Estimated net time	5-6 hours
Difficulty	A little bit of easy scrambling to get up Langfjellet's south slopes. A tiny bit of exposure along north-east ridge of Skarfjellet. Else no difficulties.
Drinking water	There are a number of streams scattered throughout the route, at least while there is still snow in the mountains.
GSM coverage	Coverage throughout the route, except when ascending Nonshaugen (June 2009).
Parking	Room for a couple of cars at trail head.
Start height	150 metres
Vertical metres	1275 metres for the roundtrip
Trip distance	12.7 km
GPS-file	X
Map
Route photo	Start of forest road to Skrødalssetrin.   Continue straight on when forest road turns right.

Two possible approaches to the trail head are:

[a]

If driving from Molde start measuring at the ferry port. Turn right when exiting the port area, following signs for "Trondheim" on road E39. Turn right and follow the same signs in the round-about 500 metres later. 18.1 km after this make sure you don't turn left towards Trondheim, but continue on road 62 towards "Sunndalsøra". 48.0 km after this junction you exit the tunnel "Skrøotunnelen", and you enter Sunndal municipality. Drive another 300 metres and turn right. Turn right again 800 metres later, crossing a small bridge. After another 800 metres you will see a forest road forking off to the right. Park on the left hand side of the road.

[b]

From the round-about in Sunndalsøra centre, where roads 62 and 70 meet, drive 17.7 km towards Molde on road 62. Turn left and drive 800 metres, before turning right across a bridge. Drive another 800 metres and you will see a forest road forking off to the right. Park on the left hand side of the road.

From the trail head follow the forest road uphill towards west. After 1.2 km the forest road enters a soft right bend, but another grass clad road continues straight ahead. Follow this grass road up towards the cabins at Skrødalssetrin, and then the path the final couple of hundred metres. From the cabins there are no reliable paths to follow; only sporadic trails made by sheep. Continue west where you see the terrain most suitable, making sure you avoid the bushes. When you get towards the south-west end of Langfjellet you should aim for the gully between Langfjellet and the small hump south-west of the mountain. Before you get up into the gully you need to cross a short section of bush, then some boulder, before you take on the steep south slopes of Langfjellet. You will need to use your hands a little up here, but there are no difficulties. When the steep section is done you continue across to the summit, where there is no cairn.

From Langfjellet continue south-west to the saddle between Langfjellet and Skarfjellet. At the beginning there is a vague path, but in the steeper section down to the saddle the path vanishes. Continue across the saddle and then aim a little to the left (east) of Skarfjellet's north-east ridge. As you gradually gain height you can move across to the ridge, which you follow all the way to the summit on a path. The summit is marked by a proper cairn.

From Skarfjellet continue south-east, making sure you stay right of the steep eastern slopes. When you get down to Trollbotnen you turn left and head east/north-east towards Nonshaugen. Ascend Nonshaugen where you see fit, and continue across the summit plateau. There is no cairn at the summit.

Approximately 650 metres east of Nonshaugen's summit (~450 metres from the second "summit") you will see a suitable route to descend down to the left, back towards the cabins at Skrødalssetrin. From here follow the path and forest road back to the car.

19. June 2009

The annual shot putt decathlon competition at Sunndalsøra was this year scheduled for Saturday 20th June. I hadn't competed since 2000, nor done any relevant practicing, but when I got the invite I though it would be an excellent idea to combine meeting old friends, do some throwing, and visit a new mountain area. I therefore left home before lunch on the Friday, aiming to get a couple of mountains bagged before installing myself at Tore's house. Because of snow in the mountains I had to settle for something not too high, and my choice of Skarfjellet and a couple of neighbours seemed to be a good idea.

I started the hike a little after noon, and enjoyed easy walking along the forest road towards Skrødalssetrin. From here I walked across the grass and heather slopes towards the saddle between Langfjellet and Skarfjellet. The ground was a bit soft, but all in all it was easy going. When I got towards the saddle I decided to ascend Langfjellet via a direct approach, instead of ascending from the saddle, and after a few minutes of easy scrambling I found myself at the summit.

From the summit I had a nice view of a number of the Sunndal mountains, and I was also able to plan my route across to Skarfjellet. And after having had a sandwich and taken a number of photos I headed directly down to the saddle south-west of Langfjellet.

Initially I had planned to ascend Skarfjellet via its north-east ridge, but because of the snow I found it better to traverse into the east slopes before getting onto the ridge. The ridge itself was covered with snow, but it was well suited for walking since the snow was a little soft. Also, a slide or a fall would at worst cause a slide of 5-10 metres, on snow, before stopping. The flatter summit area was free of snow, and after having crossed the plateau I headed down the south-east slopes towards Trollbotnen. These slopes were partly covered by snow and made most of the descent an easy hike. Then I crossed the wet section across to Nonshaugen, ascended it from south-west, and walked across the summit plateau. I had decided to descend Nonshaugen somewhere down its north slopes and soon I found a suitable route down towards Skrødalssetrin. From here it was easy walking down the forest road to the car.

Back at the car I changed into dry clothes and drove to Sunndalsøra, considering doing another hike later at night. Back at Tore's I talked with his friend Jo, and we agreed to do Flaggnuten later that night.

Photos 19.06.2009