Parking here is free, but anything else can be regarded as robbery!
Route to Breitinden from Stigbotnvatnet.| Breitinden from
Trollstigen tourist-centre Breitinden |
| Estimated net time | 5-6 hours |
| Difficulty | No difficulties, but a little steep up the last boulder section. Be aware that it is a 1700 metres almost vertical drop towards east from the Breitinden summit. |
| Drinking water | Good access to running water up to the saddle above lake Stigbotnvatnet. |
| GSM coverage | No coverage in the mid-section, else OK (July 2008). |
| Parking |
Plenty of space at the car park at the
Trollstigen tourist centre. The car park can get busy during the day at
the peak of the summer season (July). Parking here is free, but anything else can be regarded as robbery! |
| Start height | 698 metres |
| Vertical metres | 1200 metres for the roundtrip |
| Trip distance | 11.4 km |
| GPS-file | X |
| Map |
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| Route photo |
Route to Breitinden from Stigbotnvatnet. |
There are two alternative routes to get to the trail head of this hike:
[a]
From Ålesund drive road E39 towards Sjøholt, and turn right towards Stordal. After 43.9 km you get to Valldal and turn left towards Åndalsnes. Continue on this road for 34.5 km until you get to the Trollstigen tourist-centre, and park here.
[b]
On road E136, approximately 4.4 km south-east of Åndalsnes, take road 63 south through Isterdalen (signed "Geiranger" and "Trollstigen"). After approximately 9 km you get to the Trollstigen zigzags. Continue up these narrow and sharp bends, until you see the Trollstigen tourist-centre at you right, 15.1 km from road E136. Park here.
From the Trollstigen tourist-centre car park walk north (towards Åndalsnes) to where a pedestrian bridge is crossing the river on the east side of the road. Cross the river and and continue 30 metres, past some souvenir shops. Then turn right, walking a little uphill, following the path marked by small cairns.
Follow this path (the first section is more like a mountain road) towards the streams that comes down from the lake Stigbotnvatnet area. Follow the right-most stream uphill, and walk towards the lake. Follow the path that crosses the valley, and then start the climb up towards the saddle between Storgrovfjellet and Breitinden. The route through the boulder up here is marked by small cairns. When you get up to the saddle turn right and head east up the steep ridge towards Breitinden. A little over mid-way up this ridge there is a flatter section, before it again becomes steep. After this second steep section you have to cross a relatively flat section of snow before you get to the summit.
The descent route follows the ascent route.
After having driven from Pisa in Italy to Sarpsborg in south-east Norway during Saturday and Sunday, I was on the road again 04:15 this Monday morning, driving from Sarpsborg towards Brattvåg with the intention to pay a visit to Breitinden on my way. At 11:00 I was ready to start my hike from the Trollstigen tourist-centre, on a warm and beautiful day.
I wasn't 100% sure about the route after having crossed the small bridge, but another hiker confirmed my suspicion that I ought to turn right just after the third souvenir shop. The path was easy to follow, and the small cairns up the first boulder area was easy to follow. The next boulder section, up the steep ridge, involved a little use of hands in a few places, but it was easy going all the way. When I finally got onto the snow I had an easy hike across the firm snow.
The views from the Breitinden summit are really phenomenal, at least on a nice day like this; you have a fantastic view of a large area of other mountains, and the 1700 metres drop into the Rauma valley is nothing but spectacular.
During my descent I met and saw a lot of other hikers, most of them being young men on their way to base-jump off the Trollveggen wall.