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The ski touring trip into the Norwegian fjords around Romsdalen is a world-class experience. The lands along the Norwegian Coast have been inhabited for thousands of years and yet a lot of the primeval character of the landscape remains. The meeting of mountains and ocean is truly remarkable. The coastline may very well be the most complicated one in the world. Thousands of fjords ranging from a few hundred meters to over 100 kilometers make up the coast of Norway. After having been there, we saw just enough to realize that the skiing possibilities are just about endless.
The ski trip into the Norwegian fjords around Romsdalen is a world-class experience. The lands along the Norwegian Coast have been inhabited for thousands of years and yet a lot of the primeval character of the landscape remains. The meeting of mountains and ocean is truly remarkable. The coastline may very well be the most complicated one in the world. Thousands of fjords ranging from a few hundred meters to over 100 kilometers make up the coast of Norway. After having been there, we saw just enough to realize that the skiing possibilities are just about endless.
What recent guests have said:
M.K.: I’ve been fortunate to go on many such adventures, but I must say this was one for the record books— just outstanding on every level.
Fabrizio V: Best ski trip I've ever taken. I wouldn't want to tour with anyone but Martin and Kurt. They went above and beyond any expectations I had!
Donavan L: Thank you for an awesome trip. It definitely exceeded my expectations...I think it was the best trip I've ever taken! Martin and Kurt were great guides.
Check out this video to get a better feel for the trip.
Overall Difficulty Level:Â Moderate to difficult
Skills Required:Â Advanced skiing ability and prior ski touring experience
Fitness Level:Â Strenuous
You should be able to ski black diamond ski slopes at ski areas in just about any condition, and be able to ski ungroomed slopes of intermediate difficulty without any hesitation. You should have a good amount of ski touring experience and have experience in moving through the landscape in a variety of snow conditions ranging from deep to frozen snow. You should be able to complete transitions from touring to skiing or boot packing with ease and good efficiency.
Depending on the length of the tour and the temperature, we will get up between 6am and 7am. After a good breakfast we are putting on our skins right off the boat, or we will drive a few minutes with a rental car depending on snow conditions. Generally we will be touring between 3500 and 4500 feet per day. This means that we will be touring uphill between 4 to 6 hours per day. The terrain ranges from subalpine down low to glaciated high alpine higher up. From the high country we will be able to see the fjords of the area. We will be back at the boat in the middle of the afternoon and might have time for some fishing, eating, caffeinating, b-s ing and all the other stuff that we are so excellent at.
Sunday: We will meet in Molde between 3 and 4pm. While we get organized on the boat and have dinner, the skipper will take us to our first harbor in Vestnes.
Monday: Ytstetinden is a great first objective with a moderate height of 1162m. Upon our return to the boat, we will go deeper in to the Romsdalfjorden and anchor down in Andalsnes. Btw, this is where the world famous Trollwalls are.
Tuesday: There are many possibilities, but one of the great objectives in the area is Skarven at 1142 meters. This should leave enough time for a bit of fishing in the afternoon. We will spend the night in the Andalsnes harbor again.
Wednesday: We will have our sights on the famous Kyrkjetaket “the Churchroof” (1439 meters). Aptly named, it is almost 3000 totally planar south face overlooking Isfjorden is a truly special ski descent.
Thursday: We have the option to go back towards Vestnes and start our tour in Vollabukta. This will give us the option to summit and traverse the spectacular Blastolen (1111 meters), then summit Trollstolen (1141 meters) and then ski down to Vagsbukta. Our boat will be waiting for us there in a beautiful natural harbor.
Friday: One option is also to cruise to the end of the neighboring Eresfjorden in the late afternoon and spend the night there. This gives us the option to summit Kvitfjellet (1381 meters).
Saturday: We return back to Molde in the morning.
Snow Travel Gear
Safety Gear
Technical Gear
A pair of tennis shoes and comfortable street (boat) wear are handy. Keep in mind, space on the boat is limited, so be selective when choosing what to bring.
Fly to Oslo and then take a commuter flight to Molde. It generally works best if you stay overnight in Oslo and fly the next morning to Molde. We are meeting in Molde in the mid afternoon of the first day of the trip. The flight from Oslo to Molde takes about one hour.
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen is located in Gardermoen in Ullensaker, Norway, 48 km north of Oslo.
Hotel accomodations obviously exist right near the airport or in downtown Oslo. The town center of Oslo is very pedestrian friendly and worth the trip. We have stayed in the Thon Hotel Astoria in the center (astoria@thonhotels.no). It was simple, clean and convenient.
In terms of our trip, it means that you might want to bring a bit more spending money. Just about everything is included on the boat in terms of food. We will be in little towns on a regular basis that will give us the opportunity to spend a bit of money, but the bulk of the expenses are included in the trip. So 40 - 50 US $ per day should be plenty.
No, the general skiing terrain would have to be rated as advanced but not expert level terrain.
No, all bedding is provided.
Although tipping is not a requirement, it is considered standard practice in the guiding industry and is appreciated by our guides. We generally recommend roughly 10%-15% of your course or trip cost or a flat amount that you are comfortable with.
