Monday, 20 February 2017

Kåfjord

UPDATED FOR 2107
UPDATE - See Stein's comments below for some more accurate naming!

Kåfjordalen, as the main fjord and valley are, are home to a few climbs, including the great atmospheric route Gullyvers Reisen that is buried in the back of a deep cleft in a gulley wall.  It is definitely one to do.  

If coming from Skibotn, as you round the headland and head down the Kafjord fjord, there are two tunnels in quick succession.  There is a route above the exit from the last tunnel you will drive through on the way to Kåfjord.  Ther
e are more further back - easily accessed from the old road used before the tunnel was built.  Most likely all in the WI3 range.

The photos below are taken from the other side of the fjord:




As you drive through Birtavarre, there is an icefall high in a valley that is straight in front of you. As you hit a straight, on a slight incline, look dead ahead:



Once past the village, there are a cluster of routes on the west side and Gullyvers Reisen on the east side:



Gullyvers Reisen, 120m, WI 5. Park at the southern parking (the end of the road)

The view from the approach - from further away the line looked incomplete but wasn't

The second pitch

Boršojohka, the large line on the right, is 240m, WI 3/4.  The right hand side of the falls on the left was a full 60m pitch of WI 5.  Park at the electricity substation to the north of the routes.

The WI 5 opposite Gullyvers Reisen:

2 comments:

  1. Again, these ignorant Austrians - Kranebitter & Leichtfried. They seem to have taken "Spesiell Canyon" for a name. It isn't, it's just the text on a roadsign pointing the way to this unusual canyon (= "spesiell canyon"in Norwegian). The real name is Ørnedalen in Norwegian, while the stream is named Sorbmejohkka in Sami. Several waterfalls in the gully were climbed about 15 years before the Austrians went there. See my comments to their story at http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web10s/newswire-lyngen-norway.

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  2. Actually Leichtfied's coordinates 69.400893,20.98177 point to Gorzi canyon (Storfossen), not to Ørnedalen. Kurt Astner & co. on the other hand seem to have been Ørnedalen (https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-eur/journal/climb/all/bd-athlete-kurt-astner-establishes-stunning-new-ice-climbs-in-norway-en-eur).
    -Ari

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