UKC

I'm hoping to drive up to Lofoten in June for about a month. The "world class climbs" thread, made me add Stetind South Pillar to my wish list. What other Norwegian destinations / routes can anyone recommend (climbing up to E2 / E3 but very happy to climb classic V Diffs). Links to topos / guides would be appreciated. Thanks.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

If you are going to Stetind you are within easy reach of Lofoten. You can either take a ferry from Skutvik to Svolvaer or drive around in about 3 hours.

In reply to davidbeynon:

Thanks.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

It's not in Norway, but Bohuslän, in mid-Sweden (roughly an hour north of Gothenburg) would be a good place to stop for a break from driving and granite crack warm-up, assuming you're going that way (am I right in thinking that the ferries still aren't any good?). Lots of excellent single pitch stuff in a relatively small area, pleasantly situated crags, and a nice and reasonably-priced hut owned by the local club to stay at, which will be filled with Swedes and Norwegians who can give you beta for both that area and Norway.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

Not been there yet but Kvaløya, near to Tromsø, looks really good. There's an excellent guidebook as well. Also some world class stuff in Romsdal and maybe a good place to break the journey. Sydpilaren (n6) on Mongejura is an obvious classic in the grades you mention. I'd also put Bohuslän in the world class climbing category. Particularly if cracks are your thing. It would be criminal to drive past Hallinden for example.

In reply to Mr. Lee:

It takes about 4-5 hours to get up to tromso from the stetind/lofoten latitude, and probably another hour or so to kvaloya. Probably worth it though.

I only know this because I ended up going south after my kvaloya and lyngen trip got rained off last year.

In reply to DBoothroyd:

Thanks for that info, yes, planning to drive up from Calais and over the bridges from Denmark to Sweden, so Bohuslan looks like a sensible place to stop off. Have you got a link to info about the hut?

Thanks, Mark.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

Thanks for the info everyone. Lots to think about.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

If going to the far North of Norway from Denmark, I suspect driving up Sweden is the quickest way. High quality trad and sport in north Sweden, but more cragging than mountain stuff in Norway. Huge drive though!

In reply to TobyA:

That's the plan, being retired, time isn't really an issue, and for me, the drive is part of the whole experience, something to enjoy, rather than a means to an end. Had decided the route through Sweden looked the most sensible, so some cragging on the way would be ideal. Most interested in the longer routes though as a bit of a contrast to this country.

In reply to Mark Kemball:


I did the drive up through Sweden a few years ago. Very enjoyable once out of Germany and beautiful in Sweden. Next time I'd definitely break the journey at Bohuslan though.

In reply to Robert Durran:

Yet more to think about, I can't see a month being anywhere near long enough...! Great photos - inspiring.
Thanks.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

In the far north of Sweden the hard dudes rate https://27crags.com/crags/niemisel/photos although I'm not sure if there is a single route on it that I could do. I have driven past and its impressive looking.

A bit further south there is some very pleasant cragging on the beautiful High Coast area, lots of campsites also. Some pics from round there from when I went http://lightfromthenorth.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/sweden.html the crag in the pic is https://27crags.com/crags/ringkallen

My first trip to Bohuslan: http://lightfromthenorth.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/bohuslan-climbing-trip-repo... and my last trip up to the Narvik area http://lightfromthenorth.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/rock-climbing-in-arctic-nor...

In reply to Mark Kemball:
we visited Nissedal a couple of years ago, upto 300m multi-pitch routes on a granite dome called haegefjell, wild camping at the base, some good options at that grade range. could be a warm-up en route to lofoten. I have a PDF mini guide / topo if you want it just email me. enjoy!!

In reply to Mark Kemball: you must go to Bohuslän. Look at following page for the climbing club hut. New guidebook is recently released.
http://www2.idrottonline.se/BohuslansKlatterklubb-Klattring/KLUBBSTUGAN/

If you're driving through Sweden you should definitely look at the climbing up north at
https://27crags.com/crags/offerhallan/photos
And
https://27crags.com/crags/blaberget
Also Ringkallen mentioned above is time well spent.
If driving through Norway, besides obvious Nissedal, Dirdalen is also supposed to be really good at Norwegian 6/6+. Baugen, at Kvaloya, outside Tromso has according to well travelled friends world class premier granite routes right down your grade register in region of 250m.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

Thanks again for all the info, much appreciated.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

I'm also doing a Norway roadtrip, less for proper pitched rock climbing and more for alpine routes, from Bergen to the arctic sea, this summer in my little old Peugeot, maybe we'll bump into each other!

In reply to Mr. Lee:


Hallinden is closed at the moment though....

But yeah, stoppin' in Bohuslan is a good way to start the trip. Stellar long singlepitch solid granite cracks.

If Lofoten is the main destination, driving through Sweden is the best way to go (perhaps stoppin' to clip some bolts in Niemisel), and the way back, stop @ Stetind & Eidetind region. BTW. while the Sudpillaren is indeed a classic... I think the line to climb on Stetind is West Veggen-West Eggen combination... longer and a tad harder, but supposed to be really, *really* good.


As for Norway... Well, Nissedal (Haegefjell) and Setesdal are the classic options in the south.. but are a bit of detour... Romsdalen is an uber classic, but again driving in Norway will take a long time. Between, there are numerous (unknow) locations that again offer really good granite, of which perhaps the most known is Uskedalen.

I haven't climbed in Romsdal, but have done stuff in Uskedalen and Nissedal... and to me, they offer the same kind of climbing that you get on the longer routes in Lofoten or Stetind/Eidetind, just with a different backdrop. Romsdalen might a tad diffenrent.

Quite often people state that Kvaloya next to city of Troms, offers even better climbing than Lofoten. Mainly because it's steeper (most of the climbing mentioned above is slabby... oh so slabby). But it's about a days drive north from Lofoten...

In reply to DanielJ:

As Daniel says, a guidebook for the Bohuslän area came out last year - you can get it at the Tempo supermarket in Brodalen (near to crags such as Häller), which also stocks a small selection of gear. It's largely in Swedish, but has instructions for getting to the crags in English, and people at the hut will be more than happy to help out with grade info/route recommendations/translating route descriptions, although as a general rule it's simply a case of 'follow the crack'.

In reply to HeMa:


Very different, at least at the mediocre grades I climb. My recollection of Romsdal is that it is a visually impressive but somewhat chossy mountain route kind of an area. I found it really good fun but a very different vibe to Lofoten. Potentially quite serious.

In reply to HeMa:


And now it's all kosher again... http://www2.idrottonline.se/BohuslansKlatterklubb-Klattring/HEM/Nyheter/Nyh...

In reply to Mark Kemball:

The suggested route through denmark and Sweden will make you enter Scandinavia and Norway in a wrong direction.
A better option is to take the ferry from Hirtshals to Kristiansand. This will place you in a better position for the best areas for long trad routes in southern norway (Setesdal, Nissedal, Uskedal, Romsdal and Jotunheimen)

In reply to Mark Kemball:
Hi

Just to second @hellman that the Hirtshals ferry to Kristiansand gets you into a great location very swiftly (and its not massively expensive). I've done the drive from the UK two different ways:
Harwich >ferry> Esbjerg >drive> Hirtshals >ferry> Kristiansand
and
Harwich >ferry> Hook of Holland >drive> Germany >drive> Hirtshals >ferry> Bergen
and they've worked out at about the same expense (the boat from Essex to Esbjerg has been cancelled now, I think - or it might just be shut until summer - it was the most expensive bit).

I put this in a couple of other threads on Norway recently, just here in case you hadn't seen it:

"
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=636497&v=1#x8255846
Happy to hook you up with more suggestions. I'm planning on doing some of the Rosendal Alps ridge lines, like this one:
http://www.westcoastpeaks.com/Peaks/juklavasskruna.html
http://rosendal.net/fjord-og-fjell/turforslag/
"

Also USKEDALEN mentioned above - the Bergen Climbing Club have a guidebook available for it, so they don't have all the routes posted on their site, but you can see some info and pictures on their database here:
http://www.bergen-klatreklubb.no/forere/cragdatabase/felt.php?Felt_id=65

God tur!