Time Flies

Three weeks back home already, it has been full on with Peak Limestone and it has all gone pretty well. The crags are lovely and dry so I have manage to get a few more of the missing crag shots by visiting the Dales at odd times of the day to catch the best of the light.
As ever 'The Team' have been very helpful with with checking routes over, visiting out of the way places and posing for photos - always turning up with a nice array of coloured T-shirts. See Dan and Graham (The Green Team) in the shot to the left.
The weather has been good though often a bit sweaty, there has been a lot of donkey work putting all the corrections into the master document, a good excuse for staying indoors on the hotter days.
A couple more weeks and it is off again - Switzerland this time. Apparently the Alps have had a crap summer, lets hope they have a decent autumn!

S'limestone & Stanage

August in the UK - that's not something we do very often. The weather has been mixed, and very warm compared to northern Norway, but pleasant enough.
I have pressed on with Peak Limestone, there have been lots of bits and pieces to tidy up and check over, conditions down in the Limestone Dales is great at the moment, and everywhere is remarkably quiet. We have pushed the publication date back by six months, there seemed little point in 'full steam ahead' and bring the book out just as the season ends - a Spring launch makes much more sense.
A Sunday on Stanage with most of the 'usual suspects' was very pleasant with a bunch of old classics ticked off, good routes and good company.
It is six weeks until we head for Kalymnos so we have book a 10 day slider to Handegg for early September just to stay keen. Lets hope the weather is kind.

South by South West

Early evening we sailed out of Svolvaer and along the coast, slipping past Henningsvaer and out into the Westfjord. There were no cabins available this time, and many folks just crashed in the lounge, though we spent time looking for a decent dossing spot and found it at the back of the ship, an alcove that was sheltered from the wind and undercover enough to keep the rain off. We got a few strange looks but who gives a damn, we had two comfy nights there and saved a heap of dough too!
We had four nights at the oddly named Koppang (sounds like a Batman comic annotation) by the banks of Norway's biggest river - the Glømma. The place was all set for salmon and trout fishing, though we found a good sport crag not far to the south, and had an excellent walk up some 3500' foot top just to the west whilst thunderstorms grumbled all around. The strangest thing was the DARK - all a bit spooky after so long with 24 hour daylight.
Then it was on south to Larvik and a much smooth crossing of the Skagerrak than the one going the other way 10 weeks ago to the day. The next morning we had a walk on the glorious beach at Tornby and quick ride across Denmark, to Esbjerg to be upgraded to Commodore Class yet again. The forecast is for a flat calm crossing - brilliant.

Homeward Bound

Over nine weeks since we left home - it has been a cracking trip, with sparkling weather, some great venues and a generally mellow time. Climbing, hiking, fishing, berry-picking, birding - a Norwegian version of the Good Life. I suggested to Sherri it might be nice to have a bit of time padding up some Swiss granite again in September, and she pointed out that we need to go home 1st as there was a fair bit to do in the UK, especially sorting out Peak Limestone - ooops!

Thorbjørn and Lutta have done us proud and saved us a fortune by letting us stop in the Pink House in Henningsvaer, that is a few drinks we owe them. I think we may have persuaded them to sample Kalymnos in the Autumn, so I can square up with a few Metaxas at Babis Bar!

We have booked on the Hurtigruten (did it by phoning the ship!) from Svolvaer to Trondheim, after a month+ of perpetual daylight it will be a bit strange down there in the dark!

Just a 'Normal" Sunday

The peak of Hamarøy Skaften pierces the sky not far from the Skutvik ferry. It looks totally inaccessible from the east, though the guide says the West Face is home to the three star classic 'Normal Route' which involves a lot of scrambling and five pitches up to Norwegian Grade 5-. The day was glorious and despite it being a Sunday, there were only two other teams on the mountain, a family group of five, and a couple of Norwegian lasses who were just 'learning the ropes'. They had done the North Face of the Romsdalhorn a few days ago as their 1st outdoor route: talk about in at the deep-end!
The approach took us a steady hour, and the route another couple. The five graded pitches (4+, 4, 5-, 4+, 5-) up grooves, corners and chimneys were a bit graunchy and the tricky 'hand-traverse' had Sherri pondering for a while. The view from the top extended from the rocky spike of Stetind over to the east, all the way round to the 'Lofoten Wall' sticking up beyond the blueness of the West Fjord. A report from the UK of more appalling weather back there was just the cherry on the cake.
We had out butties by the summit cairn, then headed down. Fortunately there is a bolted abseil line so the descent isn't too much of a problem though I did wonder for a moment how Martin Ekroll and Angel Johannesson got back down in 1888 after their First Ascent - impressive stuff.
Now it is about time to head back to Lofoten - there's fishing to be done!

Away from it All

Lofoten was getting pretty busy (see previous Blog) and Thorbjørn let slip that he had a 'cabin' up in the hills up near the Swedish border - a four hour drive later and we were established!
At 1700' we expected it to be cool, thought the 24 hr daylight and a 'bubble' of warm air meant the temperature reached a sweaty 27C, the hottest we have ever experienced in Norway.
Not to be phased we have done some fine walks up in the hills, including Haugfjell and its bizarre ladder which is the only way through the extensive cliff-line, as well as some excellent sport climbing down by the coast.
The 'cabin' is about as plush as you could wish for and there is the added bonus of 'cheap' (all things being relative) shopping over the border in Sweden.
Last night the fog rolled in and today the temperature was a more reasonable 10C, with a low of 4C in the night - a bit more like it!

Good as it Gets.

Lofoten in high summer is an amazing spot when the weather is kind, and as ever (for us) it has been just that. With 24 hour daylight, it is the height of the season now - we usually arrive at the end of July when all the Norwegians have started heading south again, so it has been a bit of a shock to see the place really packed and queues on many of the easier classics. I thought it was the fault of the guidebook, but Thorbjørn insists it is like this every summer for a few short weeks.
Weekends in the Climbing Cafe have been great/crazy depending on your outlook, with live music well into the small hours and a great social scene. The music doesn't usually start untill gone 10:30, and we have had to bail at 2:00 a.m. whilst everything was still in full swing!
For a 'rest' we took Thorbjørn's Jack Russell Elvis for a walk up Tjelbergtinden - I am not sure which of the three of us was most knackered by the time we got back to the car, but I'm guessing it wasn't Elvis!