UKC

Rjukan Conditions Feb17

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 carr0t 21 Feb 2017
Following on from the previous post on conditions which I was very grateful for, I thought I would continue with a few updates for people in a similar position to myself. We arrived yesterday and we had our first day out today at ozzimosis to get into the swing of things. Weather was clear and pleasant. Temperatures were quite warm and the ice falls did start to thaw in places, especially towards the end of the day. The routes are for the most part reasonably well formed and I have no real complaints. There is definitely lots to do. The ice itself was plastic and very easy to work with. Axes and crampons went in very easily and hand and foot placements generally very reassuring. More updates to follow!
 angry pirate 22 Feb 2017
In reply to carr0t:

Totally agree with the above. We've been here since Saturday and have found plenty to do each day in the grade 2 to 4 bracket. It is warm so we've had lots of running water down the ice surface by the afternoon even in south facing walls but the ice has been far and plastic. I've only bottomed a screw once.
It has been chilly enough overnight for ice to refreeze and it is looking colder from today with a dusting of fresh snow. Sadly we fly home today
OP carr0t 22 Feb 2017
In reply to carr0t:

Ok guys, went out today for a second day out, this time in the upper gorge area. Went onto blindtarmen which was very wet and thin. We abbed off after some unpleasantness and moved along to lettvann to finish up. The route was wet but fine enough to climb. Ice was thin and cruddy in one place, but generally good. Conditions have deteriorated rapidly today and we need a good hard freeze to firm everything up again.
OP carr0t 23 Feb 2017
In reply to carr0t:

Day three toda and conditions have improved somewhat. We were in the upper gorge area and the cold night had helped firm things up substantially. We went onto trappfoss as our first route of the day. A fairly substantial section on the main pitch of the route had melted off the rock and a good park of it was hollow and very very bold to climb. After topping out we moved to krokan to have a look at some of the routes there and things generally looked quite nice. The routes we were on were brilliant and it was a nice way to finish the day.
 angry pirate 23 Feb 2017
In reply to carr0t:

That makes sense: Tuesday was getting a touch lean/soggy but Tues night/weds am was sub zero and everything was crisp and cold when we drove home. Wednesday itself looked like cracking conditions and the forecast looks to stay cold.
Have fun!
OP carr0t 24 Feb 2017
In reply to carr0t:

Today we had a day out at fabrikfossen. The weather was incredible with bright blue skies and not a cloud to be seen the entire day. It was very cold at -8 and the ice was fairly brittle as you would expect, but not as bad as I imagined. Given the temperature, conditions were very good, particularly as things warmed slightly later in the day.
 Mr Messy 25 Feb 2017
In reply to carr0t:

Fab. Keep the reports going they are really appreciated. Flights still on hold.
OP carr0t 25 Feb 2017
In reply to carr0t:

Glad this is helpful! Hope you manage to make it out guys! Today we had another day win the upper gorge area. We started on bakveien which was in lean condition. So lean intact, it had plenty of rests exposed on the harder first pitch. This was more than compensated for when we got to the second pitch which was very very thin ice and screws only really went deep into the corner of the chimney in a few spots. character building stuff! Second route for the day was vermorkburfoss vest in the vermork bridge area. Both vest and øst are well formed and in good nick. Overall the weather was snowy, but it did not really affect the climbing which was excellent again. Temperatures rose throughout the day from around -8 in the morning.
Patrick Cave 26 Feb 2017
In reply to carr0t:

Generally there has been some really good conditions in Rjukan this week. I have been putting some updates on FB page if anyone is heading out and needs some beta...

see - https://www.facebook.com/Mountain-Circles-189325167779118/
OP carr0t 26 Feb 2017
In reply to carr0t:

Last day here in rjukan for us and that brings me to the final update. We had a day of cragging at krokan to see things out a bit more gently. We did a few of the routes and the big ones such as kjokkentrappa and Bullen were mostly definitely in along with amost others. Most of the routes were again rather lean and very very well hooked, but that is to be expected in this area as it is so popular with the top rope crowd. Weather was bright and sunny and temperatures edged above zero around midday. The quality of the ice was very good and while there was water in some areas, it was definitely not excessive.

Overall summary for the trip: while the routes are mostly lean, they are definitely in good climbing condition for the most part. Weather was good, variety of the routes is incredible and there's no reason not to take a good crack at it.

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