Estimated net time	3-4 hours
Difficulty	No difficulties.
Drinking water	No access to drinking water during winter.
GSM coverage	Coverage throughout the route (January 2009).
Parking	Room for 3-4 cars at trail head.
Start height	253 metres
Vertical metres	945 metres for the roundtrip
Trip distance	12.9 km
GPS-file	X
Map
Route photo	Trail head at start of toll road for route to Løfonnfjellet.

From Ålesund drive road 60 towards Magerholm, and get the ferry across to Aursneset. Continue on road 60 across to Stranda. When you get to the "T"-junction just above Stranda centre, next to the Esso petrol station (per January 2009), turn left towards Stranda. Drive 800 metres and turn right where signed for "Opshaugvik". Continue along this road for 4.7 km, until you get to a gravel extraction site (just after having crossed a small bridge). From here continue on gravel road clockwise around the site, and drive uphill for 1.9 km. Where the road makes a sharp left turn you will see a forest road continuing straight ahead. Park here, at the gate of the toll road.

Depending on the conditions (amount of snow) it is possible to drive another 1½-2 km up this forest road, but this is not very likely mid-winter.

From the trail head ski uphill on the forest road leading directly south. After 1.5 km you pass the first cabin on your right hand side, and immediately after this you turn right onto another forest road. This road soon crosses the river and leads towards the old wooden buildings at Vassetsætra. From here find your best route up to the plateau north of the valley between Løfonnfjellet and Heimste Blåhornet, and then continue south to the saddle between the two mountains. From the saddle turn right and head up the southern slopes of Løfonnfjellet, all the way to the summit.

There is no cairn on the summit, but a few metres south of the highest point you will find a registration book for the local sports club's (Stranda IL) hiking competition.

The descent is done via the ascent route.

17. January 2009

We were spending parts of the week-end at Fjellsetra, so I was definitely going to do some skiing this Saturday. The most obvious option would be to ski Auskjeret, but I was also keen on bagging a new mountain. Extensive studies of my maps on Friday had revealed that Løfonnfjellet might be a good choice in the windy conditions. We all left our cabin around 10:30, and after having helped the kids with their slalom equipment I drove off to Stranda.

When I drove from Stranda towards trail head I was starting to wonder if there would be enough snow during my first part of the hike, but at trail head I was pleased to note that there was at least 10 cm of snow on the forest road leading up into the forest. The skiing along the forest road was nice and easy, and the forest also gave good shelter for the strong south-east wind. I missed the exit for Vassetsætra, but soon realised my mistake, so the only cost was something like 300 metres in flat terrain.

The conditions past Vassetsætra and up to the plateau was quite enjoyable, with a thin layer of slightly wind-packed snow on top of hard crust. When I got up to the plateau and towards Blåhornvatnet it was all rock hard snow, but this section is so flat that it caused no problems skiing on very hard crust. But the wind up here was fairly strong, and when I got to the final hill before the saddle between Løfonnfjellet and Heimste Blåhornet I decided to put on the heavy jacket and the thick hat. Up in the saddle all fresh snow had been swept away so I figured the ascent up the south ridge would be on ice. Fortunately this hill isn't terribly steep so I was able to ski almost all the way to the summit; a few tens of metres below the summit I decided to take my skis off and drove them into the hard snow. At the summit it was windy, so windy that it was difficult to take photos. But I was well wrapped in wool and proper outer layer so I had no hurry to get back down.

From the summit I ran on the hard snow back down to my skis, and then decided that this was a much better way of getting down to the saddle compared to ski down on the icy surface. I therefore ran down with the skis in my hands. After I got the skis back on I felt like I was kiting back towards Blåhornvatnet with a very strong tail wind. Quite enjoyable. The descent down towards Vassetsætra allowed for most parts good skiing in partial powder. The final stretch down the forest road was a bit difficult since there had been cars driving up here so the "piste" was very narrow, but opting for the plough-style got me down without any falls.

Photos 17.01.2009