In a classic of late organisation, we’d decided on the Romsdal because it was described as “the most famous mountain climbing locality in Scandinavia” in the one book we had, Scandinavia Mountains. Also because our original idea, the Lofoten Islands in the far north, seemed a bit too inaccessible for just a week’s holiday.
Minimal sleep on the Friday’s night assembling our kit, a flight to Oslo and six hours journey north on the train took us to Andalsnes. The end of the line, and a little town on the edge of the fjord with the mountains closeby. Just before midnight we were stumbling round the campsite trying to decide where to drop our giant packs. I think there’s a Samuel Johnston saying that goes “sorry to send you such a long letter, I did not have time to write a shorter one”. Much the same was true of our packing.
The last stretch of the train journey goes down the Rauma valley, billed for good reason as one of the most impressive lines in Norway. Getting down into the deep glacial valley from the plateau, the line disappears into a tunnel in the valley side, to do a U-turn before emerging lower down in the opposite direction. Further down the valley we could look across at the first 1000 feet or so of the Troll Wall disappearing up into the mist (ie the bottom third). Sunday saw us making our way up to the Vengadal valley, a high alp where we camped at around 650m, surrounded by peaks.
One incident made the day more eventful than it need have been. After a couple of hours plodding along the side of the fjord at sea level, we were luckily offered a lift as we turned onto the valley road, saving us some 12km of uphill. Just after saying goodbye to our friendly Norwegian helpers, I realised I’d left our tent in the back of their car! Total disaster was avoided by borrowing a tent from another group of climbers who were just setting off home at the end of their weekend. But I spent a pretty lousy evening thinking of what our helpers would think when they found the tent after four hours drive south to Lillehammer.
Monday saw us debating which route to take on the Romsdalhorn, at 1550m the “Matterhorn of the Romsdal” if you believe the tourist office. The North Ridge looked a really good route, about Severe in standard. But as it has been equipped for double ropes, we decided to go for the slightly easier original route, first climbed by a “peasant and a blacksmith”. This involved lots of scrambling, interesting route finding, and numerous Diff+ pitches. The final exposed part of the ridge up to the summit was particularly good.
We emerged onto the flat top of the mountain to find lots of massive cairns, views straight across to the Troll Wall, and a really cosy bivouac shelter with a nice leather bound summit book inside. (Chris Craggs had signed in a few weeks before - so watch out for an article in the magazines.)
NB Scandinavia Mountains recommends taking just a single 50m rope. Generally this would be OK for the routes described there, but with twin ropes you can attempt much more, and abseil down much more quickly. Next time, I’d take two ropes.
Incidently, the Troll Wall gets its name from a series of spires along the summit rim, which look somewhat like trolls and have a habit of throwing stones down on unwary climbers.
The place to get information from locally is called AAK, an outdoor sports centre with their office in Andalsnes. They can provide topos of routes, and also have a climbing wall there. There is a guidebook to the area in Norwegian, but the only detailed English-language guide, Walks and Climbs in Romsdal by Tony Howard, was printed in 1970. Copies are obviously hard to find - though Maria managed to get sight of one in the Alpine Club library.
After a day of low cloud, the weather cleared and we went for Store Vengetind, the highest peak around at 1852m. After a long slog up a gully, with some pretty substantial snow patches, we reached a gap on the North Ridge. Above this, the climbing was delightful, very reminiscent of the Skye ridge, weaving through short chimneys and up open slabs. We climbed moving together, following a cairned route, with just a couple of pitches up to the summit. Nobody else was around (nor had there been on the Romsdalhorn), and looking out into the distance we could see a huge expanse of peaks and snowfields.
After this, we had planned to move on to another area (Trollstigen), but the weather broke, and it was pretty claggy for the last few days of our stay. Highlights were:
Generally, a brilliant spot, with a real wilderness feel, a bit of a shame about the cost of the beer!
Getting there. Andalsnes, the centre of the Romsdal is only a few miles from the Troll Wall, and about six hours train journey from Oslo. The rail/bus/boat transport system in Norway is very well integrated. Tourist travel cards giving 50% discounts can be bought in advance. Timetables and travel bookings in the UK through Norwegian StateRailways Travel Bureau, 21 Cockspur St, London SW1 0171-930 6666
Weather/Season. Mid-June to early October, with the best months July or August. The weather comes in from the coast, and a general drizzle pushed in by the warm, wet Gulf Stream wind is not uncommon in summer
Camping. There are several campsites around Andalsnes, the closest about 2km from the station. Mountain bikes, canoes and log cabins can be hired. Wild camping is a tradition enshrined in law. You can camp anywhere in open areas as long you are at least 150m away from any houses or cabins
Mountain Huts. The Norwegian Mountain Touring Association (DNT) has a network of huts and chalets, some wardened, for use by its members. Membership about £35 pa, details in the UK from Mountain & Wildlife Ventures, Compston Road, Ambleside, Cumbria LA22 9DJ
Info/Contacts. AAK Fjellsportsenter, Postboks 238, N-6301 Andalsnes, Norway, Tel (47)-71 22 64 44. AAK offers info and topos, guiding, bunkhouse and climbing wall.
References.
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