UKC

Norway - New Big Wall Ice

© Bjorn-Elvind Aartun
The crux of Strandhogg (800m, M5+ WI6+ A0).  © Bjorn-Elvind Aartun
The crux of Strandhogg (800m, M5+ WI6+ A0).
Separate teams of Norwegian, German, and Swiss climbers seized the day in unusually cold temperatures during February and established gigantic new ice routes on Norwegian cliffs the size of Yosemite Valley's walls.

Bjorn-Elvind Aartun climbed two routes on the 1,000-meter-high Kjerag massif directly above the open sea in Lysefjord in southwestern Norway.

Meanwhile, the German climber Robert Jasper made two separate trips to Norway to climb three different huge ice routes. First was the new route Into the Wild (900m, WI6 X) in Gudvangen, climbed with Markus Stofer.

Full report by Dougald MacDonald (with action photos) on Climbing.com


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10 Mar, 2009
Quote from http://isklatring.no/ : Quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert Jasper is for sure not the first internationally reknown climber who has realized his limited abilities when confronted to this line. Several climbers have recognized the potential this line offered to move the standards of modern ice-climbing to the next level. But instead of waiting for the right conditions or working on his mental skills, Jasper decided to take the route down to his own level. Robert Jasper and his friends have placed bolts for the lead climber through the overhangs, as well as establishing bolted rappel anchors all the way from the overhangs back to the valley floor (nine pitches). If the style and climbing ethics introduced by Robert Jasper was accepted in Norway, this kicker of a line -10 minutes approach from the main-road- would probably have been sent 10 or 15 years ago. The reaction among Norwegian climbers is a mix between disbelief and shock.
10 Mar, 2009
//isklatring.no/newnews.html - they obviously tried, very commendably, to get a response from him before posting it, but having failed decided to post it with out his response. I've found Norwegian ethics slightly confusing. When I first went to Lofoten in the late 90s (where I incidentally met Robert and Daniella Jasper briefly) the word was that they were very much against any bolting. But then over the next decade bolts have proliferated on Lofoten, with more cliffs becoming sport venues and various bolted abseil points appearing. Just over from Lofoten on the mainland we found a classic line on Eidetind had bolted belays. Kvaloya, to the north, is likewise a mix of sport and trad, and some trad lines have bolted descents. This isn't a defence of Jasper, and perhaps in the part of Norway where the climb is, the ethics are much clearer and better known, but it's not that apparent to visitors what Norwegian ethics are and I suspect this is because Norwegian climbers haven't decided amongst themselves yet.
10 Mar, 2009
for sport crags they are totally OK, for 2-4 pitches minimal bolting should be practised, and for long routes no bolting. Not very complicated is it?
10 Mar, 2009
What then are the special cases? Although they don't seem to bolt unnecessarily (i.e. cracks) at least not up north where I've climbed (perfectly sensible to my mind). I don't really get what minimal bolting is - Solens Sønner on Lofoten for example? One man's minimal is likely to be another man's clip up. And from my limited experience, Klubbruta on Eidetind has chains all (or perhaps - 'some') of the way up it and that is much more than 4 pitches. We never used them as somehow our 50 metre pitches weren't quite in sync with the bolted belays, but they were clearly unnecessary as belays were easy to build. If you didn't want to climb to the top and walk down, I guess you could of abbed off them though. What about the main face of Baugen at Hollenderan? Is that bolt free? We did Gallionsruta on the side and follows the bolted descent in effect. It's not particularly simple either! :-)
10 Mar, 2009
Nissedal...... 400m high dome with trad routes, fully bolted slab routes with 7/8 bolts a pitch and finally mixed routes - Mostly trad with bolts at the hard / bold bits. I was going to write a proper response but too busy.....
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