Guiding in winter 2024

11.09.202311.09.2023

Guiding in winter 2024

Ever dreamed about climbing a frozen waterfall above the sea, with northern lights flaming on the sky? Skiing an endless field of powder straight to the ocean? What about climbing the arctic alpine ridge of Stetind in winter, and ski down? Come to climb and ski with me this winter in Northern Norway to experience its magic!

For bookings: send me a message on +358451052287 or mail juhoknuuttila17@gmail.com.

Examples of what we could do:

SKI TOURING WEEK OR WEEKEND IN SENJA, LYNGEN or NARVIK

Ski touring in Northen Norway is spectacular! We offer tailor made ski touring weeks and long weekends in a region you prefer.

Senja: My personal favourite. Ski touring in a dramatic scenery. Most of the mountains being 700-900 meters tall, meaning you can easily ski two diffirent mountains in a day or just one and enjoy the rest of your day exploring fishing villages or relaxing in a hot tub/sauna.

Lyngen: The most alpine region of Northern Norway. Lyngen has it all! Everything from endless mellow powder fields to almost 2000m big mountain runs.

Narvik: Explore the most quiet mountains of the north. Start your week with offpiste runs at Narvikfjellet ski resort. Continue with remote big mountain skiing and end your week skiing some of the classic couloirs of the Couloir City.

When: JANUARY – MAY

Accommodation: Options are several from ski lodges to private cabins. With or without food.

Price: Ask for an offer. It all depends about size of the group and number of days. Max 6 persons per guide. For bigger groups we will have two or more guides.

SKI MOUNTAINEERING COURSE IN LYNGEN, SENJA or NARVIK

Want to learn and shape your ski mountaineering skills to be able to take a step further in your own skiing? Northern Norway is a perfect place to practise and ski amazing lines at the same time. We go through tactics, safety and technical parts of ski mountaineering. For example skiing on a glacier, climbing couloirs and navigating through technical terrain. Lenght of the course is minimum 4 days and max 7 days. Previous ski touring experience is required.

When: JANUARY – MAY

Accommodation: Options are several from lodges to private cabins. With or without food.

Price: Ask for an offer. Max three persons per guide. For bigger groups we will have two or more guides.

ICE CLIMBING IN LYNGEN, NARVIK or ABISKO

Ice climbing in Northern Norway and Sweden offers world class climbing. It has everything from shorter roadside climbs in Abisko to 700m long climbs in Narvik or climbing above the fjords in Lyngen. No matter if you are a beginner or experienced ice climber, icefalls of the north won’t dissapoint. Quality of the climbing is as good as in the Alps but without people!

When: DECEMBER – MARCH

Accommodation: Options are several from lodges to private cabins. With or without food.

Price: Ask for an offer. Max two persons per guide.

WINTER CLIMBING ON SENJA

The best winter climbing in Northern Norway! We have endless possibilities of icefalls above the sea and famous frozen turf climbs, without forgetting the alpine ridge climbing to the summits. No matter if you are a beginner or experienced winter climber, Senja is a must!

When: JANUARY – MARCH

Accommodation: Options are several from lodges to private cabins. With or without food.

Price: Ask for an offer. Max two persons per guide.

WINTER ALPINE CLIMBING COURSE ON SENJA

Want to learn and shape your winter climbing skills to be able to take a step further in your own climbing? Senja is a perfect place to practise and climb amazing lines at the same time. We go through tactics, safety and technical parts of winter climbing in Scandinavia during the days. Lenght of the course is minimum 4 days and max 7 days. Previous ice climbing experience is required.

When: JANUARY – MARCH

Accommodation: Options are several from lodges to private cabins. With or without food.

Price: Ask for an offer. Max two persons per guide.

29.08.202329.08.2023

New routes in Northern Norway. Summer 2023

Collection of topos of our new summer routes in Northern Norway in 2023.

Reka (607m), Langøya, Vesterålen.

We established three new routes on the SE face of Reka (607m) this summer. Iconic mountain had previously only one summer route on it`s SE face from 2013 by Magnus Eriksson and Jonas Jakobsen, called Labyrinth. Climbing on the face is steeper and more hold rich than normally in the area and due to that I got hooked and returned to it four times during the summer.

Picture by: Paal Uglefisk Lund.

Routes on from left to right:

Labyrinth, 200m (7). FA Magnus Eriksson and Jonas Jakobsen, 2013.

Starts from a wide crack on the left hand side of the pillar. First ascent team did pendulums on the last part of the route but in 2023 Juho free climbed that section as Minotauros joins to the same line on the last pitch. Actual grades of the lower pitches are unknown but the last pitch is probably the crux and goes now at 7. Route was climbed ground-up.

Minotauros, 200m (7). FA Juho Knuuttila and Sara Skoglund, 2023.

Line joins Labyrinth on the last pitch. Has potential to become a classic of the face. Take a large rack up to camalot number 4. Route was climbed ground-up and on-sight.

P1: 7-, 40m.
Climb up a chimney behind a leaning rock tower. Climb top of the tower and do a wild move to a crack on the left. Climb up this crack to a scoop.
P2: 7-, 40m.
Continue up cracks to a small roof. Pass that from the right. Continue to another roof and pass that also from the right by following big grey holds 7m the right. Then head back left to do a hanging belay.
P3: 6, 25m.
Head straight up a fist crack. Then go up a left trending ramp. Step up right to a small ledge. Belay from there.
P4: 7-, 40m.
Follow left trending cracks for 40m to the base of a large yellow wall. There is a ledge base of a mini dihedral to belay from. Hard to make a belay.
P5: 7, 60m.
Climb 7m on crimps up left. Bold at the start. Then traverse right on grey rock. Then head straight up until you can traverse left again to a ledge. Head straight up following flakes and cracks. This pitch can be splitted to two.

Iliad, 200m (7). FA Juho Knuuttila and Joda Dolmans, 2023.

Adventurous route which has a bit more flakey rock than other lines. Take a large rack up to camalot number 5. Route was climbed ground-up and on-sight.
P1: 6-, 35m.
Climb up a chimney/wide crack. Continue past booming flakes to a hanging belay.
P2: 7, 40m.
Follow crack until it ends. Then long reach to a crack on the right. Put pieces in and do a downclimb/traverse to a another crack system further right. Continue up that for 30m to a sloping ledge.
P3: 6+, 25m.
Straight up a right facing corner into a left facing dihedral with some flakes. Belay from a good ledge top of a tower.
P4: 6+, 35m.
Step left and follow steep cracks to an area of grey rock. Continue up on grey rock (bold) towards a small roof. Belay top of that or step to the right to belay in a corner.
P5: 7, 35m
Head towards a left facing corner on face holds. Climb steep corner up to a fridge block. Then traverse left under a roof to get to a nice crack. Climb up that to a base of another roof. Pass that from the right. Belay top of this roof.
P6: 6+, 40m
Head straight up. Then few meters left before continuing straight up. Top out and belay from a huge rock.

Rødpillaren, 225m (A2 or 8-). FA Juho Knuuttila, Lassi Meronen and Orlando Addis.

Testpiece of the face. The most sustained climbing on the steepest part of the pillar. Still waiting a continuous free ascent as crux pitch was only followed free. Take a large rack up to camalot number 4. Lots of triple sizes and small gear too. Route was climbed ground-up but required too attempts.

P1: 6-, 15m.
Climb up a corner to a nice ledge.
P2: 7, 30m.
‘The Vein pitch’. Head straight up using double cracks until you reach a grey vein leading up right. Follow the vein with some hard moves to a hanging belay.
P3: 7, 30m
Straight up, following a shallow crack (bold). Reach right to get to a nice crack in a corner. Continue straight up until cracks run out. Do few delicate moves left to gain a sloping ledge.
P4: 7, 30m.
‘The down climb’. First up an easy corner. Then step right to climb shallow cracks to a sloping ledge. Then do a tricky downclimb/traverse to the right.
P5: A2 or 8-, 45m.
‘The mega pitch of Reka’. Climb to the base of a small roof. Pass that from the left. Continue up a crack until it ends. Then traverse left on cracks to gain a flake. Do another powerfull traverse to the left to gain a thin crack in a left facing corner. Follow that up to a grey rock. Belay from a good ledge top of the grey colored rock. (Small gear for the belay).
P6: 7-, 25m.
‘Lassi’s pitch’. Step right from the ledge and climb up to small roofs (bold). Climb over them trending right. Hanging belay.
P7: 7, 30m.
‘The finger crack’. Head left following cracks and big holds until you reach a steep thin hands/finger crack. Climb that straight up to a sloping ledge.
P8: 6+, 40m.
Follow weakneses straight up to the top.

Approach: Parking as for the normal route. You follow the normal path until the first big swamp. After that continue following the shore of the fjord until you can hike up a valley on the northeast side of the mountain (2h) To get to the base of the wall you need to traverse big grass ledge system from left to right (1h, grade 2).

Descent: Continue easily to the summit of Reka (20min) and rappel down the normal route.

Lappviktinden, Peak 1338m, Skjomen.

Lappblad, 600m (6). FA Juho Knuuttila, 2023.

In August 2023 I free/rope soloed a new line on the NE face of Peak 1338m. It probably shares first two pitches with Krister Jonssons Cafe Solo, but then heads left when Kristers line goes right. Fredrik Aspö had attempted the same line few years earlier but bailed 3/4 up the wall.

Really nice slabby climbing. Some splitter cracks and exposed climbing on the edge in the last part of the route. Highly recommended. Take a rack up to camalot number 5.

Ytre Sætertinden, Bjærangen, Meløy.

I dronningens skygge, 300m (7). FA Juho Knuuttila and Joda Dolmans, 2023.

Topo will come up later but our line follows the obvious corner in the middle and then trends right to a splitter crack high up right on the face. Pitches are 7, 6, 7-, 6+, 5+, 4+, 7 and 7-. Route was climbed ground-up and on-sight.

28.10.202128.10.2021

Storskiva – Ørneeggen

After flying back to Europe from Pakistan in early August I headed straight to Lofoten for some relaxed rock climbing. In the end managed to do a first ascent of the West Face of Storskiva with Misha Mishin, in the far west of Lofoten islands. The whole story can be found here.

Orneeggen (N7, C1), Storskiva. FA Juho Knuuttila and Misha Mishin, 2021.

Approach and descent. Arrow shows the way.

Misha following on one of the rare full free climbing pitches.

28.10.202128.10.2021

Stora Sjöfallet – new mixed lines

Late in 2020 we opened new mixed lines at Stora Sjöfallet. At first I wasn`t going to publish these at all but due to news about Southern European climbers claiming first ascents in the area and giving quite detailed topos about their climbs, I felt like we should do it too. So here we go:

From left to right:

Nirvana (M7, Wi5), Samuli Pekkanen, 2020. 2 pitches. The line has been climbed as an icefall too but it forms very rarely.
Trendsetter (M6), Juho Knuuttila, 2020. 60m.
Japanilainen puutarha (M5+), Samuli Pekkanen, 2020. 30m
Ice Hiking (M6, Wi5), Juho Knuuttila, 2020. 30m
Mörk Finska, (M6+), Juho Knuuttila, 2020. 30m

Sector is located 150m right from the start of Grevinnan.

Juho hand jams first few meters of Trendsetter.

08.11.2018

Fossilfossen in Fossildalen, Svalbard.

October was supposed to be a working month in Finland but after all I flew to Longyearbyen to see my girlfriend who is studying to become a Arctic Nature Guide. Of course I took my ice climbing gear with me as winter was sneaking in early this year in the north. Temperatures sawed above and below freezing which promised good conditions for ice climbing. However the main thing was to live with Ella and help with a household.

In late September ANG students did their classic hike to Barentsburg and back. On that hike Ella spotted an icefall in Fossildalen which looked quite technical and steep in the pictures. Respectable finding as she had not climbed any ice earlier. At least it took me a while to see if something is worth of going.

You can see the icefall in the steep part of the valley.

It took some time to figure out the best way to approach the icefall. Fossildalen is situated in between of Longyearbyen and Barentsburg which means at least on day hike from either direction. Speed boat option was out of question due to late timing and there wasn´t snow for snowmobiles which would be the easiest way to reach the icefall. Luckily Max suggested a walk from Barentsburg.

We took a tourist cruise to that old Soviet time mining town, drove to the end of the road with “taxi” and hiked three hours to the Traveller´s cabin near Kapp Laila. We just maneged to reach the hut before darkness. Following morning we walked to the mouth of Fossildalen, left all camping gear under some stones and followed riverbed up to the icefall. Canyon was narrow and rockfall danger was there all the time. Nothing big came down but fist size stones were big enough to keep helmets on.

Icefall looked easier than a month ago. It was still running with water! I climbed first 30 meters to a good ledge and belayed Ella up. This was her first time on waterfall ice which made me quite proud. Of course some swearing because I forgot to give technical advice before climbing. Upsss!

We both did the remaining five or so meters and rapped off from a V-thread. This was probably the first ascent of “Fossilfossen”, WI4, 35 meters. Ice quality was superb. I hope it becomes a classic early season trip for local climbers or a must do winter trip with snowmobiles. It´s worth it.

That evening we hiked to the Rusanov cabin on the other side of Colesbukta. Not as cozy as Kapp Laila hut but still a good place to stay to avoid bringing a tent.

Third and last day took us over the platteus to Bjørndalen in a full on blizzard. Quite an adventure!

Fossilfossen, WI4, 35m. FA? Juho Knuuttila and Ella Hellberg, 10/2018.

Early season ice trip:

Day 1: Boat to Barentsburg. Pay for the locals to drive you to the end of the road (to a place called skihouse). Walk three hours and 12km to the Traveller´s cabin.

Day 2: Walk 1,5h to the mouth of Fossildalen. Follow the riverbed for one hour. Climb “Fossilfossen” and hike back to the shore and continue to the Rusanov cabin. Whole day took 9 hours for us.

Day 3: Walk to Bjørndalen in 7 hours. Call someone to pick you up.

07.11.201808.11.2018

Northern Norway and Thanatos

In July 2018 I and Antti Liukkonen drove up to Northern Norway to the arctic island of Kvaløya. Main plans was to climb “Thanatos”, the big 7a hand crack at Baugen and after that enjoy more classics area has to offer. We did three routes at Baugen´s beautiful 250m south face: “Flygende Hollender”, “Silhuetten” and “Thanatos”. On-sighting the main goal was a small dream come true and gave some confidence for the future.

From Kvaløya we went to Lofoten for a few days to tick some more classics like Presten. Weather was enjoyable but I got pneumonia and was forced to rest last days of the trip. Antti managed to do some more climbing though.

Nice two weeks up in the north! I won`t write anything bigger, so here´s some pictures to get idea what we did.

Road side parking at Kvaløya. Hike begins here.

Sweaty hike to the hut. Five days worth of food and gear.

Perfectly situated hut as Baugen´s south face is only 10 minutes walk away.

Antti approaching. Hut is visible in the background.

Warm up route was “Flygende Hollender”. Quite hard 6b! Antti climbing the first easy pitch.

Luckily top of the Baugen was free of clouds.

Rappelling off was quite simple with bolted stations.

Antti relaxing the evening before Thanatos. Of course to keep psyche high and stoke alive we read The Push.

And so went for Thanatos. Juho climbing fourth pitch which was wet. Picture by Suvi R.

Antti red pointing the crux pitch as he followed it last year. I managed to on-sight it few moments earlier. But just.

Liisa and Suvi nearing the hut after a day of sending.

Our last route on Baugen was Silhueten, 6b. Few nice parts, but nothing compared to Thanatos and Flygene Hollender.

LOFOTEN