Storegga trail head by Furehaugane.
Upper part of skiing route to Storegga.
| Storegga from
Furehaugane (ski) Storegga |
| Estimated net time | 1½-2 hours | ||
| Difficulty | No difficulties. | ||
| Drinking water | No access to running water during winter. | ||
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route (March 2013). | ||
| Parking | Room for many cars at ski-centre car park (NOK 50 per day per 2013). | ||
| Start height | 487 metres | ||
| Vertical metres | 490 metres for the roundtrip. | ||
| Trip distance | 4.7 km | ||
| GPS-file | X (descent only) | ||
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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Assume your starting point is the round about where roads 15 and E39 intersect, in the centre of Nordfjordeid. Drive road 15 5.5 km in the direction of Måløy (west). Turn right where signed for "Harpefossen" and drive 5.1 km to the ski-centre's lower car park. Make sure you turn right in the T-junction after 3.1 km. From the lower car park continue another 2.8 km to the upper car park at Furehaugane. Park here, which costs NOK 50 (per 2013) during the ski-centre's opening hours.
Start skiing by following the piste on the right hand side of the ski-lift, up to the top of the ski-lift. Continue north-west and ascend Storegga where you see it best. Turn left (south-west) when you get up to the flat area and ski another 500 metres to the summit. You will see two proper cairns a few tens of metres from the summit, but the highest point is not marked.
Descend by reversing your ascent route.
I was due to drive Sigurd to Strandafjellet, from our cabin at Fjellsetra, and decided to continue towards Hornindal and ski something in that area. The weather was just as nice as the first three days of our Easter holiday, with sub-zero temperatures and the sun shining from a clear sky.
After dropping Sigurd off I decided to go to Nordfjordeid and ski Storegga, the highest point immediately above the ski-centre, and something I had had a quick look at the night before. But I didn't have any maps so gave my colleague Trond a call, to see if he could give any detailed advice on Storegga, and also on the possibility to ski Store-Toren from the ski-centre at Harpefossen. Unfortunately Trond wasn't that familiar with the area, but we had a good chat and he also invited me back to his place after I was done with my skiing.
At the ski-centre I found a large board with a photo of the area, and concluded that my best ascent route, unless I wanted to use the ski-lift, was to drive up to Furehaugane. I enquired the local skiing patrol about the route up to the summit, and this is where I made my mistake; I thought the top we saw above the ski-lift was Storegga, and asked the guys for the best route up there. They advised me to aim for the left side of the top, and follow the steps made in the snow the last 50 vertical metres. I thanked for their advise, but when I got closer to the top I figured it would be possible to ski up the right side if the snow wasn't hard. This route worked out OK, but it was steep and required me jamming the skis into the mountain side in order to avoid sliding down the steep slope. And when the steep section was done I had easy skiing across the plateau to get to the summit.
At the summit I checked my GPS, as I always do, and was a bit surprised to see that the reported altitude was 880 metres, as opposed to the expected ~970. My assumption was that the GPS wasn't receiving sufficient number of signals, and would correct itself after a little while, and didn't think any more about it. Instead I took out my camera and started taking photos, and had a bite into my sandwich. It was then that I saw that there was a saddle towards north that didn't look to be more than 20-30 metres lower than where I was standing. A second and third look made me quite frustrated, and I then concluded that I wasn't on Storegga but some other top.
After the first disappointments had been overcome, and I had turned into solution mode, I was considering my options. My first firm plan was to ski back down and claim a top with primary factor of 20-30 metres, and having enjoyed a nice day out. But then I started to think about the steps the ski patrol had mention, and concluded that if I could find them I could head down there and take on the ~160 vertical metres to Storegga. And after searching around a little I found the steps, packed the skis on my rucksack, and started the descent. The steps were partly icy, and I felt really uncomfortable at the start. But the terrain got a little less steep as I got further down, and the lower half was easy going.
From the saddle I follow some tracks up the east slopes of Storegga, and then across the plateau to the summit. Since time was running out if I was to get back to Fjellsetra in time for various duties, I took my photos and then headed back across the plateau, and then had a very enjoyable descent down the south-east slopes, and then down the piste.
Back at the car I decided to call Trond and ask if his invite was still on, and if this included me getting to use his shower. His hospitality was as expected first class, and after a shower, refreshments and a good talk I headed back to Fjellsetra.