Thursday, February 26

Norwegian West Coast Peaks

One of the most interesting web sites I know is WestCoastPeaks.com managed by Arnt Øyvind Flatmo.
One of his interests is to visit most of the peaks in my childhood district Møre og Romsdal County and make them available for the world through his site.
He has highlighted five areas:
1) Sunnmørsalpene (Sykkylven, Ørsta, Stranda) are defined by long and sharp mountain ridges. Some of the mountain tops on these ridges require climbing. The most prominent ridges are found on both sides of Hjørundfjorden - a "sanctuary" for the mountaineering pioneers in Norway, and the generations to come. Kolåstinden, Slogen, and Molladalstindane are well known names to every Norwegian mountain enthusiast.
2) Romsdalsfjella (Rauma) are primarily located around Åndalsnes and the Romsdalen valley. Although not among the highest in this region, Romsdalshorn (picture to the left) has perhaps the most characteristic mountain face in Møre og Romsdal county, and I am not forgetting Slogen, Kolåstinden or Molladalstindane. In this region, you will also find "Trollveggen", a notorious wall that offers Europe's longest vertical drop (1000m+) and a haven for climbers. Basejumping is forbidden here. This region offers also some of the very finest Norwegian mountains for Telemark skiing. Kyrkjetaket, for example, offers 1000m of straight-line descent, and Finnan can be skied in July!
3) Among Tafjordfjella (Norddal/Rauma), you find Puttegga (1999m) - the highest mountain in Møre og Romsdal. A number of other mountains in this region exceed 1800m and the area is considered "remote". While the majority of Sunnmørsalpene and Romsdalen peaks can be done on day-hikes, people normally spend a night or two in tents or in mountain huts, when visiting the high Tafjord mountains. This area is better for cross-country skiing, as most of the area is high-country terrain.
4) You will find some large and interesting mountains that define the Sunndalen and Innerdalen valleys. Follow the Sunndalen valley, and it will lead you to (a.o) Dovrefjell - one of three mountain regions in Norway that has peaks exceeding 2000m elevation. In this region, you will also find the highest mountains in Sunndal kommune
5) Let's use the city Ålesund as the common denominator for the Coastal region stretching from Herøy to Vestnes, also including Ålesund, Hareid, Ulstein, Giske, Haram, Midsund, Skodje, Ørskog and Sula. This region has a large number of interesting viewpoints, where the sea view brings in the extra dimension. Blåskjerdingen (Haram), Trolltinden and Sprovstinden on Ørskogfjellet being a few of those viewpoint.
Do not miss this opportunity to visit his site, click on his photos and see the fantastic mountains in a 360 gr view with names of the peaks.Being at the summits like my friends above at Slogen is a great experience although the vertigo feelings can be a challenge.
Other Norwegian mountains can be seen here. I visited a few years ago one of them: Skogshorn and found the view incredible.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous, stunning views. Hope to get to Norway someday!

Marie said...

Flott innlegg og bilde!

Takk for komplimentet :)

GundaM said...

Ja finnes det noe mere prektige fjell enn de i Innerdalen sier no jeg ;0)

Linka deg i siste innlegg Arne! Ha en flott dag der ute!

GundaM said...

Jøsses, som du maler!!!
Må jeg velge ett må det bli "på stien" det da ;)))