Estimated net time	6-8 hours
Difficulty	If there is little snow in the mountains this route doesn't have any real difficulties; you will have to use your hands a little when ascending from Nordkopen up to the ridge west of Midtre Regndalstind, but there is no need for a rope. If there is a lot of snow, and the snow is hard, you should bring an ice-axe for crossing the snow field above Nordkopen. It might also be useful with an ice-axe for the short climb up to Midtre Regndalstind. At the summit of Råna it is possible to climb the pinnacle-like formations east of the summit; be very careful if the rock is wet.
Drinking water	Access to running water from the river Urkeelva up to Nordkopen. No running water above Nordkopen.
GSM coverage	Unknown. Coverage at the summit.
Parking	Room for several cars at trail head.
Start height	220 metres
Vertical metres	1530 metres for the roundtrip
Trip distance	12.1 km
GPS-file	X
Map
Route photo	Route towards the west ridge of Midtre Regndalstind.

From Ålesund drive to Magerholm and take the ferry across to Aursneset. From the ferry port drive road 60 towards Stranda and Hellesylt. From Hellesylt continue on road 60 until you get to the exit for Norangsdalen. Turn right here and follow road 655 towards Øye and then to Urke. At Urke turn right up Urkedalen valley after you have passed the small shop, and drive 2.7 km until you get to a small car park on the right hand side of the road close to Haukåssætra. Park here.

Walk back down the road 100 metres or so until you get to the start of the path towards Råna (there is a sign here). Follow the path that runs up the valley, on the right hand side of the river. Where the valley Grøtdalen comes down from your right you need to find a suitable place to cross the stream that comes down Grøtdalen. Continue up-hill towards Nordkopen, staying right of the river but not too close to the walls of Regndalstindane if there is still danger of blocks of snow falling from the mountains.

From here aim for the two small pyramids on the ridge at the end of the valley, making sure you aim left of the pyramids. Below the wall of the ridge you will have to cross snow, and if there is still plenty of snow in the mountain this snow field can run well up into the steeper sections. If so, in particular if the snow is hard, you might need both crampons and an ice-axe. After you have ascended onto the ridge you will see the Råna plateau in front of you on your right hand side. The route from here to the Råna summit is obvious.

From the Råna summit descend back down across the plateau and find your best route up to Midtre Regndalstind. From its summit descend back down towards the plateau, keeping a little left in order to find the shortest route back down to the pyramids. From the pyramids follow your ascent route back down to the car.

15. September 2006

I had been in Holland for work the whole week and were going back to Sunnmøre with the late Thursday flight from Oslo. Together with me on this travel were several colleagues, amongst them Torill. For some reason I asked Torill if she fancied taking Friday off and have a go at Råna. I knew she had never been to Råna either, and I also knew that she certainly had this great mountain on her to-do list. As usual she was on, and we agreed to meet at Stranda a little after 8am the following morning. After we landed at Ålesund airport I drove straight to our cabin at Fjellsetra, and got there around 01:30. Falling asleep was not easy though, as I was both excited and little worried about what the Friday would bring.

Around 07:45 Friday morning I drove to Stranda to meet Torill, who arrived on the ferry from Liabygda. We then drove to Urke and up to trail head. By the time we got started at 09:15 the sun was starting to heat the air, and everything was looking very promising. We hadn't decided 100% yet whether we were going for the direct route, or if we should walk left when we got above Nordkopen and follow the narrow ridge that runs from south-west towards Midtre Regndalstind. But we soon decided that there was so little snow that doing the direct route wouldn't have any issues with steep snow.

Above Nordkopen we crossed the snow without any difficulties, and then started the climb up towards the ridge perpendicular on our direction of hiking. The light scrambling didn't cause any problems for progress, but when we got to just below the ridge got into some problems; we weren't aware that the best entry point to the ridge was left of the two small pyramids on the ridge so we tried to climb up in the gap between them. We succeeded in doing this, but we both agreed that this would be a very challenging descent, in particular without a rope. We even agreed that in worst case we would have to take some of the clothes we had and make some kind of rope out of that!

After this it was plain sailing across the Råna plateau. After having rested a couple of minutes at the summit we climbed onto the first two of the three rocks east of the main mountain; the third one we didn't fancy taking on without any safety equipment. The reason why we climbed onto these formations was quite simple; we couldn't risk coming back down and being told that we hadn't been to Råna's summit.

After having taken photos (well, only Torill had brought a camera ...) and had some food we headed back down the Råna plateau and went up Midtre Regndalstind. If the conditions are favourable, i.e. no snow, this could be regarded as "a mountain for free". Then down towards the ridge and the potential problem point. Down here I was a few metres ahead of Torill and I missed the small gully where we had struggled during our ascent. Suddenly I heard Torill saying that I should stop and come back since she was now by the point were we should descend. Luckily I had come far enough to see that there was a much better place to descend a few metres further west than were we came up This was, of course, just west of the two small pyramids, and exactly the point where we should have ascended. I told Torill to have a look at what I had found, and we both agreed that "yes, this is exactly what we need!". The scramble down here was dead easy, and after more scrambling down the south wall of the ridge we were soon down by the snow. From here it was easy walking, although the legs were starting to feel the drain from a long hike.

When we got below Nordkopen we met a young couple on their way up the valley. We chatted briefly with them, and to our surprise they were going for Råna; it was now close to 3pm and they didn't neither look nor sound like very experience and fit hikers, so we were thinking that they would be pushing it with respect to daylight for their return.

The last few hundred metres back to the car I changed from walking to running in order to get a change in the rhythm and let the walking muscles get some more dynamic strain. By the time Torill got to the car I had done some stretching and was feeling pretty well recovered. Torill, I'm sure, is so fit that she doesn't need much to recover. I then drove her back to the ferry port at Stranda, before driving up to Fjellsetra where my family would be joining me a little later. As I crossed Strandafjellet I noticed that the temperature outside was 20°C, and the sky was still bright and blue. What a day; one of the finest mountains conquered, together with a great person, and under superb conditions. And a well deserved beer when I got back to the cabin ...

Photos 15.09.2006