I've also finished my Norway report 'The Lyngen Project' which will be hosted in the Library at www.mcnabsnowsports.com (in the articles section) and is also posted here so read on!
Norway - The Lyngen Project
Its quite a strange experience to watch the pink fade of the sunset on the snowy peaks over the fjord, whilst at the same time on the peaks behind me the same pink glow brightens the skyline as the new day arrives.
Its spring time in the Lyngen Alps, time of the eternal sun, complete contrast to the winter months of continuous night, one season favouring hibernation, the other the habits of the insomniac.
The Lyngen Alps are a vast jagged mountain range located some 500km inside the Arctic Circle on the Northern shores of Norway.
The Lyngen Fjord runs deep into the Norwegian land mass, part of a maze of deep water ways and islands that make up the distinctly complicated Norwegian coastline.
This is a vast, rarely explored part of the world. A true wilderness suited more to its local in-habitants the lonely Lynx, the shy Moose, the huge herds of Reindeer and the mythically named but rarely seen Wolverine.
The landscape here is rugged and unique, high peaks soar straight up from the sea whist towering rock faces plunge vertically into the dark icy depths. Huge beautiful looking glaciers fill the higher valleys, whilst lower down wide open featureless snow fields lead towards narrow creeks, bubbling springs and sparse woodland that does a surprisingly good job of concealing the numerous and enormous Moose that apparently hide out on these lower slopes.
We are staying at the purpose built Lyngen Lodge on the Eastern shore of the Lyngen Fjord. A beautiful calm oasis of comfort, warmth and luxury within this wild and often harsh landscape. The lodge was set up by Ski and Mountain aficionado, Graham Austin, an ex Pat BASI ski teacher and UIAGM Mountain Guide who fell in love with the area and had the foresight to see the vast potential on offer.
I am here as part of my “McNab BC Voyager program’ a program designed to take Snowboard and Mountain enthusiasts like myself around the world both near and far on a ‘Voyage of discovery’ in search of new spots, wild adventure, great terrain, big descents and of course dream lines. From Heli-boarding in remote parts of Russia, expedition trips to middle of nowhere Greenland, to simple Backcountry trips to explore some of Europe’s Freeriding Mecca’s, the ‘Voyager’ program has it all.
Joining me on the trip are 6 regular Backcountry devotees, a few of whom have already joined me on other journeys of discovery and adventure such as Greenland and Siberia.
As usual, I have a map, a compass, a back up GPS, altimeter and a mobile phone and a general idea. Along side this we have all the regular BC access and emergency kit. There are no lifts here, no designated runs, no marked itineraries and pretty much no limits beyond what you are physically and mentally capable of doing.
From the windows of the Lodge we gaze across the dark Fjord towards Glaciated valleys and jagged peaks. Huge smooth snowfields stretch out from summit to sea beckoning us to explore. Behind the lodge more soaring peaks fill the skyline offering relatively easy access descents of over 1000m for those that make the effort to hike up there.
We suffer bad weather on our first day of the trip and opt to go out in the Fjord for some fishing. Having never fished I’m pretty sceptical about catching anything and the lures we are using look, to me, more like kids toys than something a fish might want to get hold of. It is noted amongst the group that the worst thing that can come out of the day is that I (McNab) Catch the biggest fish.
Within minutes Carl has hooked a beauty, a Coalfish about as long as my arm. I retaliate with a cod of equal measure and the comp is under way. There doesn’t seem to be much skill involved, this is demonstrated beautifully as Jon hooks a small Cod out by its tail. I get my hook caught on what I think can only be the bottom, my rod is bending in two and I think its game over when suddenly the line starts to move around and I begin to reel in what at first I think can only be a shark, but turns out to be a massive Cod.
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It’s the biggest fish I’ve ever seen, (about 10 kilos in weight) and to the disappointment of the team the eventual comp winner by a clear mile.
A great start to the trip I think!
The skies clear towards the evening and the sun shines down all night!
After a down day we are pretty revved up to get stuck in and so with a sense of adventure we opt to head down the Fjord on the Lyngen Lodge boat, ‘The Spirit of Lyngen’ to a near by Peak infested Island. We hop ashore at the local fishing port, a couple of houses and a small peer and seem strangely out of context as we set off with boards on our backs surrounded by bobbing fishing boats and noisy seagulls.
We head up climbing through dense woodland until after about 300m of altitude gain we suddenly clear the tree line and begin to climb the endless snow fields above.
The Peak we are heading for is a little shy of 1200m and takes us about 4 hours from seas to summit.
The views are incredible, 360 degrees of jagged Islands, soaring peaks and deep dark fjords below and endless blue sky.
We pause for lunch on the summit before heading down, it has snowed a little at the top during yesterdays storm and we ride fresh snow for about 500m before it starts to transform, changing to good spring corn snow on the lower slopes. We are heading towards a small bay, further up the coast from where we started and have to bushwhack through the trees in the lower section.
We emerge onto the beach to find the ‘spirit’ waiting for us, moored just off shore and shuttle ourselves and kit on board via the small Dingy tethered to the stern.
Its been a great day, we look back at our tracks as we cruise away. They look bizarre and out of place, 1 zig zag line up and 7 arcing lines spreading out from the summit to the sea surrounded by nothingness.
The weather holds true and over the following few days we explore the surrounding area climbing endless peaks and scoring big descents.
We make a traverse over the peninsula from a drop off at one side up and over into a hidden valley, where we see the recent tracks of a Wolverine, then up and over another ridge to ride down the big slopes behind the lodge to finish at the door.
We find some great riding, big endless slopes, some steeps, some narrows and some fun tree runs. We see the tracks of Lynx up high and of Moose down in the tree line but unfortunately see neither.
Life in the lodge is very pleasant, the evenings are long, the food is excellent and due to the strange night time sun 1am seems like 9pm. (Having just come from Kamchatka 3 days before, with an 11 hour time difference, my jet lag soon reaches insane proportions and I completely lose all track of day or night).
All too soon our trip is coming to an end and we’re planning our Grande-Finale. To finish the week we need something special and I have spied a great looking Glacier and Summit trip from one of our earlier ventures and with Graham’s local knowledge check it out on the map.
With an early start we take the boat far up the Fjord to the Western shore. From here we traverse through sparse woodland, cross a wide flat valley floor and negotiate a wide fast flowing river. The potential for getting wet is high and Nick gets a boot full. Fortunately the weather is mild and with the wet spring snow low down here in the valley his foot is soon no wetter than anyone else’s (why are Snowboard boots not waterproof?).
The trees are small and the woodland sparse, we see fresh evidence of Moose everywhere but as usual see none.
From here the climb begins. We traverse up the far side of the valley heading up to a distant Col far above. This takes about 2 hours, the views are incredible and the going is relatively easy. We arrive at the Col and pass through to breath taking views of the Glacier above and here we stop for lunch. Before us the Glacier gently rises up to a high peak crested ridge. It looks foreshortened but I can see from the map that it is roughly 3km to the top.
We trek gently up the Glacier taking in the ambiance and views all around us.
It is similar in appearance to the Trient Glacier back in Chamonix, maybe a bit larger and surrounded by sea.
The final climb to the ridge is steep and we have to break through the final cornice above to come out on the jagged crest from where, after 5 hours of steady climbing, we can easily reach the waiting summit.
This is our highest point of the week and the peaks around us are spectacular.
Like many snowy coastal regions the sea moist snow seems to stick to near vertical faces and we gaze out imagining possible lines, climbs and descents. From the summit we radio for the boat to come around the peninsula into the fjord behind and then begin our descent.
We ride wide open spring snowfields towards steeper rock cropped ground below where I stop the group and go to check out possible lines. We sneak through some rocky out crops and find a wide steep rolling couloir which we ride one at a time for safety reasons before hitting the crème de la crème of the week.
First tracks for all on the huge open snowfields below.
We can see the boat heading up the fjord far below and follow a halfpipe shaped gully down towards the tree line.
The final bushes and trees are dense but small enough to ride straight through if you’re confident and after the compulsory Commando finish we finally come out by the sea and walk easily along the coastline to rendezvous with the boat.
It has been a spectacular day. The weather has been perfect, the hiking rewarding and the descent breathtaking.
We speed back to the lodge whilst Springer Whales and Porpoise jump and dive in the fjords around us.
The big snowy faces surrounding the Lyngen Fjord show evidence of our passing, our graceful lines carved down the faces like some ancient, mystical scripture.
Our trip and my winter is now over. It has been my final trip of the season and my first time exploring this magical region.
We have hiked, climbed and ridden everyday yet barely scraped the surface of what is possible here and I will be back!
Before leaving the Lodge for our homeward journey we take one last look out over the fjords and peaks, the pink sunlight is slowly leaving the peaks in front whilst the peaks and clouds behind start to brighten in the early morning rays, it is 2am.
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