Flights
Some flights go directly to Tromsø, but many require a change (often at Oslo). We flew direct from London Gatwick to Tromsø with Norwegian - this was a more expensive way of doing it but worth it for time and hassle saved.
Car hire
There are several car hire companies operating from Tromsø Airport. Like everything in Norway, it isn't very cheap.
Roads
This site allows you to check whether particular roads are closed.
This webpage gives links to webcams on roads across Norway.
Weather: www.yr.no or www.storm.no
Accommodation
For the Lyngen area, we stayed at Strandbu in Skibotn (N 69deg22.6277, E 20deg16.1243). They have a variety of cabins accommodating up to six people. The owner is extremely helpful. They also have a wood-fired sauna on site. We absolutely recommend this place!
Skibotn seemed an ideal place to be based. It is fairly central to the Lyngen climbing areas, with none more than an hour away (with good driving conditions).
Cabin 7 at Strandbu.
Other options we investigated:
http://www.lyngenlodge.com/ (looks fantastic, not really comparable with the cabin we stayed at - this place has hot tubes, luxury and a boat to drop you off!)
http://www.lyngsalpeprodukter.no/
For Senja: http://senjalodge.com/
For Sordalen and Spansdalen: http://aagaard-lavangen.no/en_index1.htm
Both recommended
Aadne Olsrud, one of the friendly locals we sought advice
from, has opened some apartments in Tamok that are targeted at climbers and skiers. His Facebook page is worth checking out as
another option for somewhere to stay. Search for Olsrud Adventure on FB.
For Senja: http://senjalodge.com/
For Sordalen and Spansdalen: http://aagaard-lavangen.no/en_index1.htm
Both recommended
Food
Every town / village seems to have a Co-op or Joker mini-market type store. There are larger supermarkets in Tromsø (worth going to on way from airport if time allows) and Nordkjosbotn and over the border in Finland.
Always make time for cake.
SeasonToo early in the year and there is very little daylight. We had sufficient daylight when we went at the end of February, probably nearing on 12hrs of daylight. During our visits, temperatures have ranged from +5 to -12degC, but can be much lower. Check these weather statistics.
Weather
Norway has a fantastic weather service that, in our experience, was very geographically specific and quite accurate. Check the difference between Skibotn, Lyngseidet and Furuflaten - these are all only a few kms apart.
(Edit: for 2012, we found the weather forecast less accurate, a combination of generally very unsettled weather and being closer to the west coast I think)
Walk-ins
None of them are really that far in distance or height gain. The snow had a much bigger effect on our walk-in times, so we haven't given any estimates. Though something along the lines of "guess, double it and double it again" would have been accurate on some of our days! Our longest was three hours, not long by Scottish standards. One climb took two and a half hours of wading to get to and 25mins to get down - it was an icefall named 'Roadside'. If you are lucky with the snow, most will be quite short.
Trenching through the snow basin.
Specialist Kit
Snowshoes or skis are essential. We used snowshoes every day we were there.
Most routes are descended via abolokov threads - take plenty of tat.
Binoculars are very useful for spotting climbs and helping to guess how hard they could be!
We did not have avalanche kit, but avalanches are a very real risk. Lyngen Lodge sometimes post up what they have been up to which may be useful.
Maps
Time to run away! |
Safety
Ice climbing is dangerous, disclaimer done. Emergency numbers are 112 and 113. But have a read of this anyway: http://gravsports.blogspot.com/2011/03/ice-climbing-is-not-rock-climbing.html. We were told there is a mountain rescue service, including helicopter rescue similar to the UK - don't take our word for it though.
Avalanche
Avalanche forecasts http://varsom.no/Snoskred/
Getting used to the ice: ice-craggingThere are many opportunities for roadside cragging. We tend to do this at the start of a trip to reacquaint ourselves with the ice and to get a feel for ice conditions (low-level at least). One of the best places we've found is on the E6 north of Skibotn.
Other resources
There are a few bits and pieces on the web about ice climbing in the area. Some links we found useful are below, but we can't vouch for accuracy.
http://tinyurl.com/hy89pha (Arctic Norway Ice, googlemap of climbs, in part based on this blog!) http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web10s/newswire-lyngen-norway
http://tinyurl.com/66yej7n (Googlemap of routes)
http://tinyurl.com/6zbduff (another Googlemap of routes)
http://kiwiclimber.se/iceclimbing/iceguide/iceguide.pdf
http://isklatring.no/
http://www.senjalodge.com/index.php?1=winter&2=ice_climbing2
http://www.blixt.no/KvaloyaArchives/
http://www.ntk.no/en/routes/
http://www.fjellkysten.com/index.php?modul=21
http://tromsoklatring.no/content/information-english-0
http://www.rollomixed.com/
Essential kit? (We go lighter these days. Well, a bit)
Hotdogs
The petrol stations sell hotdogs. Jim swears by them. Nick swears at them.
Norwegian hotdogs are the food of gods.
ReplyDeleteI think you mean dogs.
ReplyDeleteVery good blog. Thanks for nice words:)
ReplyDeleteStein-Are, Strandbu Camping
Hi Stein-Are, it's been a long time! Hope you are well. We sure hope to come back. Have a young daughter now with another one on the way so climbing has taken a pause, but only for a while. All the best, Nick
ReplyDelete