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(UK) MOB Trip Norway 2007 |
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Monday, March 19, 2007 |
 Rjukan 2007 Derek Kenyon
Well, everyone got back safe and sound all be it a tad tired, not helped by the fact we landed at Manchester airport and our cars where at Liverpool. The trip its self went down well and every one had a great week, many thanks goes to Ian for organising it, no mean feat and I think every one would agreed he’d done a thorough job and deserved the smartest cabin!
Most of the party had been several times so knew the script, I my self was a virgin to the pure ice game, being time served on the less than perfect mountains of Britain. We arrived at Rjukan on the Sunday night to a beautiful star filled sky with temps down to -8’ish and forecast to drop to -20. The log cabins which where our accommodation for the week where nice and cosy and situated just out side Rjukan, scattered around the shower block and toilets, which didn’t look that inviting in the early hours.
The Monday we awoke to a snowy day with low cloud and no sign of the mountain tops; I was quit happy to go with the flow and head up to Ozzimosis, an easy access crag that is frequently used for training by guides and the army. Today was to be an introductory day as you could count the number of ice screws I had placed on one hand, no rock belays here. As the day progressed we fell in to the rhythm of climbing, abing and moving on to the next available line, the nearest you will ever get to sports climbing on ice. Neil and Yan where keen and tackled the classic Ozzimosis an impressive steep ice fall at WI4, with the rest of us content to getting familiar on the 2s and 3s. The day went well until Mike got caught with a piece of ice leaving him with a swollen cheek but no lasting damage. By 4pm we had had our fill and headed off to visit the local supermarket to get in some supplies, and avoid the high prices of eating out, then meet up in the local bar for happy hour and a well earned pint and chat about the day’s events. (I had forgot it was zero tolerance on alcohol and had a uneasy drive back to the digs) Day 2 and a change was called for so Rick and Mark the veterans and Phil the rookie and my self set off for Bolgen an impressive area just behind where we where staying, with some fantastic long climbs tumbling down the valley side to over 200meters. The boys had set their sights on doing the classic Bolgen (so many classics). A long WI3 which was reported by Ian (who had done it previously) to be harder and longer than described in the guide book, following an invitingly thick ribbon of ice falls with a thinner section a half height. We didn’t fancy following them up and being bombarded by ice so opted for her neighbour To Menn Og Ett Foster a fierce looking WI4 with a hairy looking free standing icicle on pitch 4. I don’t know what was going on in Phil’s head but he seemed up for it, for me this was going to be a test of will power to see if I had what it took and keep my cool. By now another team had arrived and where discussing the condition, quickly deciding to opted for the comfort zone of the lower crags, muttering something about the ice not being solid enough! Not what I wanted to hear. The veterans where now well up the first pitch and making good progress and settling in for the long haul and a probable late tea.  On closer inspection, our pitch turned out to be on lovely soft rubbery ice with some bomber placements and ice screws ”Just what the doctor ordered” with any doubts soon melting away as I pulled over the final bulge. From the security of my belay I had some great views of the Rjukan valley, there where lines everywhere no wonder everyone kept coming back. My attention sharpened as Phil started to climb, but I had no need for concern as he followed up the pitch, in good style, his baptism of fire. The next two pitches turned out to be harder than they looked (I had thought about letting Phil lead a pitch!) steep open face with enjoyable sustained WI3 and a near hanging belay thrown in, amplifying the exposure. The final pitch with its free standing icicle looked inviting and likely to be the sting in the tail, I hadn’t done anything like that before and wasn’t sure how safe it would be. Sensing the tone of Phil’s voice I could see that I would be pushing my luck to expect him to follow me up it so we called it a do. At this point we where in the middle of a large ice face with an option of doing a long traverse and rap down the tree line or descend direct on abalakov’s, only problem was that although I knew how to do one I had never used one, which Phil also knew. 400 ft up is not the place to practise but needs must as I encouraged Phil to bounce up and down and shock load the ice ab (with Ice screw back up). Three abs later and we where back on terrafirma with big grins on our faces, this was what we had come for. In the comfort of the bar we reflected on the days climbing and waited for the call from the boys to pick them up, which came at 6pm as the light was fading; theirs had been a long and interesting route with several long abs to get off the route. On one of the evening I can’t remember with one, we saw three climbers descending the same route by torch light at 11pm!  It had now snowed steady for two days so with the guarantee of plenty of fresh snow brake away groups went off to sample the downhill and cross country skiing (including Phil!). A good amount of the climbing is situated along the sides of the Rjukan Gorge, which is split up in to several sections; most being accessible by a short walk from the main road . The early birds decided to go and have a look at the Lower Gorge just out side Rjukan and with the heavy snow made it tricky driving conditions. The Gorge is reach via a steep wooded hillside, aided by a fix rope leading in to a snow covered river, and with warning of the dangers of braking through made you very wary. As with most of the routes in the Gorge there are convenient lower offs from trees making it a lot easier to keep warm, ideal with the temperatures at -12 and meant that everyone could lead the routes. Today I was Billy no mates so flitted between Neil & Yan and Rick & Mark with most of us leading 3 routes to WI4 all good stuff.
We now had 3 days climbing under our belt and I was feeling the effects so a rest day at the local baths was called for and very nice it was with its pool, indoor Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna. We couldn’t go with out partaking in the local tradition of rolling in the snow and jumping in the out door Jacuzzi, we had a great view of the valley and with the temperature down to -10 we felt like those Monkeys in China sitting in a hot spring with our hair freezing up. After 2 hours we where shrivelled enough and called it a do”it was just what the doctor ordered”. That night Mick Sadula did a sterling job putting on a challenging climbing quiz which was very popular, swilled down with copious amount of alcohol. With 2 full days left and feeling refreshed we went for a look at Krokan one of the higher areas with lots of one pitch routes of all grades and some interesting dry tooling. Phil had decided not to climb as he was recovering from a nasty fall skiing, avoiding hitting a young girl, but kindly offered to drop us off. The path in was through very deep soft snow making it difficult to brake trail to the climbs. Again I was climbing with Neil and Yan so to kill time I wander up and down the crag braking trail to keep warm eyeing up the numerous lines including lots of free standing icicles. Fortunately I had a lucky break as a team of three climbers from Sweden arrived and where happy to partner up to even up the numbers. Not wanting to seem too pushy I offered to hold the ropes to get the ball rolling. My new international friend lead the way to a steep looking line, and it was interesting to see his techniques; I had asked him to strip the route so I could also lead it. Now I wasn’t as sure as he had only brought 4 screws! and run the pitch out, soon reaching the top bulge which took him quit a while to negotiate. Now it was the English mans turn to keep his honour (with his 4 screws) and pull one out of the bag. It’s quit often worse watching than doing and with a bit of thought to the placements I was soon up to the top bulge which was not dissimilar some of the finishes to routes in Scotland so I found it ok. This arrangement went on for the best part of the day and with 3 routes of 4/5 I bid my farewells and headed off to find my colleges. I caught up with Neil and Yan climbing a short five that followed a free standing icicle it was Yan’s first 5 and she lead it well. It was a bit disconcerting picking your way up with the sound vibrating through the icicle, a new experience for all of us. Neil told me that a fellow climber had followed him along the river and fell through the ice up to his chest; it looked like he was going under but just managed to climb out, not a good start for him as he made a hasty retreat to his car. With my confidence brimming and time to spare I suggested heading back and taking a look at another icicle I had seen some lads on earlier. This one was much longer and thinner at the bottom which called for a much more gentle approach with a run out before you could place an ice screw. Placing screws hanging off one axe is tiring stuff and I was glad when I got one in and could concentrate on the rest of the climb which turned out to be steep but straight forward. A fitting finish to a great day.  My last day was spent up in Vermont area famous for where the Germans took over the hydro electricity plant to produce heavy water which they needed to make a hydrogen bomb and win the arms race. In the Second World War the British tried in vane to destroy the plant but it was the Norwegians who finally lade land mines and put it out of action for enough time to stop them completing the manufacture of the bomb. Access is via a long suspension bridge which you can abseil down to reach the routes, as quite a few of the club had done. From the bridge you get great views and photo opportunity of two classic climbs one on either side of the Bridge, WI4 and one a WI5. Both looked very inviting but I was interested in the 5 and Mark was quit happy to second me, but he was not happy with abing in so we weaved our way down through the trees and laboriously along the river through the deep powder. With two teams on the harder route we went to have a look at the other route, a fat line with an interesting steep groove on the right side with a long 45 meter second pitch. The main pitch turned out to be very strenuous and I sweated all the way up (The first time I had over heated all week) and I reached the top exhausted, the week was starting to take its toll. Mark didn’t mess about and soon joined me at the belay also feeling the effects. From the comfort of the bridge we had our lunch and watched Neil and Yan improper for us not to visit the museum “that was my excuse any way” so we finished off the day learning the history of the area and well worth a visit.
Saturday night was pizza night and at £24 each I was glad they were big enough to feed two, and with a relaxed mood and a few pints (for some) went down well. Every one had had a great week and with no major incidents. I could see now why Rjukan had become such a popular trip for the club as there was plenty to do and with a variety of climbing. You can make it as serious as you liked from one pitch top ropes to some fantastic looking long a serious icicles, something to do for everyone. It certainly opened my eyes, there’s know doubt about it, I’ll be back. “Thanks to everyone for a great week”
Norway - Mike Sadula
Today, Friday, an early start, an early rise as we have to drop off Mark and Rick. They are going to climb WI4 Multiptich behind the fire station. Shaun and I are going to do a WI2 Multipitch near the museum in the upper gorge. It had been snowing all week so we parked the car at the top of the lane leading down to the bridge as we did not think we would be able to drive it back up. Down in the car park crampons were put on and we made our way through the woods down to the gorge. The trees were heavily laden with snow and down by the river the big boulders had approximately 12-15 inches of snow on them which made them tricky to scramble over to cross the river.  As we followed the snow covered track around the valley neither Shaun nor I had a guide book, or had seen the crag before. The ice crag was on the right hand side of the valley and quite wide. A small track veered off to the right at the start of the ice climb; this was a 3 pitch to the treetops. We looked up at the crags and most of what we could see was clear of snow, so we got kitted out, the two ropes coiled out, with Shaun ready to lead. As Shaun walked to the start he was wading up to his waist through the powder snow. After approximately 30 meters with half the rope paid out, Shaun found a ledge so he set up a belay to bring me up. I waded through the deep snow to start my climb and now and again I used my axes to clear the snow before sticking in my picks. First pitch was OK: as this was my first multipitch I asked Shaun if he would lead all the pitches because I was unsure about setting up the rope work for the hanging belays. The next pitch was the full length of the rope (60 meters). As Shaun was bringing me up I was taking out the ice screws on the way. Every now and again there was a small avalanche on my left hand side: it was more like dry powder spin drift coming down. I was still clearing the deep patches of snow before sticking in the ice axes. At the belay stance I was tied on to two ice screws. Then Shaun started his third pitch and I was belaying him. My feet were getting cold as I was standing still and paying out the rope. I shouted out that half the rope was out, then there was approximately 15 meters left. The rope was getting tangled: I was trying to get it untangled and belaying at the same time, which I managed to do. All of a sudden something hit me on the head. I remember coming round with my legs in the air and wondering where I was. I managed to get back on my feet; my jaw was aching and I realized I had lost consciousness for a few seconds: my shoulder was aching badly. I thought to myself, I am 90 meters up: Shaun is another 60 meters above: I couldn’t go down – the only way was up. I had to finish the belaying and start climbing. I couldn’t use my right arm, as it was very painful. I managed to stick the ice axe in somehow as I climbed and when I was in sight of Shaun I told him what had happened. He said that he did not knock any ice off. I tied in to two small trees.  The last pitch was through the trees and bushes, which was covered with deep snow and rock underneath. Shaun had nowhere to put in any ice screws so it was a straight climb to the top. He then set up a belay using the crash barriers on the side of the road. We managed to finish the climb at about 1 pm after 3½ hours of climbing. Then we had to walk down the road with Shaun carrying some of my stuff back to the car. My head was covered with blood; my balaclava had matted my hair, which stopped the bleeding. The helmet straps were covered in blood, but the actual helmet was not split or cracked. On closer inspection I noticed that part of the back, right side plastic clip inside the helmet was broken. The helmet must have compressed and pushed the plastic clip into my head. I left the wound to scab over. I didn’t suffer from a headache so I didn’t seek any medical attention. Where there is no sense there is no feeling. . I left the balaclava on until I got back to the chalet and had a shower.  The shoulder injury proved to be worse and I continued to suffer pain from it after I had arrived back home. Despite my misadventure this was one of my best day’s of climbing, as it was my first multi-pitch climb. Only registered users can write comments.
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