UKC

I'm going to Norway this summer and plan to spend a week or two in Romsdal. I wondered if anyone could recommend any particularly worthwhile climbs (or walks or scrambles) not to be missed.
On single pitch or short multipitch routes up to be about HVS or on longer multipitch routes up to about VS.
I have the Tony Howard guidebook but if anyone can point me in the direction of any additional online info I'd be grateful.
Thanks.

In reply to pec:

Bump

In reply to pec:

I did the north face of Romsdalhorn many years ago. This was a good route, about UK Severe, easily manageable in a day, and leading to a nice summit.

Good luck with the weather !

In reply to pec:

There's a bilingual guide called "Klatring I Romsdal" that was fairly new when I got my copy in 2002. Don't know if it is still available or if there are any more recent editions though. Email me and I might be able to help you out with some scans or something.

In reply to pec:

Just passed through there for a few days last week.
The 1999 guide is still the best and latest. We bought a copy in the andalsnes bookshop, but try ypg.no
It's a dated guide by modern standards so takes a while to work out.
We also had the Tony Howard guide but didn't find it much use.
There is also meant to be a useful website for the area according to one of the locals.
N face of romsdalhornet is in an amazing position if you get chance. We went to have a look, but were put off by the approach snow conditions. Also the guide is ambiguous about the abseil bolts being in place, but we saw people abseiling back down the route later that day.

In reply to pec:

Hornaksla looks like it's worth exploring, the guide and the cliff takes some working out though.
1-2 hours drive from Romsdal - west, there are a few developed areas around ålesund, apparently on a website and there is a guide available for innerdalen area to the east.

In reply to davidbeynon:

Thanks for that offer, I need to know what routes I'm interested in though, if I get any good recommendations I might take you up on it, thanks.

In reply to davidbeynon:


I got the Norwegian guide to the Jotunheim in 1996 and found it perfectly comprehensible. Written Norwegian doesn't take long to get the hang of, at least when it comes to the formulaic structure of route descriptions. It's not as if you're trying to translate Ibsen from the original.

So don't be put off if there's no English language guide.

In reply to pec:

E ridge of Bispen looked v good. I ended up doing the easier S one instead though as my climbing partner balked at it. Make sure you read the descent description carefully though.

S ridge is v good but a bit too easy.

In reply to Andy Long:

I agree Norwegian isn't the hardest language to read, although I find it difficult to follow spoken.

In reply to davidbeynon:

>...although I find it difficult to follow spoken.

Bullsh*te, norwegian is spoken exactly like it is written... unlike french or english

In reply to HeMa:

Still very different. I can take my time reading it, but have to keep up with whoever is talking when I'm listening.

Between the two aforementioned books you have everything covered. The Howard guide is available in the UK, but we got the only copy from Needlesports at the time. Klatring i Romsdal is hard to find (in my experience) anywhere but Romsdal where the bookshop and quite a few campsites have big stacks of it.

Romsdal is a much better place to be than Alesund. I added a few of the crags around Alesund to the database on here, and the website for around there is: http://www.klatreklubben.no/uteklatring.php If you really want, or the weather forces you, to go do some sport then it's an ok place to be. Personally I'd go hiking instead though. Make sure you research the DNT and their fantastic hut system. ut.no / norgeskart.no for maps (they're at least OS quality), yr.no for weather.

I had to turn away from Romsdalhornet due to the heavy snow in July (it was a funny year last year), if we'd had axes it would have made an amazing day out! It looks like an amazing day out, should be a great view of Troll Wall from the top too.

Nesaklsa Cliff, Right-Hand Buttress (5) - can't recommend this, but my partner took a deviant route up the first pitch on some barely stationary bits of flake. It is close to town and has a dead easy walk off down a massive stone staircase though, that and the near perpetual daylight were handy with a 2300 finish.

Norafjell, Nedre Del (6?) - this was a spectacular day out! Can highly recommend anything on this crag, had big abseil bolts in place to get down on too.

Be aware that the area isn't very busy, so don't expect to see well worn paths, signs of use, even any other people!

Other wet weather activities are driving over Trollsteigen (worth it in itself) to go rafting in Valldal and eat strawberries, or carry on further down to get a boat through Geiranger. Google image search will tell you why.

If you're flying into/out of Alesund then there is a little bouldering to the North (Roald) or a sport crag with an amazing roof (Valderoy) to the south which you have to drive past to get to the airport.

Don't forget to stock up on duty free, booze is steeply priced!

If you want any more, drop me a message.

In reply to pec:

Thanks for the replies, a few suggestions to start researching there.

In reply to Oo:


Quite a few of the Norwegian outdoor shops stock it, especially the bigger ones.

Oslo Sportlager being one of them (that also ships to abroad)... There are numerous climbing locations that haven't been heard outside of Norway, even with dedicated guidebooks...

http://www.oslosportslager.no/international-page.aspx

In reply to pec:

Romsdalshorn is a must, but be aware that the route Nordveggen can be crowdy (high risk of falling stones). There are bolted anchors on this route for rappelling off the mountain which of course makes it even more busy. There are other routes at Romsdalshorn though, all described in the 1999 book "Klatring i Romsdal" (available in most sport shops in Norway; vpg.no - sportsnett.no - fjellsport.no - oslosportslager.no ...).

From the same valley (Venjesdalen/Vengedalen) you have lots of nice things to do!

The mountain Venjestind/Vengetind has a very nice climing route called Drømmediederet (Norwegian 5-). The normal route is also nice (no climbing) and the ultimate ascent to the top is via the ridge from the north (long day).

Kvanndalstind with the epic Torshammeren is also very nice. This is a long day that includes crossing of a small glacier and some easy climbing. Be sure to bring your camera for Torshammeren (google it to have a taste).

A more easy trip that is becoming very popular is Romsdalseggen. This route is not mentioned in the guide book and you need to do the extreme version to get any climbing. Lots of information on the internet (also in english).

I'm not familiar with the english grading system but I presume climbing in the Trollveggen area is a bit too much? If not you can check out Fivaruta (or Trolleggen or Sydpillaren at Mongejura). The climbing is not too hard but you need to have a good pace to avoid spending the night in the wall.

Good luck!

In reply to pec:

The latest edition of Tony Howard's guide is actually very good re. all the big (and some smaller) trad routes.

Bispen is very user friendly (top of Trollstigen pass) so a short approach walk. Quite good routes, v exposed on east side. The north and south ridges are lovely scrambles. Romsdalhorn: quite good but most routes a bit short. Vengetind: absolutely excellent. V high quality rock and climbing. Trolltindene: all very serious, but truly mindboggling 'rock scenery' and scale of routes.

In reply to pec:

Thanks to everyone for the info, sorry its taken me a while to reply but I've been so busy trying to get work and stuff sorted out as I'm away for 6 weeks. Cheers all.