Romsdalen Norway - playground for adrenalin junkies.

My ski partner Håkon and I made the right decision. Great outlooks for sunshine made us pack the car and drive through the night to visit Laila who just moved to Romsdalen on the west coast of Norway. Great to have a friend living below the famous Trollwall!

Romsdalen has an international reputation among base jumper ans climbers, but locally it is very well known for great skiing. This area of Norway has peaks to ski for a liftetime without doing the same run twice. During 3 days we skied Kjørskartinden, Øspetinden and Blånebba before heading back to Oslo.

We had a great time, and I can't wait to come back to this sick place.

If you ever plan to visit Norway skiing, and want to make your trip an adventure. You should start here! Whiteblue Adventure offers 10-15 days trip including Romsdalen, Glomfjord, Lofoten, Lyngen and Øksfjord. Even beeing baised I can't think of a better adventure trip en the world. A must do for a adventure skier!!!

Join us next year!

The Trollwall.

Base in reverse. I rather have this view than the opposite from the top of  Romsdalshorn

Postcard! Great snow conditions in Måndalen.

Big "L" to those sitting home today:-)

Håkon finding his pace..

Laila enjoying here new backyard

More to do!

On the ridge of Øspetinden

No wind, sunshine and fantastic views. Good life!

Man Camp Romsdalen.  

Laila shredding!

Håkon cruising! Great lines in the background.

View from Laila's house. Great place!

Vengetind in the back.

A very cold morning. Finally the sun break above Vengetind 1852 m.s.l

View from Blånebba ridge.

Looks scary from a distance. Imaging standing on the top and jumping

On the Blånebba ridge looking towards Kirketaket and Kjørskartinden. Maybe the best ski peaks around, and of course very popular.. 

Fjord views... That's Whiteblue sking!

 

Happy camper. Soon down time!

Purple Haze - Lofoten November powder ski

After success the previous weekend in the fjord district of Norway (Sogndal). Fredrik, Håkon and I decided to go radical and fly up north for early November powder in Lofoten.

Seth in his new kingdom

Our good friends Seth and Maren settled in this paradise last winter. Seth working as fulltime guide have already been out shredding powder this season, making sure we all paid notice. 

Now, enough is enough! We must do something about it!

The weather forecast were looking great for the weekend and the night before leaving home it was dumping:-) We were once again lucky. Or is it luck? Well I'm told once that powder skiing is more about transport than skiing...

To be able to ski in Lofoten in November is a bit rare. You must remember that even though Lofoten is placed above the Arctic Circle is not a very cold place.  Due to the warm waters from the Gulfstream the coast of Norway is mild, and usually not colder than -10 Celsius mid winter. And in November the snow pack isn’t normally all that great. This year has been different and we took advantage of it.

The Whiteblue season is March – May and during this period the days are long and the unique beautiful light turns towards a golden scale. Now in November the sun is just sitting on the horizon some few hours a day, giving an indescribable purple light. It’s just magnificent! Hurtigruten our Whiteblue partner is making great business with their concept “Hunting the light”, and I can see why!

During our stay we made time for Småtindane, Trolltsadlen and Pillan area. And my purple Black Diamond Drift was once again proving the right tool for the job.This was also test trip for my new camera a Panasonic GF1. Hope you like the pics.

Now the season really is on. If want to join us, you need to make you booking soon!

Thanks to Seth for his hospitality and Maren letting the boys rule the house for “Man Camp Lofoten”

Jens-Petter

Purple haze BD Drift!

Småtindane ahead.

Peace!

Noon!

"Man Camp" eating elevation..

Views towards main land

Next time...

Down time!

Håkon dropping in.

Ready, Seth, Go!

Seth, Håkon and Fredrik

Northern light and moon rise. (Aurora Borealis)

Bedroom view!

Porch view!

Morning at N68

Scouting for lines in rock powder terrain.

Paradise..

Powder ahead...

Powder we got!

Enyone who wants to join in?

Seth testing gear for Norrona

Arctic spring break = crispy corn skiing - day 1-2

Martin and Ole enjoys a roof top bath on board Hurtigruten 

7. April 2010

All guests arrived during the night and we were ready to kick of the first 4 day trip with guests. Espen and Kaja was the first to arrive into Tromsø. After 3 weeks of consistent sun up north, they were blessed with a beautifull sunset over Kvaløya. Spirits were high!

After them came Nina and Arild, Arne Jan and Martin and finally Martin, Joachim and Ole.

We are ready for adventure!!

First day safety brief

8. April 2010

Since the weather had changed during the night we didn't need to rush. Guides Andreas Haslestad and Sverre Hjelmeland shared their knowledge and we made time to pair up for beeper training. I guess we all needed that one. After a lot of press attention around avalanche danger we all wanted to make the trip as safe as possible.

Joachim skinning up with a sm

Kaja the telemark racer

Today's objective was set to Skittentind on the island of Kvaløya just outside of Tromsø city. The forcast gave us hopes of a break during the day and close to the top we could look down to Eresfjord below. After 4. hours walking we made it to the summit. Now 1100 vertical was waiting. We were desperatly hoping for more sun as we needed heating to get the right crispy conditions. Despite now sun coming through we found great snow thanks to experienced guides. All in all a great start.

Next stop Hurtigruten to Harstad and Lofoten!

Todays objective Skittentind, Kvaløya

Erefsfjord views from the summit

Happy group on top of Skittentind

9. April 2010

Today we split the group into two.  The choice were set to Småtindan or Geitgallien. Sverre lead the Småtindan group, and Andreas Geitgallien. There it was, the famous Geitgallien. A beautiful classic peak in Lofoten! The last part we expected hard packed snow. Today we needed all the gear in the backpack.

Heading up mont Geitgallien. The scenery is brutal.

Joachim having his first experience of steep terrain in shifting conditions

The excitement grows.... closer and closer..

Finally the first views of the summit!

Soon at the ridge.

Ole proved to be hard core. Great job!