Feb 09 09 |
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Terry and Bernie (or Berny in Norwegian) had an extended long weekend to impinge upon Smiler’s CC meet to Rjukan.
It had been minus 15 max temp for a week and Rjukan was even colder than usual. Here you see a view of Rujkan from the Ossimosis road, with the hanging cold mist.
Any hopes we had of great deeds were quickly put to rest, as Terry’s new crampons and not so old axes struggle to make an impression on the iron-like ice of Vermorkbrufossen Vest WI5.
A better view of Terry’s new ‘Teeth’ are shown here at Krokan.
We did a bit of exploration too…
Here we are looking for tracks at Bolgen. But none to be found.
So quick retreat for ‘cragging’ at lower Ossimossis.
Syd and Eileen were playing on the upper part….
We also explored further afield, in an attempt to find sunshine and warmth. Here you see the wonderful sunny cascades at Presenil.
Trouble was, there wasn’t a trail. Neither was it clear exactly how to approach them through the private propery on the roadside. It seemed likely that the guide book writers had never been there and more clarification is needed in future editions, we felt. We took our chances and walked across the farms, but were soon knee deep in snow (remember Yoho??). A quick retreat was called for and we saved the day at Krokan.
But by far the most enjoyable route was ‘Blindtarmen’ WI4, in the Upper Gorge. This has a really steep main pitch, which you enter from the saftey of a belay cave, reminiscent of Louise Falls and as hard, I felt.
Here you see ‘Berny’ just exiting the first pitch.
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15 Responses to “A Flitting Trip to Rjukan”
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Hells teeth, Terry, did you climb that icicle at Krokan?
No Pete, that would have been pushing my new teeth too far
Besides, you can see a crack near the bottom 
In fact, I probably shouldn’t even have been standing there 
Was there any snow swimming going on…?
No, not this time
But we did manage a trip around the museum, whic was very interesting 
Happened to bump into most of the ‘meet’ participants, getting away from the snow (that day) and cold 
looks like great conditions Terry
Not hacked to pieces by all those CC members??
Well, Ian, as I said, it as very cold
and had been for a long time. So the ice was iron-hard 
and difficult to get good placements 
However, our large group didn’t seem to cause too many problems, since they tended to dissipate
Also, it was great fun at night, all being in the same accommodation, as opposed to last year 
On the last day, I got wet belaying in my cave, which was dripping water (probably from a spring)
By the time we’d finished the climb, my soft shell was frozen solid, as were my gloves 
Now I’ve got bona fida frostbite in my little finger 
Good job it wasn’t in the big mountains and I was able to get to the cake shop quickly for treatment (at £11 per cake) 
So I don’t think the finger will fall off 
But you never know 
As the frostbite surgeons say, ‘Freeze in January, amputate in July’ 
You got frostbite!
And it only gets a mention in the comments? That deserves headline reporting! 
And pictures – is it all black now? 
Will you be able to stick out your little finger properly when taking tea and cake? Or maybe you’ll have no choice (’til it snaps off
)
I did offer to amputate in the cafe but Terry wimped out,
could have brought a whole new meaning to finger buffet!
Well Petes, its discoloured but not black, so I probably warmed it in time
I did think about photograph for blog but couldn’t get satisfactory ‘close-up’ 
However, if it does drop off, we can feed it to Anna’s cat 
But there is a lesson here
It shows how complacent we’ve become with all these warm winters 
Years ago, for example, I’d wear BD ice gloves and liners 
But for the last few years, I’ve just worn thin windstopper gloves with coated palms and that’s worked perfectly well, even in Canada 
Hmm, do remember that story about Brummie Stokes frost bitten toe? He was showing it off at a party, somebody tapped it and it dropped off….then the dog ate it
Blimey Terry – windstopper gloves ONLY?! You are definitely hard as nails….
very cool and I’m very jealous. Wished I could have been there too.
Hey Kathie, What’s it like up there
[...] it wan’t entirely thro idleness. Terry wanted to test his recovering finger. Happily it survived the afternoon well, suitably padded and [...]