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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 30, 2013 - 08:19pm PT
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Recommendations and tales sought.
Lofoten.
Setesdal.
I'm especially interested in places that have longer front-country climbs.
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - May 1, 2013 - 11:14am PT
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Thanks, Ed.
Someone must have a tale to tell.
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Prod
Trad climber
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I have a pal who I believe has climbed there. Just sent you and him an email.
Watch out for Vikings.
Cheers,
Prod.
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - May 1, 2013 - 11:28am PT
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Gracias. It's going to take a while for the guidebooks I ordered to get to the US, so I'm greedily consuming info from anyone I can so that can get planning!
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Alan Rubin
climber
Amherst,MA.
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You might try posting a query on UKClimbing under the "rock destinations" forum. Quite a few folks on there have climbed in Norway. The website also has an "articles" section that almost certainly contains some on Norway.Also the Rockfax website has good information on Norway. They publish a guidebook to Lofoten and some printable "miniguides" to a few selected climbs, including a long, moderate "front-country" climb on Stetind. Norway is a place that has long been on my list. Unfortunately much bad weather and VERY expensive.
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - May 1, 2013 - 12:03pm PT
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The expense is kind of shocking. (Why?) I'm hoping to beta it down a bit, but I think it is what it is.
I've ordered the Lofoten guide and found the freely available intro on the roxfax site pretty helpful for that area.
I've been trying to pull together bits mainly from the European internet and ukclimbing, but I haven't posted there yet. The latter is tough b/c most of what I find is more like the specific discussion of routes like we have for Yosemite on ST, and I have no context for it. Interestingly, the tourist-beureau (visitnorway, etc) sites give overviews of climbing areas in fairly technical terms compared to what we see here. Does anyone know how crowed/popular to expect most areas to be?
Part of what I'm looking for that I can't find online is a comparison between areas from someone who has been around the country quite a bit, since I will probably have time to spend a week or so at about 3 places and maybe do crag days along the way between them. I don't want to be the equivalent of someone who came all the way from Norway and ends up booking a week at the Manteca Best Western to climb at the Grotto...both fine enough things to do, but maybe not the best choice for a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
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phylp
Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
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booking a week at the Manteca Best Western to climb at the Grotto
LOL, Melissa, that would be tragic!
Sounds like your trip will be a great adventure. Have fun!
Phyl
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Alan Rubin
climber
Amherst,MA.
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Melissa, I think posting a specific query on UKClimbing along the lines of what you just posted on here would garner some useful responses.
Did you print the Stetind mini-guide from the Rockfax site? The guide includes mention (and a few tempting photos)of some other nearby crags and it isn't too far from there to the Lofotens. Remember that Norway is a big place, and the roads aren't quite as easy to drive as the ones here---often interrupted by ferry rides across various fjords. Have a great trip. I'll be jealous.
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michael feldman
Mountain climber
millburn, nj
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You should shoot Seth Hobby an e-mail (http://www.alpineguides.no/);. He's an American now living and guiding in Lofoten (and elsewhere). I am sure he can provide you with some good information.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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There is good cragging a short train/bus ride from Oslo at Kolsaas (the double a's
are pronounced like our 'oh'). The Norsk Alpine Club has a hut there. It
has been a while so I forget if there is a kitchen. I do recall
you need to bring all your food .
Of course, you know the weather often is, uh, slightly less than cooperative.
I sat at the base of the Troll Wall for 'a while'. Sometimes I even saw it.
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BMcC
Trad climber
Livermore
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Beautiful country and have gone there twice climbing ice (spectacular!), but no rock climbing stories.
Have fun!
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Once in a Lifetime - be sure to get the right weather.
Lofoten - Presten - Vestpillaren
[Click to View YouTube Video]
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Ed: Reilly - Melissa just has to order the right weather - it's as simple as that... The route is there waiting for her. I haven't been there... I'm a sportclimber...
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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SuperTopo Truth in Advertising Notice:
Marlow works for the Norwegian Tourism Board!
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Fishy
climber
Zurich, Switzerland
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I spent two weeks just in Lofoten in the middle of summer.
Brilliant place with heaps of world-class rock - I barely scratched the surface even with the 24 hour daylight. You certainly dont need to move beyond Lofoten if you are only dealing with a couple of weeks of climbing.
Even in summer the weather is mostly very variable - you can be lucky and get a patch of 3-5 solid sunny days, but there is probably only a 25% chance of you hitting that sweet spot.
Climbing Vestpillaren on The Priest was one of only a couple of places in Europe which gave me that big granite feeling that you find in Yos. You wont regret the trip, thats for sure.
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orle
climber
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More Lofoten - Seb Michaud
Good grief!
I was in Lyngenfjord (north in Troms) two winters ago and there were some really steep long couloirs like that, some of them ended right at sea-level next to the road. Lush place..but with horrible crumbly rock.
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - May 4, 2013 - 11:36am PT
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Thanks for posting, and keep it coming! (vær så snill!)
My husband got the green light to "telecommute", so it's on!
Does anyone know how the summer crowds at popular areas in Norway compare to popular places in North America (Valley, Tuolumne, Lovers Leap, Squamish, etc.)
Ordering every $50 guidebook to the country to make a more informed choice seemed too much, but these ones are on the way and likely stops for us:
Lofoten Rock (for sure destination)
Eresfjord
Climbing guide to Molde and Omegn
Climb Norway (sounds like this one is an all-over-sport-crag selects...maybe good for stop offs or city-visiting as we road trip?)
I tried to get the guide to Valle, but it's either not yet in print or not in stock where I was trying to buy it. Does anyone know if this is on the shelves in Norway yet?
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raymond phule
climber
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Does anyone know how the summer crowds at popular areas in Norway compare to popular places in North America (Valley, Tuolumne, Lovers Leap, Squamish, etc.)
I haven't climbed in Norway in many years but I really doubt that there are anything close to a crowd in the places that you mention. I believe for example that we where mostly alone at the cliffs in lofoten when we where there.
Another place that is good is Romsdalen. There are good a couple of pitches long climbs at Hornaksla (I believe that is the name, the bottom of Romsdalshorn), Mongenjura is a quite nice 1000 m 5.10, easy "alpine" routes on Romsdals horn, of course the troll wall and probably much much more.
There are also some nice long climbs in Nissedal south west of Oslo but we only climbed two days before the weather turned bad.
As other people have said. It takes a long time to drive between the areas mentioned. The roads are not very good and it is not allowed or possibly to drive especially fast. It is also very expensive to drive to fast if you get a ticket.
The weather is nothing like Yosemite and you can get quite long periods with really bad weather but the weather can also be quite good. Bring warm clothing because it can be quite cold also in the middle of the summer.
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