Climbing Norway's National Mountain: Stetind
A long way to go. Excitement was high. Photo: Mariana Esteves.
After the last blog post writing about climbing the highest mountain in Norway: Galdhøpiggen, I wanted to follow on by writing about our amazing day out climbing Norway’s national mountain: Stetind.
The distinctive ‘anvil’ shape towards the top and smooth walls of this 1392 m peak (pictured) certainly make it stand out even from the thousands of incredible mountains around Norway.
We climbed it via the ‘normal route’ which did not involve any hard climbing, but provided some spectacular views of the surrounding peaks, with some fun scrambling over thin, knife-edge ridges of superb granite, and of course the famous ‘finger traverse’ above a spectacularly exposed section.
We set off from the car sometime after lunch after a lazy morning and large, long breakfast. The day was extremely hot, and carrying (far too much) climbing gear made the ascent of the first few km a struggle, not helped by the fact that we were also followed an impressive distance by one very persistent horsefly!
After a tough and steep initial ascent burdened with heavy packs, we got so hot that we had to take a decent break by the river, and spent some time snacking and dipping in the water to cool off a little. It was nice to not be in any sort of rush to head up this mountain, and it felt good to take our time and enjoy the moment, not worrying about having to get back before dark/dinner/meeting/other.
The terrain started to get steeper, the well-trodden path turned to loose gravel, and eventually the scrambling started. Thankfully, by this point we were high enough that the temperature was not an issue, and we were treated to some wonderful views of the still frozen-over lakes in the valley below, and neighbouring mountains with even more enticing and climbable rock faces.
Already a pretty impressive achievement before we even put on a harness!
The incredible granite ‘anvil’ of Stetind. We climbed up the ridge to the right in this photo.
A lot of easy but exposed smooth-granite traverses leading up to the infamous ‘finger traverse’
The time came to get kitted up for more serious scrambling, so we donned a harness and helmet, distributed gear, and tied into either end of the rope. Most of the scrambling was easy but exposed, with some sections of protected down climbing. At several sections we had one foot on either side of a sharp knife-edge ridge (pictured), with several hundreds of meter drop either side! Probably the scariest parts of the trip were walking down the smooth, featureless granite that were just steep enough to have to resist slipping, with drop-off ledges leading down onto the steep flanks of the mountain.
There was no shortage of precarious ridges to straddle, often with several hundred meters drop either side! The highly exposed ‘finger traverse’ can be seen just left of my leg.
When climbing simultaneously and roped together you have to find a sort of flow, which is so satisfying to get into the smooth rhythm of climbing, placing gear, draping rope around features, retrieving gear, meeting up at a safe spot, passing gear back to the leader, then repeating the process.
Our only pitch of proper climbing was the ‘finger traverse’, which is so renowned that a replica has been built in the museum of mountaineering in Romsdal’s Norsk Tindesenter! We actually climbed this replica several weeks earlier while visiting the museum…so I’m not sure we can count our climb of Stetind as an onsight!? Hmmm.
[Onsight: Climbing term meaning finishing a route on the first try without falling or seeing anybody else climb it].
The traverse was fun and fairly easy, but super exposed. As you traverse across using just your hands (no features on the rock for feet), a peak down reveals endless steep, smooth granite beneath you, and certainly releases some adrenaline! Once across the traverse and up a short section of scrambling, I built an anchor and belayed Mariana across too. She slipped off the rock on the way over and had to battle to get back up to the good hand holds! When reached my position at the other end of the traverse we took in the impressive view back over the ridge. It was only when we had gained this upper ridge that it became clear just how thin the section of rock was that we were climbing across.
Views from the summit. The mountains below were engulfed by a thick, creeping fog, which made the descent quite spectacular.
Pretty proud to be standing at the top of this peak! Already feeling very tired however, and we had a loooong way back down to the car.
We got to the summit just a minute after midnight, and the sun was still high! Clouds were rolling in over the peaks below and we stood for some moments enjoying the views and feeling proud. The sense of achievement that comes with reaching the peak of something this tall, steep, exposed, etc, etc, is just amazing.
I cannot recommend this mountain enough. Whether you climb it via the ‘normal route’ or via any of the amazing multi-pitch routes on the south or west face (any guesses what is top of our list for next summer?), this is not a mountain to miss!
One of the major attractions of an Arctic Summer is being able to set off on adventures whenever you like, whenever the weather is best, or whenever there are the least people around! On this trip we met only 2 people on their way back from the top before we even got our harnesses on, and a larger group just 2 minutes from the car when we were almost back.
This was perhaps one of the most memorable trips that I have been on to date, and I think it goes to show that it does not have to be the scariest, hardest, most daring ascent to create the best memories. The sense of achievement upon returning to the valley below was amazing, and we were completely giddy the whole way down. We got back to the campsite around 5 am in a state of pure happiness/exhaustion that is characteristic of these all-day mountain adventures.
Thank you for reading about our adventures on Norway’s National Mountain! Be sure to check out the upcoming video edit from this trip on my YouTube Channel too, and my previous blog post on Norway’s Highest Mountain and other mountain tales if you are keen for more mountain content on these rainy days!
- Calvin -
The incredible landscape surrounding the impressive peak of Stetind! You can just see the clouds starting to roll over the lower peaks to the right.
Feeling exhausted but happy as we took a last look at the peak before our long descent.
Back across the knife-edge ridges. More care needed in this fading light too!
Mariana found an awesome stance to belay me across to the rappel bolts.