The route along the south-west ridge of Oterfjellet.
The route to Melen from the Melen-Oterfjellet saddle.| Oterfjellet and Melen
from Reset Oterfjellet Melen |
| Estimated net time | 3-4 hours |
| Difficulty | No difficulties. |
| Drinking water | Water from the small river draining from lake Mellivatnet. |
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route (January 2009). |
| Parking | Room for many cars at the car park at Reset. |
| Start height | 307 metres |
| Vertical metres | 830 metres for the roundtrip |
| Trip distance | 9.3 km |
| GPS-file | X |
| Map |
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| Route photo |
The route along the south-west ridge of Oterfjellet.
The route to Melen from the Melen-Oterfjellet saddle. |
Drive to the intersection of roads 659 and 661 by Eidet (Tennfjord). Turn right towards Vatne, and continue from Vatne towards Fiksdal. 11.1 km after leaving Eidet you get to the Haram-Vestnes municipality border by Reset. There is a parking place here, next to the vertically positioned boat indicating that you are now entering the Vestnes municipality.
Start walking by heading directly east. There are several paths here, and it doesn't really matter which one you choose as long as the general direction is east. After having walked 5-600 metres you get up to the flat section at the foot of Melen. Aim for the south-west ridge of Oterfjellet, and follow this path all the way to the summit.
From Oterfjellet summit walk back down to the saddle between Oterfjellet and Melen, and then ascend Melen where you find it best. When you get towards the top, and have moved sufficiently west on Melen's south slopes, you will find a path that will bring you to the summit.
From Melen's summit descend the path that runs back down to Reset.
As I was standing at the car park at Reset I was having trouble deciding whether I should ski or walk this route today. After much discussions with myself I, including testing the snow, I decided to walk. As it turned out this was a wise move; the snow was sparse and hard as rock.
The walk up to Oterfjellet summit was easy and enjoyable, and after signing the registration book and taking photos I headed back down. From the saddle between Oterfjellet and Melen I started the ascent of Melen, selecting more or less the shortest route towards the summit. Up here the hard snow started to become a problem, and I was depending heavily on my poles. Eventually I got to a point where I understood that a slip here could cause major damage; the southern slope of Melen is not very steep but if you start to slide on the icy snow you will probably slide all the way down to the foot of the mountain. Add a couple of hits at stones that stick up from the snow and you'll have created a bloody mess of yourself. I therefore decided to put on my crampons. This move was also motivated by the fact that I had never used crampons and thought it was about time to get some experience whit this equipment.
With crampons on the rest of the hike to the summit was pure joy, and I ended up looking for the sections that seemed to have the most ice. I kept the crampons on also while at the summit, and headed back down in great comfort. As I got down to softer snow I decided to take the crampons off, but for some reason changed my mind at the last minute. Mistake; a novice who start to feel over-confident is not a good mix. Down in the deep snow, running, I broke through the snow and the tip of my right crampon got partly stuck in the snow. This caused a fall, which in itself didn't cause much harm, but it made me completely forget to keep my feet away from each other, and I ended up digging my left crampon well into my right calf. After the initial swearing I realised I wasn't badly hurt, so decided to continue back to the car before examining the injury. As it turned out my base-layer had been acting as a bandage, so I hadn't been bleeding much, and decent cleaning and a proper bandage was all that was needed.