peele, and former local Seth Hobby have all done some spectacular ascents there.

 

the climate is mild and it was raining when we rolled in late in the evening. we weren't sure whether anything would be in. but the forecast wasn't looking too bad:

weather-eidfjord.jpg

 

we got put up in a posh hytte in Måbødalen and decided to just look for something to climb in the morning. we got up around 6 as usual, had our huge breakfast of coffee, bread, cheese and jam.

P1020218.jpg

P1020205.jpg

 

norway is the most expensive country in europe, BTW. we really cut costs by cooking our own food, but not necessarily skimping on the local delicacies. pepper herring goes well with instant Idahoan potatoes. fish cakes (fiske kaker) are delicious cut into a lentil stew mix. and fish pudding and shrimp are cheap enough for sandwiches all day long. a loaf of cheapest bread goes for about a dollar/loaf at grocery stores. candy bars? $5-6 apiece!

 

and the beers are $12+ a pint. burn.

 

 

anyways, back to climbing.

hmm... what to climb? maybe zees thing outside of our window??

P1020212.jpg

(this picture is meant to be viewed with Norwegian national anthem playing in the background)

IMG_7069.jpgIMG_7073.jpg

 

this route is also shown on this page: http://www.iceclimbeidfjord.com/index.php?action=page&article=1866379550&node=219

 

the ninja and i got started from the car at 8:40, and approached the first ice step at around 10.

IMG_7074.jpg

IMG_7089.jpg

 

p1 was a WI-warmup of about 45m.

IMG_7088.jpg

 

then followed a 65m WI fun, and 200m+ of simuling WI calf-burning rambles on some enormous pieces of ice.

P1020238.jpg

P1020253.jpg

P1020270.jpg

P1020289.jpg

 

IMG_7125.jpg

IMG_7129.jpg

IMG_7131.jpg

IMG_7138.jpg

IMG_7146.jpg

 

IMG_7147.jpg

 

the weather got more and more beautiful as the day went on

IMG_7164.jpg

P1020316.jpg

 

[i'll just give you a minute to look at that ice again]

 

ok. then came the full 70m pitch of WI real.

P1020330.jpg

 

it was 70m. on that picture above i'm at ~ dot 3 from the bottom.

eidfjord-route.jpg

 

it took me longer to climb than expected, and by the time doug got to the belay, it was 15:20. we decided to avoid having stupid rappels in the dark, and started to descend. it was heart-breaking.

 

we did three full 70m raps and one 35 m rap. RAPPELS. you can do the math.

 

 

the following morning we drove around the area and wildly pointed fingers out of the car window like we'd never seen frozen water before.

i'm just going to put a few pictures up, but there are many, many more. these are just photos and don't show how huge these lines are. i'd like to think we weren't just drooling because we are ice-starved pnw-ers. the size of ice lines there is truly increidble.

P1020369.jpgP1020370.jpgP1020376.jpgP1020388.jpgP1020426.jpgP1020466.jpg

 

P1020473.jpg

 

 

our next stop was in the coastal city of Bergen. we didn't climb ice there, but we ate some good food, including reindeer steak for doug, and some smoked whale (tastes like sin). and we hiked up a local hill Fløyen (elev. 1050 feet!) along with about half the city's population. some hikers were dressed in fur coats and heels, and others - in full spandex and running shoes. with a populace that actually voted for prohibition and a resulting $12/pint of beer, i guess this is pretty entertaining activity for a sunday evening in norway.

P1020542.JPGP1020558.JPGP1020569.JPGIMG_7237.JPG

 

next stop - Vang!

IMG_7290.JPG

 

Gear Notes:

70m rope is very helpful.

 

Approach Notes:

left car at 8:40. back at the car at 18:45.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 6
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...