New routes in Northern Norway. Summer 2023

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.

25.03.2022

New routes in Northern Norway – winter 21/22

First winter season in Northern Norway was quite productive one, even though we had several bad weather periods that lasted weeks. Below you can find topos from all the biggest new routes we managed to climb. There so much more to explore. Feels like I just scratched a surface. Feel free to ask more info about locations and lines as topos are not very detailed.

Kärkevagge valley, Sweden. New direct variation to Trollbaletten. Original line was climbed by Sofie Eriksson and Alexander Nordvall in January 2020. In November 2021 I added a direct start and ending to it, climbing it as a full ice line.

In November 2021 me and Joda Dolmans developed a new ice sector to Kärkevagge valley in Sweden, establishing three steep ice lines.

We continued our search of virgin ice and found a new line high on the platteus of Lappskardet, above the deep valley of Kirkesdalen in Norway.

Last addition to local ice scene was FlipFlop Krigere in Stordalen with Joda and Sofie. Climbed in November 2021.

In February conditions were good again. Sofie and me did a new mixed route in Skjomen, naming it to Guardians of the Galaxy. Four pitches of good climbing on the SW side of Lapviktinden.

Marcus Loewen, Sami Modenius and me did a last obvious unclimbed line on the SW face of Grytetippen in Senja in February 2022. A good mountaineering route with a shorth approach.

After Grytetippen I free soloed a new line to SW face of Barden. Chamonix style goulotte climbing all the way. This has a potential to become a classic. Approach from Mefjordbotn takes an hour.

Last new route in Senja was first ascent of the N face of Breidtind with Sami Modenius. Finnjävel climbs to the highest point of the island following obvoius features on the face. It was the first route that continues all the way to the true summit.

In early March 2022 I did a new line on the NW face of Blokktind with Eivind Jacobsen. It was a highlight of the season for sure.

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.

09.03.201618.05.2016

Matterhorn – Schmidt

In 2010 I stood under the Matterhorn, staring it’s perfect looking profile. Dreaming, that some day I might have a chance to climb it. I didn’t even imagined climbing the north face. It was my first trip to the Alps.

In October 2015 circle closed. On the summit of the Matterhorn with no wind, Valais Alps spreading as far as eye can see. We had just climbed the mythical north face. No other teams on the mountain. It was one of those golden moments of alpinism.

Line of the Schmidt with our belays and wrong-turn marked.

Two days earlier we sat in the Leschaux refuge eyeing the dry´ish N face of the Jorasses. Lack of ice on the Croz forced us to figure out plan B. And that was the Matterhorn. It had looked good in the webcam. Luckily the next day was still rainy and we had just enough time drive to Zermatt, and catch a last lift up to Schwarzsee. A pleasant two hour hike to the Hörnli hut`s brand new winter room crowned the busy day.

Snowy Matterhorn seen from the approach.

A brand new winter room in the Hörnli hut!

Approach to the route from the Hörnli was a quick walk. Some deep snow with one steeper section, which we soloed, brought us under the schrund. There were no tracks, we knew that route finding’s going to be difficult in the dark.

First 400 meters of 50-55° snow should go quickly, but we climbed far too left. I ended up balancing really delicate M6 bulge before noticing our mistake. Huge traverse rightwards and lost 2 hours in time later we reached the mixed section leading to the Ramp. Sugar snow seemed to be a theme of the day. Easy to climb, but impossible to protect. We belayed two easy neve pitches until joining the Ramp.

Kalle belaying the first of the two pitches leading to the Ramp.

Kalle following as we simul-climb the Ramp. Mischabelgrat rises in the horizon. — Kalle following as we simul-climb the Ramp. Mischabelgrat in the horizon.

Middle section of the route is more interesting – steeper ice and more delicate traversing. Due to poor quality of ice and rock, terrain was again mostly unprotectable. And that’s where the grade comes I believe. You have to be able to climb moderate terrain without thinking too much. We pitched only three times overall. We had a really detailed topo, but the end of the Ramp was confusing. Just make a right trending traverse and you are able to see the icefall, which leads you to the summit snowfields. Do not follow the obvious looking couloir on the left!

Kalle climbing the last meters of the icefall.

Summit slopes were endless. It felt so good to reach the Zmutt ridge and the sun. We shortened the rope and scrambled slowly the last meters to the Italian summit. Matterhorn was celebrating 150 year anniversary of first ascent and I couldn´t imagine better year to climb this iconic peak.

We were slightly suprised that the Schmidt route went down that easily. It´s a long route for sure, but technical difficulties are quite low in good conditions.

Juho on the Matterhorn`s Italian side summit.

We still had the snowy Hörnli to climb down. Fixed ropes were covered in ice and tiresome sugar snow made the going delicate. The crux of the day obviously.

We arrived to the Solvay hut (4000m) at 6pm and decided to spend cold, but safe night in the hut. The following day we continued down to Zermatt in a sunshine.

Kalle down climbing the never ending Hörnli ridge.

TOPO:

The best topo I´ve seen anywhere is Kletterblog`s.

09.03.201611.05.2016

Les Droites // Barnoud-Marsigny

Droites north face hosts some of the longest pure ice routes in the Mont Blanc massif. I have never been very keen to get on to those, because route finding is easy, climbing straightforwad and similar all the way up. NE face in turn is a diffirent game with it´s much more challenging mixed lines. Escpecially the Chezc route incited us.

Juha climbing the ice crux of the Czech route. Slightly overhanging at places.

Juha seconding the mixed M6+/60m pitch of the Czech route.

We tried the Chezc route, but got shut down by the storm top of the mixed crux, only one pitch away joining the Tournier Spur. Only option was to rappel down with heavy hearts.
Two weeks later high presure returned. We aimed back to Droites, but this time Juha suggested that we should climb the rarely done Barnoud-Marsingy on the N face proper. It follows ice runnels on the right hand side of the face and eventually joins the upper Tournier Spur, very close to a true summit. We didn`t find any previous trip reports or other info about the route. It suited well.

Weather and conditions looked good, so on the 7th of April we set up a tent onto the Argentier glacier and prepared to wake up early.

Cosy tent bivy on the Argentier glacier.

Schrund was passed easily at 03:00 AM and I begun a long lead up an Alaskan like ice runnel, which covered the first rock sheet. Occassionally I was able to get a screw in, but most of the time axes hit the rock behind. No chance for a belay. Simul-climbing this 200 meters long, max 80 degree section was exciting as a first thing in the morning.

Juha took a next simul lead block. Terrain was mellow angled, but suprisingly fun. The “crux” mixed pitch of the route appeared just below the sloping icefield halfway up the face. Climbing turned a bit of a boring romping fiesta. We slowly drifted towards Ginat and at one point Juha shouted that we are off the route. Eventually that proved to be a good thing as we reached the last rock band below the summit via Messner´s route, and avoided nasty sugar snow ridge climbing on the Tournier.

Ice runnels halfway up the Barnoud-Marsigny.

Luca Moroni and David Bacci climbing Ginat. — Luca Moroni and David Bacci climbing the Ginat.

I soloed to the summit and back, because Juha wasn´t so keen to climb last 60 meters or so. In my opinion the route ends always to the summit, but of course, remaining meters didn´t add anything new or phenomenal.

And the worst part was still to come – 1000 meters of rappelling down the Lagarde couloir to our skis. Very bad tactics! A snow pollar, no ice and eternity. It took so long that once we´ve reached the glacier, we met people coming up to climb Lagarde.

View´s over the Argentiere basin and all the way to Weisshorn were beautiful though.

Barnoud-Marsigny is more varied then Ginat, about the same difficulty and it tops to the true summit. When Ginat is crowded think about this one. Descent via Droites normal route!

09.03.201611.05.2016

Madness Tres Mince

Can alpine climbing be pleasant and relaxed? I have a bad habbit to aim big every time I go to alpine. Reason for that might be the place where I live. In the land of single pitch routes: Finland.

Anyway Juha had just arrived to Chamonix and we decided to start with something easy. Charlet-Ghillini and Madness tres mince were supposed to be in good condition, so we skied to the Argentiere refuge in a super strong winds a day earlier.

Next morning saw us skinning up to the far end of the glacier. Pointe de Pre de Bar seemed to be a lot wilder place than I expected. It reminded peaks in Alaska or something.

Classic goulottes in the far end of the Argentiere basin.

Couple of hours later we stood at the Brecche, just having climbed the Madness Trec Mince. Five hundred meters of moderate mixed climbing. Very enjoyable. Dark shadow visited us briefly during the abseils as other team dropped some big rocks down the narrow couloir. Another reminder why we don`t want to climb routes with other people. When you see climbers ahead of you, on a narrow route, change your plans and pick a diffirent route.

Juha seconding below the mid-height snowfield.

Upper ice runnels and very AK like feeling.

View from the Brecche to the Argentiere glacier basin — View from the Brecche to the Argentiere glacial basin.

I reccomend to do MTM or Charlet-Ghillini if you want a relaxed day, full of good goulotte-climbing. Both of them are doable from the first GM lift.

09.03.201618.05.2016

Col du Plan and Fil a Plomb

What`s the best way to acclimatise around Mont Blanc massif? One of my favourites is to climb Aiguille du Midi`s north face. Short approach combined with a cable-car descent couldn´t be easier.

Both of the lines seen from the Plan d´Aiguille.

Col du Plan N face

At the begining of March I´d just arrived to the village the previous night and deciced to climb Fil a Plomb as a warm up. Eventually I choose Col du Plans N face, because one other team was just behind me, and I knew their plan was to do the Fil a Plomb. When soloing, at least I, want to enjoy solitude, peace and movement.

I was carrying approach skis, two half ropes and a light bivi kit, due to my plan to solo something on Tacul`s East face the following day. Too much gear I can say now.

Recent storm had bring lot of fresh snow and it clearly slowed my progres. First couloir steepens after couple hundred meters and the line exits via a mixed ramp on the right hand side.

Final romp up to the col was miserable wading in a deep snow. The day got even worse when Midi`s staff forced all climbers back to valley. Free ride down, but I`d carried all the gear up for nothing.

Fil a Plomb

A few days later I went for the Fil a Plomb, carrying skis again. Foehn wind was excpected to start around noon, but luckily the route is in a corner and it´s climbable in a bad weather. Lower slopes are easy and I quickly reached the crux: 40 meters of steep ice. Start of it looked really technical and some locking moves were required to get on to the ice. Hollow, airy and exciting pitch to free solo. Once on the top, I rappelled down to pick up my pack and top-rope soloed the pitch up.

Rest of route was easy, except annoying mushroom traverse. At the col wind howled like a crazy. There were no chance to climb up to Midi, so remaining option was to ski down to the Montevers. Whiteout conditions forced to spend one night at the Requin hut though.

Not very often you can enjoy the peace on a popular classics.