Blæja 1420 m

The smell of sunscreen to the magical views among pointed peaks and an après ski beer in the sun on a porch in the valley. Not a bad day!

When we came back from Maudekollen, Steve and Tash had already moved Gåssten to the next port – Øye which is located at the end of Hjørundfjord. There’s a small stone house by the quay with a long table and open fire. With tender legs and blossy faces we could get warm again and listened to the crackling sound of the fire. We had a barbecue with beers and felt like real Vikings. Such a cosy time, and it got even cosier when Gordon and Rolf began singing and playing guitar until the wee hours.

We woke up to clear blue skies and was really excited to todays epic tour. Uteguiden drove us by car along Norangsdalen – a very cool valley with high mountains rising abruptly from a narrow, winding road. Here often large avalanches crosses the road, we could see both new and old avalanches when driving past. It was a bit of driving until we came to Villa Norangdal. From there we began our tour, this tour began quite steep. Higher up, it became flatter. The snow conditions were still nothing to celebrate. However, the sun was heating up the snow and at some places there was some slush!

Dress properly

It was not just the snow that got heated up, the sweat was pouring from our foreheads and the guys walked in tank tops. You have to wear the right clothes when you go on tours like these and layers are the only way to go. It soon became hot and sweaty and you get cold even faster when standing still. I was very happy for my Haglöfs GoreTex set that I received in my prize. I’ve been bad at using tech clothing because it is so expensive, but I have changed my opinion now and really understand the point of it. Alos, I got quite keen on getting new clothes when the group showed up in different outfits every day for photo shoot to the next year’s collection.

The warm weather had shaped the snow so it looked like lava that flowed from volcanoes. The last bit up to Blæja was tough and steep. On splitboard you can not traverse as well as on touring skis, you have to walk much steeper uphill. That sometimes make you slide backwards. Luckily I had crampons for my board, I felt very confident with them.

Breathtaking views

Once at the top I almost got scared of the hight when the fjord showed up in front of me. It was powerful, it was high. You do not want to be on a cornice… The peaks look similar to the Alps but even better because of the fjords. So incredibly beautiful! How can you process everything this beautiful at once, is it possible? We took many selfies but after a while we could not stay longer because of the cold. It was a long and great way down, if the snow had been better it would have been absolutely fantastic. But for a few turns we got some slush, and the magnificent views compensated the snow!

When we got back down to Villa Norangdal we were served Norwegian beer on the porch. I could feel that the sun had burnt my face and felt tired but happy in my body. After that we drove back to Gåssten who took us back to Alesund again. On the way back to Øye we discovered a lake where you can dive to an underwater city, and the Hotel Union – a beautiful old ghost hotel.