Kvitfjellet (833m, prominence 815m) 21st July 2009

The final slopes before the summit

Yet again I got the 9.50 am bus and got off at Lerheim. I walked to Eid and then took the road towards Norvik, a walk that wasn't unpleasant despite the still falling rain. The normal ascent of Kvitfjellet starts from Dalset, from where a path climbs to the summit. This is described in Kai A. Olsen and Bjørnar S. Pedersen's book Turbok II for Molde og Omegn, but I thought Dalset was too far to walk to. Arnt Flatmo, in his website http://www.westcoastpeaks.com/ describes the route I took and describes it as cumbersome. I call it a total nightmare.

The summit of Kvitfjellet

Just over halfway between Eid and Norvik a forestry track left the road and climbed into the forest, ending at a locked barrier. The terrain was open here and I followed another track towards my mist covered hill, and then up the lower slopes of the mountain. There were, of course, more tracks than the map indicated, but I managed to find the track I was after. This stopped at about 250m and I had to enter the trackless forest. This was awful, consisting of steep, wet forest with fallen trees, boulders, crags and waist high bracken. I was soon wet through again and only my determination made me carry on. After struggling up through the forest for an hour I got above the treeline and the going became easier. I still had to watch out for hidden boulders amongst the thick bilberry but this was easier. The final slopes before the top consisted of an unstable boulderfield but that didn't stop me reaching the large summit cairn at 1.30 pm. There was no view and it was raining, encouraging me to eat a quick lunch and not to linger.

Descending towards the road

After lunch I descended but couldn't face the going back through the forest. Instead I kept to more open slopes but if I thought this was better I was wrong. The ground was full of thick bilberry, which hid boulders and the holes between the boulders. I kept falling over and I was in danger of seriously hurting myself: once I managed to roll out of the way before my face hit a rock, I got a large bruise on my leg from one particularly heavy fall, and another fall made me think I was about to break my leg. Eventually I entered the forest and the boulders and holes became hidden by tall bracken but I safely reached the track, enabling me to retrace my route of the morning. Once I got to the road between Eid and Norvik I tried to hitch a lift and a Dutch guy drove me to the bus stop at Lerheim. I was grateful for the bus shelter, as the rain fell heavily, and when I got back to the hostel I relished my hot shower and a dry set of clothes.

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