JOTUNHEIMENNATIONAL PARKNORWAY

For days we have studied the

European weather charts for

snow. Finally we fix the

date for our trekking trip

to Norway: the beginning of

April 2011. Our starting

point: Lom – the gateway to

the Jotunheimen. Refreshed

after our first night in the

B&B, we’re ready for our

“outdoors at home” adventure.

FACE TO FACE WITH THE SNOW

W

Not all roads lead all the way to

Jotunheimen: the road is completely iced

over, our car doesn’t manage it to the

starting point of the trek. Everything

has to be re-packed and we finally reach

Leirdalen after an adventurous ride on

skidos.

RE-PACK

Claudia

While the storm’s raging outside whose face

lights up in the tent? Claudia! All it

takes is a piece of chocolate! When she’s

not studying, she’s off out somewhere

pursuing her favourite activities:

climbing, trekking, surfing and cycling.

Michael

Pulka is the taboo word of the trip! He is

part of the pulka duo on this trip – but

however heavy the kit is, there’s always

space for a little bottle of pear schnaps!

He’s mad about all mountain and water

sports – but without the pulka!

Henning

He is the second part of the pulka duo and

a guitar-playing lover of the outdoors.

Unfortunately, the guitar in the Norwegian

hut had seen better days – so there was

time to make pancakes.

MEET THETEAM

Off we head towards the Gjendebu Hut. No sign of the forecasted rain!

Spoke too soon: the promised rain

eventually comes and makes up for lost

time. We arrive at the hut in Gjendebu

feeling as if we’ve just had a facial

courtesy of the battering rain, snow

and ice.

SNOW PEELING INGJENDEBU

Like everywhere in Norway, the hut is

well equipped and provides us with

cosy shelter. Half the countries of

Europe are represented here among the

trekkers. After a delicious pancake

breakfast, we set off again next day.

W

THE HUT WEAVES ITS

MAGIC

Well fortified, the two lads get off

to a good start even with the heavy

laden pulka. One pulls it uphill, the

other puts the brake on it downhill.

Typical Norway: the weather changes constantly. At last, the sun comes out

and reveals the unspoilt mountainous landscape of the Jotunheimen National Park.

That’s what Jotunheimen actually means.

We are in the middle of Scandinavia’s

highest mountain range. Altogether,

there are more than 250 peaks above

1900 m and 20 of them are even higher

than 2300 m. Beneath the snow cover

60 smaller glaciers are concealed.

HOME OFTHE GIANTS

The lofty peaks of Mjølk

edalstinden (2137 m) and

Store

Raudalseggje (2168 m) li

e on our way.

No, Michael’s just happy to have a

pear schnapps to warm himself up!

After a dramatic change in the weather

we put up our tent amid snow flurries.

Using ski poles and spades, we make it

more secure with snow – there’s a

terrible draught in the “Home of the

Giants” and we are happy to be sitting

inside out of the storm. Skål and

goodnight!

AGIANTIN THE

TENT

Snow flurries and blueberries: on the

way to the glacier we struggle against

cold winds. A handful of blueberries

buried in the snow remind us of last

summer.

We can’t wait to start the long downhill

ski and on our way to the best starting

point we have a moment of excitement

when Claudia accidentally discovers a

crevasse in the glacier.

GLIMP-SES OFGLA-CIERS

Then at last it’s downhill all the way: we leave the

“Home of the Giants” and enjoy long sweeping runs in

the soft snow on our way to Leirdalen and Lom.

... and the roads are still iced over!

ROCK'N ICE MEN A trekking jacket

for every kind of weather! Its 5-in-1

function makes it ideal for a wide

range of temperatures and types of

trips. The TEXAPORE O2 shell jacket

guarantees superb breathability and

total weather protection.

SUPERSONIC XT JACKET MEN For high-octane

activity and sunny days: the medium warmth soft

shell hooded jacket is totally windproof due to its

STORMLOCK SOFTSHELL SMOOTHLIGHT shell fabric and

comes with a medium insulation fleece reverse side.

Perfect for an active sunny winter’s day.

EXPEDITION DOWN JACKET They

don’t come much warmer than this!

Filled with high performance down

and using windproof, extremely

water-repellent STORMLOCK HYPROOF

MINIRIP as the shell fabric, this

jacket is made for challenging

expeditions.

OUR COMPANIONS

ON THE TRIP

MOUNTAIN LAKE WOMEN The lightest

3-in-1 trekking jacket by Jack Wolfskin

for women! Tailored from lightweight

yet robust TEXAPORE TASLITE, its high

breathability is increased by venting

zips.

ALL TERRAIN PACK A heavy load rucksack

for long trips. The carrier system distributes

the load and transfers it to the well-padded

waist belt. Ample padding and good ventilation

guarantee optimum wear comfort. Practical

details: raincover, fully prepped for a

drinks system and attachments options for

equipment.

CRYSTAL PALACEThis sleeping bag shows its true colours when it

gets really cold on a winter trip: a high performance 700 cuin fill

power down is used to fill this super-warm down sleeping bag,

keeping you warm even at -16°C! The differential-cut chamber heights

are matched to the thick filling so that the down can loft fully.

SANCTUARY III RT A stormproof lightweight:

the outer fabric weighs only 57 g per m2 and

a metre of tent pole about the same – that

adds up to a total weight of just 3750 g! The

ingenious frame design provides storm

stability, a large internal space and is easy

to pitch single-handedly. It can accommodate

three persons comfortably with room in the

extra large apsis for gear.

Details of our trip

Jotunheimen National Park

The “Home of the Giants” lies in south Norway at the highest altitude of all the national parks in the

country. It contains not only the two highest peaks in Northern Europe (Galdøpping 2469 m and Glittertind

2452 m), but also most of Norway’s ‘2000 m’ peaks. The landscape is high Alpine with craggy peaks and

many glaciers. It is easy to combine different routes because of the well-developed network of paths

and many huts. The area around Olavsbu is one of the most beautiful yet loneliest places – we camped

not far from there. http://www.visitjotunheimen.com/de/

Accommodation

Lom

The gateway to Jotunheimen: the typical mountain village with 700 inhabitants is the ideal starting

point for exploring the Jotunheimen region. From here you have many trip options and many can be

accessed using the bus network.

Our great accommodation for the night including delicious food:

Hotel Andvord Gard AS

http://www.andvordgard.no/

Hut accommodation

The DNT (the Norwegian Tourist Association) is the Norwegian trekking association and operates many

huts offering board in Jotunheimen, for example Gjendesheim, Gjendebu, Glitterheim, Fondsbu,

Skogadalsbøen and Fannaråkhytta. In addition, there are several self-catering huts such as in Olavsbu,

Yksendalsbu and Tomashelleren. http://www.turistforeningen.no/

Trips

The well-developed network of huts allows many variations of multi-day trips of various lengths. We

started in Leiredalen and followed the Leirvassbu – Gjenddebu (24 km) – Olavsbu (15 km) – Leirvassbu

(15 km) route, making various detours to peaks and glaciers in the region.

http://www.scandinavianmountains.com/

http://www.brefjell.no/

Maps

Statens Kartverk, 1:50 000 Jotunheimen East and West

Individual 1:25 000 Explorer maps can be purchased at the DNT.

photos: Gaudenz Danuser