Tafeltinden 1395m 09 May 2016, we reached 1050m
Rain and low cloud was present over most of Kvaløya today so Alison and George scoped a mountain in the nearby Lyngen Alps - Tafeltinden - which is quite high and has a big glacier,
We drover through Tromso and past the airport on our way to the Lyngen Alps. A 20 minute ferry ride got us across to the Lyngen Alps.
A scenic road took us to our departure point at Koppangen at the end of the road.
Along the way I spotted a wetsuit hanging out to drive near a car parked by the fjord. Could this have been a kitesurfer? There was wind in the region.
We headed off in persistent light rain following a river then skiing up to a gorge. Skis off and a short climb up a consolidated rock slope then more steepish climbing with skins. George was keen to minimise our time on avalanche risk slopes.
We eventually gained the snout of the glacier and the falling rain turned to snow and we made faster progress.
It looked like it might clear up. We could see the prominent rock prow on the route to the summit and skied towards it. With the visibility still poor George and Alison decided to ski for a col on the ridge to the left of the prow. The fresh snow was balling up on some people's skins slowing their progress.
We made it the col, our high point at 1050m, and got a view down the other side before commencing our descent in great snow. Soft and bouncy off-piste - what a blast!
I was enjoying my newly waxed skis on the flatter sections on the glacier. We traversed out onto a snow slope, crossing a rock band and one point, and managed to ski all the way down the gorge then along the creek, nearly all the way back to the car.
On the way back I chatted to two guys from Ireland who were waiting for the ferry. They had flown to Tromso, hired a car, a cabin and a boat, gone fishing and caught some cod.
The spectacular Lyngen Alps are another great ski touring location in Norway, I was very happy to visit them and get great skiing today.
Rain and low cloud was present over most of Kvaløya today so Alison and George scoped a mountain in the nearby Lyngen Alps - Tafeltinden - which is quite high and has a big glacier,
We drover through Tromso and past the airport on our way to the Lyngen Alps. A 20 minute ferry ride got us across to the Lyngen Alps.
A scenic road took us to our departure point at Koppangen at the end of the road.
Along the way I spotted a wetsuit hanging out to drive near a car parked by the fjord. Could this have been a kitesurfer? There was wind in the region.
We headed off in persistent light rain following a river then skiing up to a gorge. Skis off and a short climb up a consolidated rock slope then more steepish climbing with skins. George was keen to minimise our time on avalanche risk slopes.
We eventually gained the snout of the glacier and the falling rain turned to snow and we made faster progress.
It looked like it might clear up. We could see the prominent rock prow on the route to the summit and skied towards it. With the visibility still poor George and Alison decided to ski for a col on the ridge to the left of the prow. The fresh snow was balling up on some people's skins slowing their progress.
We made it the col, our high point at 1050m, and got a view down the other side before commencing our descent in great snow. Soft and bouncy off-piste - what a blast!
I was enjoying my newly waxed skis on the flatter sections on the glacier. We traversed out onto a snow slope, crossing a rock band and one point, and managed to ski all the way down the gorge then along the creek, nearly all the way back to the car.
On the way back I chatted to two guys from Ireland who were waiting for the ferry. They had flown to Tromso, hired a car, a cabin and a boat, gone fishing and caught some cod.
The spectacular Lyngen Alps are another great ski touring location in Norway, I was very happy to visit them and get great skiing today.
