From Ålesund drive road E39 south towards Bergen, and then exit onto road 60
just south of Ålesund. This road is signed for Stranda. Follow road 60 to the
Magerholm ferry port and get the ferry across to Aursneset. From Aursneset ferry
port follow road 60 for approximately 35 km, across Strandafjellet, to where you
get to a T-junction. There is an Esso petrol station on the right hand side of
the road (per 2012). Turn right here and continue 48.7 km along road 60 in the
direction of Stryn, and turn right where signed for "Engebø". Drive this road
uphill 1.0 km and pay toll at the unmanned booth (NOK 20 per 2012). Continue
another 1.9 km, fork right, and drive another 500 metres to a small car park on
the left hand side of the road. Park here. Note that the road above Engebø is
not likely to be ploughed.
Start skiing by following the road a couple of hundred metres uphill and then
turn left into the valley Blåbreddalen. Stay in the centre of the valley if
there's any avalanche danger, and after approximately 2.5 km of easy skiing
start the climb from 760 metres up to the glacier Blåbreden at 1200 metres.
Continue north across the glacier, up to 1270 metres, and then turn a little
right in order to climb the wide ledge on the west side of top 1575m. From the
top of the ledge continue north and find your best route to the final south
slopes of Storhornet. The summit is a large plateau and care should be shown if
the visibility is poor.
From Storhornet ski back down to the glacier at 1250 metres and gradually turn
right (south-west) in order to skirt around the two small tops on the west side
of the glacier, and you will soon be at Blåbredhornet's summit, which is marked
by a small cairn (might be hidden inside the snow).
From Blåbredhornet ski back down to the glacier, and from here reverse your
ascent route in order to get back to Hjortedalen.
28. May 2012
Storhornet had been on my wish list for a couple of years, and when hiking mate
Kjetil agreed to join me (or vice versa?) on this Whit Monday I was all set.
Unfortunately the gorgeous weather of the previous couple of days had changed
dramatically, with a temperature drop of ~15°C overnight, and clouds down to
1300-1400 metres. We still decided to have a go at Storhornet, with a plan-B of
skiing Gjura if visibility dictated it and the road up into Hjortedalen was
covered with snow. Kjetil picked me up at our cabin at Fjellsetra a little after
08:30, and when we arrived in Hjortedalen we were able to drive to a little
above 500 metres, which was good enough for us. And the low clouds were
predicted to disappear during the day according to weather forecasts, so we
agreed to go for Storhornet, and to include Rokkekjerringa and Blåbredhornet.
Skiing Blåbreddalen from Hjortedalen means you have to cross a river at the
beginning of the hike, and fortunately there was still a sufficient snow bridge
to allow crossing, but it wasn't one which you would like to stop in the middle
of and do fancy jumping. After successfully crossing the river it was 2.5 km
easy skiing through the flat section of Blåbreddalen, before we took on the 500
vertical metres up to the top of Blåbreden glacier. This part of the hike was
uneventful, and even if it was some avalanche danger the valley is wide enough
for safe skiing if staying in the middle of the valley.
From the top of Blåbreden we got a glimpse of Storhornet's summit, but it soon
disappeared in clouds. However, Kjetil knew the route from a previous hike, so
navigation wasn't an issue. What was a small issue was the steep west slopes of
the 1575-top, where the snow was yet to avalanche off the mountain side. Because
of this we agreed to cross this section with some distance between us, and
through that at least improve the odds if one of us were caught in an avalanche.
This safety measure proved to be redundant, but didn't have any cost associated
with it so nothing lost in terms of time nor distance.
The final climb to the summit was easy skiing, but longer than I had anticipated
from below 1575m, and with an awkward crust. Adding to this we had practically
zero visibility from the summit. Despite this we were both reasonably happy, and
for me it was at least a good feeling to have bagged this fine mountain.
While enjoying our sandwiches and taking a few photos we agreed that there was
no point continuing to Rokkekjerringa, which had been the original plan. We also
agreed to leave Blåbredhornet for some other time. And since the thick clouds
didn't make any intentions of lifting we soon agreed to start our descent, and
in order to cope with the crust we descended back down to the glacier with the
skins on, with the intention to remove the skins once we got to the better snow
at the glacier.
Descending to the glacier with skins on worked much better than expected, and
when we reached the glacier my spirit had risen quite considerable, and with
slightly better visibility I suggested we should do the relatively short de-tour
to include Blåbredhornet. Kjetil didn't have any objections, and we skirted
around the two small tops north of Blåbredhornet and found the summit cairn just
sticking up from the snow.
We made the summit stop at Blåbredhornet just long enough to take a few photos,
drink some water and rip the skins off the skis. I expected the descent to be a
little tricky, but despite the snow being fairly soft it was very nice skiing
down to Blåbreden, and just as nice all the way down Blåbreddalen valley. And
down in the flat section the snow was just firm enough to allow some skating in
the short sections which have a slight incline. So despite poor views and
missing Rokkekjerringa it turned out to be a nice day of skiing.
Back at the car we changed into dry clothes before heading back towards
Sykkylven. We both had the usual post-hike urge for a Coke, and were happy to
find that a small kiosk by Horndøla bridge had opened for the season. Then with
a Coke each it was just the drive back, and by now it was pouring down as we
drove through Strandadalen valley and across Strandafjellet.
Photos 28.05.2012
Storhornet trail head in Hjortedalen.
Route up to Blåbreden glacier, through Blåbreddalen.
Route from Blåbreden glacier to Storhornet.