UKC

I've just had ten days in Cogne, variable conditions. I've been to Rjukan in late January a couple of times and I'm looking to get a long weekend in early March. Has anyone experience of Rjukan conditions in early March over the last few seasons? (I appreciate things change year to year etc). Cheers.

In reply to cham749:

Hi Cham,

Been a few times late Feb to early March and there were still plenty of routes to chose from. Last year was a good bit warmer (+10) with increasing winds speeds during mid Feb but I believe that was a particularly warm period for the time of year. That said some of the ice was especially good as we were leaving as it can be very hard during extremely cold spells.

Go for it. Worst case head up to the ski slopes or Gaustatoppen!

In reply to cham749:

If you fly into Oslo main airpot (Gardermoen) then Rjukan, Hemsedal or Valdres are all around the 3.5h drive away with Oppdal being 4.5hours, you could just make your mind up on the day. Obviously accommodation would be on the spot market, but I would doubt there would be much fluctuation in price for budget accommodation.

Actually flying into Torp doesn't make the times to ridiculous to any of these places although the road from Oslo to Torp can be really busy at certain times of the day and massively increase driving time.

In reply to cham749:

Rjukan's quite lean this year and it's not been that persistantly cold. Might be a gamble if the only place you want to go is Rjukan. In the main valley it's really only the Upper Gorge and Kroken that have had decent conditions. The two falls either side of Vermork only became climbable a few weeks ago for example. I'd book a flight as Jamie says and see where looks best nearer the time. Drivden in Oppdal is probably a safe bet as some high up routes. Incidentally, I've just got back from Alta. A lot of the FAs seem to have been mid-late March, which adds up as the ice on some of the routes we looked at hadn't properly consolidated. That would be a safe bet I reckon if internal flights matched up and were affordable.

In reply to cham749:

Raining at the mo 😆

In reply to chalk monster:

I'm sat next to the man above .. deffo raining ... beer in the sauna is good tho!

In reply to cham749:

I was there for the first 2 weeks of March 2010. Conditions were fantastic; fat ice and dropping well below freezing every night, but not too cold as to form brittle ice. My friend had been out in early March 2009, when conditions were even better.

As with last year, things don't bode well for this coming March though, at least not at the moment. I think I'd have a Plan B.

Rjukan itself in the rain must be grim. Before my first visit, my friend told me: "the town is a sh1t hole; its only the snow and ice that makes it look pretty". On reflection, she may well have had a point!

In reply to Dave Williams:

thats a bit harsh, the centre is quite pretty, the power plant is interesting old industrial style - ie like an old mill, built to look good as well as be functional, there is some lovely scenery up on the hardangervidda and there are free buses to the ski centre on the mountain above the town. the museum is well worth a visit too

In reply to Dave Williams:

Rjukan is a pleasant enough place. It definately has character with the factories, just as some of the old mills give the UK character. Plus it has a different feel to other climbing areas in Norway due to the enclosed feel of the place. Also a lot more of a genuine place I'd say than a lot of the Euro climbing areas where winter tourism predominates. Not much going on but then it has a very small population that is not densely packed. Plus that's Norway for you generally. Not much of a party place but lots of outdoor space.