UKC

I'm flying off to Norway next week (5th).

Planning to spend a week or so on rock in the Lofoten islands, then heading north and having a go at some peaks on the Lyngen peninsular.

I can hardly wait.

The only downer is that I have hardly climbed for the last few months - a tenner says I start gibbering half way up a severe or something.

In reply to davidbeynon: I forgot to ask.

Anyone going to be in the Lofoten area in the week or so after the 5th August.

In reply to davidbeynon: Hope you get lucky with the weather, the north has has a majorly bad bad bad summer so far, but next week looks promising. Enjoy...

In reply to Nj: I'm out there for 3 weeks

so I should get at least a couple of good days...

/wishful thinking

In reply to davidbeynon:

We were in Lofoten last week. Mucho wind and rain with only one dry day BUT there were enough weather windows to allow some climbing every day we were there (with only the occasional soaking).

In reply to davidbeynon: What are planning to do in Lyngen? Have you got the new guidebook?

In reply to TobyA: I have the new walks & scrambles guide.

I also have the old west coll "Scandinavian Mounatains" guidebook, although a lot of the information in it comes with "here be dragons" type warnings.

We haven't come up with a concrete plan for Lyngen, as we want to see how well we are climbing first.

We were thinking of starting with a couple of relatively easy peaks and taking it from there. Jeikevarri is definitely on our radar.

There was a peak in the book (I forget the name) that had an amazing looking ridge leading to an HS pitch near the top. That is on my "If I am climbing better than I expect to and feel really confident" list.

We are also planning to climb Stetind after we leave Lofoten. The travel plan is basically:

Tromso->Lofoten->Bodo->Stetind->Tromso->Lyngen->Tromso

In reply to davidbeynon: I'll be up there in mid AUgust. Jiekevarri sounds really good in the book doesn't it? Big day out though... worried that my walking-up-hill-legs aren't in very good condition! There are some Lyngen photos in my gallery if you haven't seen them.

In reply to TobyA:

I'll probably be around at the same time then. We don't fly back to the UK until the 27th.

I like your photos.

In reply to davidbeynon: Well if you see two English blokes in a Finnish registered car (probably a Golf) say hi as its likely to me and Dave! I think we'll be up for the week ending the 20th.

In reply to davidbeynon: You should get hold of a book called 'We Die Alone' it is an epic survival story, set against the 2nd WW. The action takes places around Lyngen to my knowledge. It is a true story that makes 'Touching the Void' look like a walk in the park!

In reply to mark reeves:

And a very small and comfortable park with lots of place to have coffee and donuts at that!

In reply to davidbeynon:

In Lofoten at the moment and conditions are superb - the papers are forecasting blue skies for another week!


Chris

In reply to davidbeynon:

If you are going to Tromsø, consider a visit to Kvaløya. A magical place, lots of climbing and scrambling + a very nice hut that you can have as base camp.

I uploaded a picture from last year on my profile where you can see the hut.

Info on:
www.blixt.no/KvaloyaArchives

Enjoy Norway
/gustaf

In reply to davidbeynon:
I think you will have a good time up there, apparently the weather is picking up now. Not sure if you have any spare time in your travel plan, but there are some very good places for climbing in the Bodø area (sport, trad and bouldering). A guide for the area came out this week, called Artic Circle Climbing/Polarsirkelklatring. You will be able to buy it at Intersport in Bodø or from the local climbing club.
Not that you wount have enough to do in Lofoten and Lyngen though. Enjoy.
Hanne

In reply to davidbeynon:
Oh and by the way, There will definately be people there. In the Henningsvær and Svolvær area you are likely to find people to climb with if that is an issue.

In reply to Hanne and Gustaf: Is the guide book you mention this one: http://www.linken.com/news_vis.asp?nyhetid=494 ? And do either of you guys happen to know anything about the North-East ridge of Sildpolltind in Efjord? There are some pictures here: http://www.linken.com/photogallery_showimage.asp?location=63&Fotoid=993 but beyond those I can't find any info on the route. I think I know which mountain it is (south of Eidetind, north of Stetind), where the big slab is where some people go mountain biking.

In reply to davidbeynon:
no it isn't. The one I am talking about is advertised on: http://www.bodoklatreklubb.no/Klatrefelt.htm Not sure how your Norwegian is though... but the actual book has got English translations in it.
Unfortunately I am not familiar with the climb that you mentioned, it is quite far away from Bodø, which is where I am from. The best thing will probably be to get in touch with the local climbers... you might find somehting on Narvik climbingclub's site www.narvikklatreklubb.com

In reply to mark reeves: Thanks for the tip.

That is my reading material for the trip sorted out.

In reply to davidbeynon: Thanks to everyone for the information

I will certainly make some tome to explore Tromso and Bodo. (How do you get those forign letters to come up?)

My Norwegian is just about good enough to order beer, buy bus tickets and ask people if they speak english. I'm working on it though, so I hope to be able to buy climbing guidebooks and book myself into camp sites by the time I arrive. '

In reply to davidbeynon:

A good tip is to visit Nordnorsk Klatrekafe (translates to North Norwegian Climbing Cafe) in Henningsvaer, you can take a bus-service from Svolvaer to get there. Next-door from the cafe there is a climbing shop, and an climbing academy where they can advise you on routes etc. You can also buy a guidebook describing most of the routes in Lofoten, it's in english actually, there.

I've just spent one week in Lofoten, had a wonderful time. I recommend the following routes:

-Bare Blåbaer (Only blueberries)
-Gandalf
-Gollum

All the routes above are rated around 4a/4b on the english scale. If you want to, I can give you the names of more serious routes as well.

Have a nice trip!

In reply to TobyA:

What kind of climbing is there in the Lyngen peaks in the summer? Is it glaciated or all rock? Im looking for an alpine alternative that's not too far away

Hi Chris. Say Hello to Colin... wish I was there! Been looking out for uploads from your trip.

Got some stuff done with Tony at Brimham last Sunday, then at Ravenscar this week, except some soloist ran off with my NE guide....

In reply to davidbeynon: One more question.

What map datum and grid should I use with my GPS when I am using norwegian SK maps?

In reply to Hanne Eriksen: Info about this guide is now available in English at http://www.bodoklatreklubb.no/Klatrefelteng.htm