Maifjellet trail head above Hjelset.
Skiing route from lake Kloppavatnet to Kloppafjellet.
| Kloppafjellet &
Maifjellet from Hjelset (ski) Kloppafjellet Maifjellet |
| Estimated net time | 3-4 hours. | ||
| Difficulty | No difficulties, but a little steep through a short section of birch forest around 500 metres on Kloppafjellet's south slopes. | ||
| Drinking water | No access to running water during winter. | ||
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route (April 2013). | ||
| Parking | There is a small car park next to the water supply building at the top of the road, and it's OK to park here despite the sign on the building stating "parkering forbudt" (no parking). Alternatively you can park further down along the road, or ask permission to park by one of the farms. | ||
| Start height | 80 metres | ||
| Vertical metres | 880 metres for the roundtrip. | ||
| Trip distance | 13.2 km | ||
| GPS-file | X | ||
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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From the round about where roads 662 and E39 intersect, 800 metres east of the ferry port in Molde, drive 16.6 km east on road E39. Turn left after a small bridge crossing a river just as you enter the community Hjelset. Drive this road 850 metres up to the end of the road, by the water supply building. Make sure you fork right after 250 and 400 metres, and turn left after 550 metres. Park on the small car park next to the building, making sure you don't block for other cars that need to turn around here.
Start skiing by heading uphill on the right hand side of the building, where you're likely to find machine made tracks along the forest road. Follow the forest road in a north-east direction, and then north, up to 240 metres, 1.3 km from trail head. Make sure you turn right in the forest road junction, and continue north/north-west up to lake Kloppavatnet, where you will find a couple of small cabins. Turn right just before the lake and find your best route up the short section of forest on Kloppafjellet's south slopes. Turn a little left when you get above the trees and ski 500 metres directly north, to the summit marked by a small cairn with a summit registration box (but might not be a book).
From Kloppafjellet ski back down to the lake, turn left around the steep section, and then turn right and head west and north-west towards Maifjellet. Your general direction towards the summit is north-west, but you need to find your best route across a number of small humps. The summit is marked with a proper cairn.
Descend by returning down to the lake via your ascent route, and then follow the forest road back down to your car.
For some reason I got the idea to ski one of the Molde/Fræna mountains on this last day of the Easter holiday. The weather forecast was OK, and when I started out from Hjelset there was more sun than overcast. But the sky got more and more cloudy as I made it towards Kloppafjellet. From the summit I had very limited views, and the prospect of skiing Maifjellet with very poor visibility made me have some second thoughts. But since I had loaded way-points to my GPS I knew I would be OK, and put any negative thoughts to the side.
Navigating up to Maifjellet was purely done based on GPS information once I was above 650 metres, and I was definitely not looking forward to the descent. After messing around a little on the summit plateau I found the summit cairn, and was soon joined by three other skiers and their dog. The first guy to arrive bluntly asked "I see there are other lunatics out", and I could confirm my view that this was definitely a day for lunatics. We had a short chat, before I started my descent by following my ascent tracks, and leaving the skins on. Down at 550 metres the visibility was much better, and with better snow I decided this would be the right place to remove the skins and enjoy some proper skiing back down to the car.