From Ålesund drive road E39 to Sjøholt and continue across Ørskogfjellet. Leave
E39 onto E136 and drive 7.8 km to Tresfjord, to where the road starts to turn
north (just before the exit to Øvstedal). Continue on E136, and start measuring
from here:
- At 4.9 km turn right where signed for "Daugstadsetra".
- At 5.5 km fork left just before a small bridge.
- At 5.6 km turn right.
- At 5.8 km pay toll in unmanned toll booth (NOK 40 per 2013).
- At 9.5 km park on the right hand side at the car park close to the end of the road, inside the fenced area.
From the car park follow the wide path up to the cabins. Turn a little right and
skirt around the cabins on the right hand side, where you find red paint on the
fence poles. Continue south-east into the valley, following the red paint. Walk
approximately 3.4 km from the car park, and then turn left into the bush. Find
your best route up to the gully coming down from Svartevasstinden's summit,
which means a bit of bush fighting.
The first part of the gully can be ascended on either side or inside it, but
higher up it's best to stay on the left hand side. At approximately 1100 metres
you should cross the gully and continue uphill on the right hand side. This is
approximately where a small ridge comes down into the gully and splits it in
two, with the left gully consisting of nice slab steps. But stay right up to the
next ridge splitting the gully, and this time choose the left gully, which will
take you up to the top of the gully below the summit. Note that it gets a little
steeper at the very top of the gully and care should be shown if the vegetation
is wet.
From the top of the gully there are two options, at least; you can traverse a
grassy ledge across to the left and then climb up, or you can climb straight up
to the saddle to the right of the wall coming down from the summit and then up
the wall. This route description assumes you go for the latter option. This
means you should rope up at the top of the gully and climb easy terrain straight
up. There are plenty of good hand holds, but be aware that some of the hand
holds are loose stones. From the saddle turn left and climb the wall just south
of the summit. This climb is definitely more difficult than the section below,
and there's a considerable exposure. The general advise is that you're likely to
find the easiest route if you stay right of centre. When the wall has been
climbed there's a 15 metres walk to the summit, which is marked by a small
cairn.
Descend by reversing your ascent route, which means an abseil down to the top of
the gully you came up.
19. June 2013
My colleague Mark was in Norway this week, and with him being a climber I wanted
to take advantage of his skills, as well as offering him something more than a
walk, on this dry Wednesday evening. We set off from Ålesund centre after
work, at 16:30, and were ready to start our hike at Daugstadsetra at 18:10.
When we walked into the valley from Daugstadsetra we were unhappy to see some
mist coming drifting in from south, and our main concern was related to finding
the correct gully up to below the summit. Fortunately the mist didn't hit the
lower sections before we had found the correct gully, and after the section of
bush we had to find our way through we had a fairly clear view of which gully to
choose.
The walk up along the gully was easier than I had expected, but the ice axe was
handy at the very top of the gully. From here we had two options; straight up or
left along a ledge and then a likely easier climb. I knew what I would choose,
but I realised Mark would like as much challenge as possible so I asked him to
decided what route to choose. As expected he wanted to climb the most difficult
of the two options, and climbed all the way up to the summit ridge. Dead easy!
I, however, had problems. The climb up to the saddle was fairly easy and
definitely enjoyable, from the last section caused major difficulties. And
around half-way up the steep section I had serious problems. First of all I was
able to find any proper hand holds, and my second issue was that my fingers were
starting to get cold. At one point I understood that I only manage one more
attempt at a specific move, and I seriously composed myself for this final
attempt. Fortunately this was successful, and the rest of the climb was fairly
straight forward.
From the top of the climb, where Mark was waiting, it was an easy scramble along
the summit ridge to the small summit cairn. Unfortunately the mist was still
sitting around the tops so the views were very limited.
After a short summit stop we prepared for the descent. This started with an
abseil down the route we had climbed a little earlier, and the upper part turned
out to push my tolerance for exposure. The issue wasn't the steepness of the
abseil, but the fact that the wall I was abseiling was only a couple of metres
wide, and I was definitely not keen on swinging out on either side of the narrow
wall. Hence I abseiled very carefully, and was much relieved when I got down to
the saddle. The rest of the abseil, down to the gully, was easy and without any
issues. Mark then followed, and probably used a tenth of the time I had used ...
When Mark joined me down at the top of the gully we had to pull down the rope
before stowing away the climbing gear. But the rope jammed a little below the
saddle so Mark had to climb back up a little in order to release the rope. This
cost us a little time, but I suspect this was also partly fine with him since it
allowed him a little more scrambling.
The rest of the descent was uneventful, and we found an OK route down through
the bush by following what was probably a dry creek. Then the relatively boring
walk back to the car, getting there a little before midnight. I then had to
drive Mark back to his hotel in Ålesund, and finally got home well after 1 am,
but enjoying every moment of the drive based on what I had achieved this misty
evening. And thanks to Mark for getting me up to the summit of Svartevasstinden,
and for super company throughout the hike.
Photos 19.06.2013
Svartevasstinden trail head at Daugstadsetra.
Overview of route up Svartevasstinden's west slope.
Upper part of route to Svartevasstinden.