UKC

Back in September, Andrew Cherry and I climbed the Storpillaren on Vagakallen in Lofoten. We split it into two days with a very chilly bivvy, sans sleeping bags on pitch 11, during which we discovered Taylor Swift was the unexpected but vital third team member.

Watch the video: http://www.ukclimbing.com/videos/play.php?i=2856

In reply to UKC Videos:

Excellent - looks quite challenging. Some nice shots on this blog - http://oskaralexandersson.blogspot.com (about half way down). I'd be wanting to bivvy w/o a sleeping bag that near the arctic in september. A little too character building!

In reply to UKC Videos:

Great work, and well done arranging the weather!

In reply to pneame:

I had a look at the face when I was over there in June. It is all pretty intimidating.

We tried (and failed) to psyche ourselves up enough to try one of the much easier routes on myggpillaren.

In reply to UKC Videos:

@pneame - character building crossed my mind at the time! The rope mats weren't quite as effective as we'd hoped. Those pics are awesome! Think those guys are on Freya - now thats real hardcore stuff!

@davidbeynon - Thanks, we prayed to the northern gods of precipitation. The Myggpillaren looks ace, although I heard the descent is still a bit of a nightmare too - even if you do get a slightly shorter descent path!

In reply to UKC Videos:

Looks great guys, well done!

In reply to AndrewJamesCherry:


My big memory of Norwegian descents is doing an endless highstep through that scrubby tree thing that grows to about 1.5 ft in height - brutal on the knees. That and lichen covered slabs above drops of a rather ill determined nature, of course.

In reply to pneame:

Norway is the best country to visit for the lichen covered slab enthusiast.

In reply to AndrewJamesCherry:


I've done Mygga - on Myggapillaren. It's had a reputation for being a bit rubbish going back to the Webster guide, but we thought it was quite good. We abbed down with no issues but others have got ropes stuck. Nothing like the scale or difficulty of what you chaps did. Good effort on filming as well! Next summer you should go for some of the big north or west side routes on Stetind just across on the mainland. Makes Vågakallen look merely medium sized!

In reply to UKC Videos:

Are there any alpine scrambly routes or big rock climbs up to Severe ish round there?

In reply to UKC Videos:

I enjoyed that a lot - great effort.

If you would like to send me an updated topo (for the new guide) it would be much appreciated,

Chris

chris(at)rockfax(dot)com

In reply to Red Rover:

Yes there are, although when we tried Vågakallen's North Ridge (IIRC - its the classic easy climb to the top anyway) we somehow got on to the ridge too early in the most appalling granite I've ever experiences - it all crumbled into ball bearing sized gravel! Climbing it was terrifying, plus it started raining so we back off. Would love to do the route properly some day.

In reply to Chris Craggs:

@Chris - Meeting up with Stefan today and getting some photos of the pillar developed so we'll put our heads together and see we can put something together.

@TobyA - Stetind is such a pointy-lookin wall! I'd love to go further west in Lofoten to try some of the more 'adventurous' walls in the 7's.

@Red rover - There's plenty of scrambling and easier trad climbing around Lofoten, its an absolute gold mine. Many of the first routes there were long exposed ridges and that sort of business. There's also short(ish) easy(ish) multipitch Trad routes all over the place, with totally solid rock and great gear.

In reply to AndrewJamesCherry:

Really enjoyed that, many thanks!

In reply to AndrewJamesCherry:

I am working on the new book at this very moment, due out in about 12 months - if you want to send any comments/pics etc. they will reach me via chris(at)rockfax(dot)com


Chris