Norway Part 2

          After a week of fun, conditions got pretty dank for ice climbing so we visited some local villages and did some ski touring.

Norwegian Coastal culture has a flair all it's own.  The names and locations of the communities are right out of a Tolkien fable.

Secretly we all wished for one of these Sparks

      The skiing conditions varied from boilerplate to breakable and occasional stretches of cornshussing.   On the upside, the vistas were not bad and treeline is reached after about fifteen minutes of skinning.

 

Segla - The Sail - a BASE jumper's wet dream

Eventually, we got back to the business at hand..

  "Fantasia" in the center and "Crazy Maze" at right. We took the left line.

          Jesse and I tried our luck on the "Scotish wall" of Breidtinden, Senja's highest peak - a real Napolean at just 1000m in elevation.  Ines Papert and Thomas Senf had opened "Crazy Maze" and Sjur Nesheim and partner had put up "Fantasia" using a 150m rope.  Sjur explained this tactic was crucial because there is a general lack of protection and belays are hard to find at regular intervals.

        We settled on a route at the left side and blasted up amazing nevé and mixed climbing for seven pitches (two of those involved extensive simul climbing for reasons noted above) totalling 450m. 
The difficulties were not too severe M6+ AI 4+ but the thin, runnout ice and rock overlaps were consistently spicy.
 

Jesse about to insert the first of two pieces he found on this 60m pitch

A tight belay for the first of several changing corners P.6

The Ice Princess M6+ AI 4+ R on Breidtinden

Obligatory summit ridge fist pump.

       We descended off the back to avoid a regrettable amount of abseiling and hiked over two passes to regain the approach slopes and the car just about 13 hours after leaving it.


      This trip was a life highlight for me and we only really just caught a glimpse of a small corner of this incredible country.  Thanks to an all time crew for making this come together and keeping morale high.

The Kit

Here are a few clutch pieces I brought on my recent trip to Norway.

The Alpha Comp system is a perfect solution for wet snowy mixed alpine climbing.  Gore-Tex front and stretch back strikes the optimum balance between moisture protection and maneuverability.

Alpha Comp Pant

 Manly, muscular thighs are not a problem with these beauties on.  They combine freedom of movement with a snugness that remains popular in Europe and is catching on like wildfire in the New World.

Jesse - snugness and flow together at last.

The Alpha Comp Jacket is a lightweight piece that breathes really well and repels wind after a dropping the hammer up the summit slopes.

Summit of Hesten

The stretch fabric is tough for those times when the climbing gets scrappy

Norway Part 1

         After spending a decade of my life in the crucible of frozen waterfall justice: the Canadian Rockies, climbing ice anywhere else has never held much appeal.   Though I'd long seen images of giant Fossens in Norway the thought of visiting there for winter climbing never inked it's way on to my wishlist.  In October, Jon Walsh and Jesse Huey piqued my interest in a mission to Senja Island, not quite your standard Waterfall ice destination but rather, a velouté of Coastal, Alpine and Arctic terrain.  Added to the crew would be all around under cover bringer Mike Pennings and lensmaster Paul Bride.

The crew

       We arrived in Oslo late January and bumped to the military outpost of Bardufoss in the northern reaches of Norway.  From there, a three hour rally on snowy roads brought us to Hamn i Senja our base for the following two weeks.  We got right into it and over the next week, managed to get into some good trouble in this enchanted land of Trolls and Fjords.

Fjordcountry

          While Jesse and Jonny jumped right on to the "Terminator wall of Senja" Finnmannen, climbing a grade 6 monster and attempting Ines Papert's still unrepeated M9+ masterpiece, Mike and I warmed up with some "mini-putt" on a route reminiscent of Polar Circus.

Heston

Mike on the Polar Circus of Senja

On the summi slopes

Mike would later pump and drop a hot lap on the compelling couloir at left.  

 Fjord villages: far from uncharming

Ditto for the locals

Reformed BC resident Charlie Long showed up for some fun

Charlie has not regretted expatriation 

During a break on a recon mish.   Norway is ok

Neige, Glace et Mixte

              Neige, Glace et Mixed is one of my favorite guidebooks. It was penned by François Damilano and the late Godefroy Perroux, two of the genre's great masters.  Their tome highlights 500 modern alpine itinéraires (french for itineraries) that could keep a Cham trustafarian busy till he transitions to yachting.  Yesterday, I had the pleasure going for a Coastal itinéraire with mountain maestro, Bruce Kay.

BK

BK's bucket

We rolled up to Whistler to try a route Bruce had established when I was just a whippersnapper.  Turf's Up climbs a quality line on Husume Buttress just an Ampho Ex toss from the Mer de Glace of Canada: the Blackcomb Glacier.

Turf's up takes the big gully then punches past the buxom cornice at ridgetop

We started our day with an important meeting about safety equipment.

Packing safety gear in the comfort of one of our many full service Alpinhuts

           The approach involved skiing downhill for five minutes to the foot of the climb.  Predictably, my quads pumped out several times during the lengthy schuss.  Conversely, Bruce glissed smoothly in his Vega/Silvretta setup, demonstrating a technique that has been deracinated from the crop of today's alpinist.

If this is your skiing setup YOU are a BOSS.

The first pitch was a beauty...

Inuit surely have a word for snow that squeaks.  French call it le Névé

BK grabbed the rack for pitch two and battled it out with some awkward bulges and rotten Andean style flutings that caused sphincteral puckering even for the second.

Funny how it always looks like it's gonna be mellow...

P.3   Helmet's optional!

Jason Kruk and Kye Petersen had climbed this route a couple days before and the cornice pitch got rave reviews. 

One of the funnest mixed pitches around

We abbed down the 29 Forever gully and slid ungraciously to the Base Two parking lot where a crisp Slemans went down like a powerballad.

Thanks BK!

A Single Scoop

Just the other morning I woke up feeling like it would be a multisports day. Not quite a Gaddian effort (where he did something like 16 seperate sports in one day, all involving different footwear) but something with at least more than a single serving of plaisir.   I caffeinated and ran to the Bluffs to get the party started.  

After a half dozen pitches Jia showed up and did some double dipping of his own, while I belayed and kept and eye on his son, who connivingly gave me gummi bears he had picked off the ground. 

Jia on daddy duty

 Next stop: the Chief, where I met up with Squamish's finest wingsman and sky guru Kyle Wolochatiuk. 

 We made the obligatory slog to the 1st summit and on the way ticked a few different sports depending on who you asked..."are you guys going camping up there with those big packs?  That's right, adventure camping!"

Klye plays spaghetti tricolore

Winds were from the North: quite rotary and gusty.

This guys scarf was our windsock

Conditions  were a bit unfavorable 

Kyle showed the form of a man who has flown the Chief more than anyone, ever.

A wee bit funky

Kyle finally dominating his wing

Kyle managed to get off in good form.  I thought of my friend the Wex whose story you can read here http://www.globalalpine.com/2013/03/the-crash-part-1.html and without a shred of remorse, stuffed my wing in its pack and trotted down the trail.  My belly wanted one more scoop but I was psyched to live and play another day.