1-8th June, Tromso, Northern Norway

Last summer I was a very lucky boy. I had the fortune that one of the most important conferences in my field (yes, that's work!) was held this past June in the far north of Norway, in a cool little city called Tromso. Tromsonites (or could it be Tromsoners?) like to describe it as the northernmost city in the world, host of the northernmost university, hospital, and brewery. The conference ran for 5 days, and I had a couple spare days at the end. The midnight sun visits the region from the end of May to the end of July, which means that one can ski all the time. And the terrain is fantastic. Heaven on Earth? or just a case of Norwegians being a little bit more blessed than the rest of us sinners?

I was joined by my beautiful friend Simon Weatherall who came up from his summer retreat in southern Norway- Chamonix extreme skier, extreme modeler, extreme taxi driver, and extreme scrumpeteer. It certainly bode very well. The weather didn't fully co-operate but we still enjoyed the odd weather window that allowed us to explore the region's delights. Snow levels were around 300-400 meters asl, which meant a little hiking to get to the goods, but nothing too serious... AND we even scored some powder.

Tromso, with Whale Island in the background

The man

The midnight sun

On June 1st we ran over to the mainland after Simon picked me up from the conference, excited to see the sun poking through the clouds for the first time in days. It had been raining and cold in town, and we could see there was quite a bit of fresh snow up on the hills.

Up Knutsenkogen

Norwegian Coolies...


and Norwegian Peaks...

We essentially wandered up a valley and started climbing an east facing couloir that looked fun. The views around us were beautiful, shining in the midnight sun. It was a strange sensation to see north facing slopes sunny and south facing slopes shady. Towards the top half of the coulie, we actually found nice boot-top powpow. June in Norway? Love it!

Simon at the top of the couloir (to his right)



The top pitch

Lower down. Steep and Tight!

The next day, 2nd of June, our plan was unchanged. Simon picked me up after the conference and we drove over to Kvaloya, 'Whale Island' in Norsk, to ski a fun north facing line at the head of a fjord that had a tongue of snow going down almost to sea level. In spite of leaving the car in warm sunshine, the next band of shite-ness was quick to dampen our hopes of sunskiing and so the summit greeted us with rain. The ski was a little wet, but that isn't always a bad thing, aiiii?

The route goes up the finger of snow on the left

Norwegian fjords...

Simon skinning up the glacier, with the mainland in the background

The line: up the left, behind the central buttress, up to the snowy summit on the right

After the conference ended on the 4th June, we left Tromso en route to the mystical land of Lyngen. Much has been written about this place. Even more spectacular than the land around Tromso, it is truly a paradise for skiers. Alas, when we arrived there, we found a higher snowline than in Tromso (probably around the 500-600mt mark) and even worse weather, the summits shrouded in thick fog. We spent a night in some godforsaken hostel in the hope that the following morning would dawn somewhat more promising. Far from it. It was crappier than crap. So we decided to drive to the Malaren Peninsula, which is just southwest from Tromso. I'd seen some promising peaks and quite a generous snow cover during my time in the city.

We didn't have much info on this area though, so we were guessing where it would be best to go. Again, the lack of easy approaches, with no high roads, or even seemingly trails (at least we did not find them) conditioned us. Nevertheless, we camped on a field by the road in a valley that seemed somewhat promising. That evening, we bushwacked a couple miles up the valley, slow and wet progress up thawing mud. For good laughs, it included an incredibly cold river crossing.

Suffering

Simon and our destination, the peak center-right

'That line doesn't look too shabby!'

From the summit, looking west

And East, with Tromso the island on the left

The line we skied had a nasty entrance, most of the ridge was massively corniced but we found a way in. I decided to stay on skis, but got my axe out and gingerly sidestepped the steep, icy wall of death. I didn't have a helmet on, and a fall would probably have been a bad idea. Simon downclimbed. The top half of the ski was fun, with an inch or two of fresh on top of a smooth, firm base.

Simon scoping out the entrance...

...and the entrance scoping out Simon

Fun ski!

Skiing at midnight with incredible views. We'd camped at the head of the valley not far from the water

And a nice bushwack back to camp

Over the next two days, we again ran into piss poor weather and had 'fun' skiing some mellow wet snow in the fog in the hills above Tromso. And so with a wonderful last supper shared with our beautiful hosts Tori and company we ended a marvelous trip. Would love to go back, especially earlier in the season. Takk Norge!!!