Introduction
After some indecision Joe finally agreed to go on this year’s Climbers’ Club meet (held jointly with the AC) to Rjukan in Norway. The late decision worked in our favour though as perhaps strangely and unusually the cost of the Ryan Air flights to Oslo (Torp) had dropped a great deal. This combined with sharing a car with Lindsay and Sue made for a pretty cheap week of ice climbing fun in the famous frozen Rjukan gorge.
However, not having our own car did lead to a fair few compromises on venue choice, plus a number of interesting and fun lifts from others on the meet and kind locals who dropped us back in town after a day on the ice. Although we did manage a lift everyday it is certainly easier to have your own transport!
Rjukan’s ice climbing is near to the Vermork power plant, which was the only place in Nazi occupied Europe readily producing heavy-water and thus supported the German research effort into creating a nuclear bomb during World War II. The sabotage of the plant was the basis of the classic WWII film – The Heroes of Telemark.
Below I have highlighted a few pictures from our ace trip with a brief account of each day’s adventures at these locations…
Venues
| 1. |  |  | Ozzimosis |
| 2. | | | Lower Gorge |
| 3. | | | Vermork Bridge |
| 4. | | | Krokan |
| 5. | | | Upper Gorge |
| 6. | | | Mael |
Day 1: Ozzimosis
Our first day was at the Ozzimosis area – and easy single pitch venue to remind the muscles how ice climbing works. Although I spent my time selecting the most tricky pieces of climbable ice I could see…
Day 2: Lower Gorge
Although the Lower Gorge is another single pitch venue it does offer a much larger number of routes.
Day 3: Vermork Bridge
We were stumped for a ride on our third day, no one seemed to be going our way or have space left in their car. Luckily Gary offered to run us up to Vermork Bridge. Amazingly he also came and collected us at the agreed time of 5pm. What a superb team effort – a real champion. 😀
Day 4: Krokan
We had struck out on attaining a ride home from the Krokan area but luckily we blagged a lift with a Norwegian couple who were looking to leave just as we were. They dropped us off at the cable car station just outside town before they headed off up to the Hardangervidda for a hut-to-hut ski tour.
Day 5: Upper Gorge
We bumped in to Jack and Nick who had just finished Rjukanfossen as we topped out on Verdens Ende. Walking out to the road together Jack and Nick were met by Gary and Chris for their arranged ride back to town. What a tease, they had a lift home, while Joe and I only had a very long walk to look forward to! But again our champion Gary came to the rescue and we managed to cram all six of us and our gear in to their super small VW Polo hire car. It wasn’t a comfortable ride, but it was a ride, and for that we were massively grateful. Plus of course it was a laugh squeezing everyone in to the tiny car. Especially so for Chris as she laid across the laps of us three lads sat in the back seat!
L to R: Jack, Joe, Pete, Chris’ hand, Nick, and Gary driving
Day 6: Mael & Vermork Bridge
On mine and Joe’s last day we went out to take a look at the Mael area with Steve and Chris. It was quite a long walk to the venue. And then we were faced with an uncertain abseil approach, a lot of bush whacking, and what looked from above like heavily snow covered climbs. We retreated. (Later we learned from Jack and Nick, who had walked in a little earlier than us, that this was likely a good decision – they got back very late and very knackered, and reported that the routes were indeed very snowy and hardly worth the effort.)
With half the day gone we opted to rush back to the Upper Gorge from Vermork Bridge, this being our best option to get to classic routes with an easy approach.
Accommodation
Special thanks needs to be called out for Smiler and Peri who organised the meet. Thanks guys! It must be tough organising the accommodation at the very comfortable Rjukan GjestegÃ¥rd. On my previous trips to Rjukan I’ve stayed at the cabins at Rjukan Hytteby. However, this guest house is much better. They allowed us to use their kitchen in the evenings to cook our dinners, provided a nice breakfast, and included supplies at breakfast to make our own packed lunches for our days out on the ice. Plus they even made their facilities and projector available for me to give a presentation on Canadian ice climbing.
Finally, with respect to the self-catering at Rjukan GjestegÃ¥rd, Joe and I joined forces with Chris, Steve, and Colin to create a cooking co-op. The idea being the each of us took turn to cook for the gang. Each night we each created our own three course menu. We each also included a beer or wine with the meal – a real treat in Norway, booze is seriously expensive. This idea worked out great. We had five superb meals and yet only had to cook once each. Result. Thanks to Chris for dreaming up that idea. 🙂