UKC

I have plans to go walking in the Hardangervidda (West) area of Norway in mid to late June. Walking from Fossli over to Litlos and then back towards Kinsarvik. I know that June can expect to keep some snow, some years more than others, and that this might have an effect on the distance I will travel and my keenness to cross some of the streams and rivers. Any current information re conditions and any seasoned predictions as to conditions likely to be met mid to late June would be most welcome.
Regards and Thanks
Jim

In reply to jimmccall:

The best people to contact are these people at:

Haukeliseter: http://www.haukeliseter.no/ And Finse: http://finsehytta.turistforeningen.no/

They will be able to give you up-to-date conditions.

Jamie

In reply to Valdres Fjellguider:

Thanks for that... I'll drop them a line.
Still grateful for any additional info...

In reply to jimmccall:

We travelled in this area same time a couple of years ago. Little snow but saw no one for 48 hours and many of the bridges were missing or in bad nick. Our route was Stavali to Hadlaskard to Fossil. First hut open and caretaker there if not talking to folk, no one at second, both private huts near Hedlo shut.

Advice would be to check opening times and belive them, get a DNT key, take the map times as a minimum. Worst bridge was between Fossili and Hedlo.

Youth hostel south of kinsarvik is good if quiet, hotel at fossili worked out cheaper than the nearby hostel, staff really nice and actually very happy to have wet emotional walkers from the bog (showed us a secret path down the waterfalls).

Hope some of this is of use to you!

Oh and pack a book in case of ferry delays at Utne

In reply to Pepper:

Thanks for your reply, and your time and trouble, and yes, your information is of use.

If I may ask, re the bridges... when you refer to them being in bad nick, can you elaborate? Could you use them? My map, rather usefully, differentiates between all year round (H) and summer only (S) bridges, but any information would be most welcome.

I am a member of the DNT and so I'm on it when it comes to which huts are open and closed but thank you. Getting hold of a key is the plan, although I think, in this area at least, you collect them from the guardian in a managed hut. Only that I will be there a week or two before any are manned... but I can't be the only one in this predicament and so I assume they will offer a solution.

I have never in my life matched a map or guidebook time (with the exception of the approach time to that layby buttress on Gardom's, and I wasn't driving) and don't intend to pay heed now...

Good tips about the hostel and hotel, thanks. I will look them up if I need to.

Re the ferry... I will catch the train to Geilo, then use the bus along the E7. I wasn't expecting a ferry or Utne... unless I've missed something? A book is my one luxury item.

Thanks again,
Jim

In reply to jimmccall:

Re the key we had one posted to us in England, no problems and dropped it off in Bergan. Ferry was if you cam from Bergan and took the bus.

Bridge wise one was badly hit by floods twisted almost 45 degrees right to half way and then 45 odd the opposite way! All the year round bridges existed but some missed the odd plank or steps up.

One arse of a river crossing near Stavali more width than depth but interesting. Don't expect wardens, we did as we were only a week or so before opening but found none. You might have better luck in the big hut in Litlos but looking in the guest book at Hadlaskard the last visitors came on skis!

Best of luck

In reply to Pepper:

Thanks for that. I know there is a bit more snow up there at the moment than last year and I was curious about the river crossings. I'll be there on my own and I tend to be a little more respectful when that's the case.

I was counting on them being able to post the key out so that's good to hear.

Thanks again for your time and effort.
Jim

In reply to jimmccall:
Not sure if you aware of this website that is run by DNT: http://ut.no/omrade/4.1263/ If you follow the link it takes you to Hardangervidda. You can change the language but its just an automatic translation. If you scroll down it has info on the huts, opening times and routes and often info on the routes between huts / conditions of bridges etc. but not always.

You could always try http://www.fjellforum.no/ This is quite a popular forum but not as active as ukc.

This year the west of Norway received unprecedented amounts of snow, while the east received less than normal. It started warming up quite a lot in the early Spring but seems to have cooled down a bit. My wife's family have a hut between Voss and Mjølfjell (Think train line between Bergen and Finse). They needed to clear the snow from the hut roof 3 times this winter and estimated between 3-4 m of snow had fallen. Saying that the valleys in say Hemsedal have been green for several weeks now and that is at approx 850m.

Jamie

In reply to Valdres Fjellguider:

Thanks for that. I contacted the huts you suggested and Solvei at Haukeliseter got back to me. He gave me some good current information. I will just plan a bit of flexibility into the days. There's a few weeks yet of course, but I've got some idea what to expect now and can plan and pack accordingly.

I'll check the site and the forum you've suggested for possible route conditions and any additional info.

Interesting to hear the season's history, put things into a bit of context. I had no idea that the west had so much...

Thanks again,
Jim

In reply to jimmccall:

senorge.no has maps of current snow depths and conditions as well as historical data.

In reply to icewitch:

Thanks for that. I haven't seen this before. Very useful.
Jim