Always thought this looked amazing. https://www.thecrag.com/en/climbing/norway/lofoten/route/2894158254
I'll give you a list of routes when I get back home tonight, but it will be out of date. Minnesrisset is great at 8a, and very very easy for the grade I'd suspect (I one hanged it twenty years ago, but it takes longer to clean than to lead unless you have a very strong partner). Butterarms eminently onsightable at 7c.more to come...
Minnesrisset is mostly hands. Everyone is strong on hands!Staying with short routes, Rasmusexpressen, 7a+, two pitches, is good. Second pitch is the point. Riz-raz 7a if fine, if a bit short.For medium-length routes, Vårkåt, 6c+ and Den siste sommaren, 7a, are both four pitches and side-by-side with short approach and an easy descent, so a good combination to do in a day. Very good routes.Odins bue, 6c+, is 6 pitches, and 2 of them are incredibly good. Two approach pitches.On the pillar of Helvetestind there are two good routes, The french pillar (6b+) (called The next best thing in the unreliable Rockfax guide) and Norwegian Sheep Range, 6c. The first pitch of Norw. Sheep range, as indicated in the first edition of Rockfax is more than 70m long, it is unlikely that they corrected this error for the 2nd edition. Around 7 pitches for these routes. Amazingly beautiful beach. Approach by boat (ferry).On Presten, Korstoget 6c/+, Reisen, 6c+, Vestpillaren, 6b and Himmelen kan vente 6b+ are worth doing. Vestpillaren is in the new edition of Parois de Légende. All around 10 pitches.On the north pillar of Vågakallen, Storpillaren 6c+ is good but loooong 16 pitches + a tricky approach and a bit of a nightmare descent. Haul on pitch 3 and 4, and climb the rest with a small rucksack.When driving from the south, you can stop by the single pitch crag "Stiberg" a bit south of Narvik if the weather is good. The routes Pump-o-rama, 7b+, Flaket, 7b, and La Linja 7a are all three star.
(called The next best thing in the unreliable Rockfax guide)
Quote from: jwi on June 05, 2023, 03:49:03 pm(called The next best thing in the unreliable Rockfax guide) Grammar pedant: the adjective 'unreliable' is superfluous when used in front of 'Rockfax'. Simply 'Rockfax' will do.
I warned you that my list would be out of date: I've not been to Lofoten in fifteen years or so... At the time there weren't many multipitch routes above 7a. (The gentle inclination of the mountains don't lend themselves much to hard climbing anyways).On Kvaløya in Tromsø there are no long routes above 7a except on Blåmannen, afaik. On Blåmannen there many hard classics, but finding them dry might be the crux of the itinerary. My friends tell me that Atlantis is very good and that everything except the crux pitch is sandbagged. On Baugen the harder classics Thanatos, Gemini and Rena Ragnarök are all 7a. Thanatos might well be the finest handcrack in Scandinavia.There is no way 4 greens are necessary on Minnesrisset? I certainly don't own that many. Lots of the cracks in northern norway are flared, and you can place smaller cams further in, and bigger further out, so there is often many possible placements.
The bouldering is very quick drying so I'd imagine it's a good plan B even if trad is the main agenda - the roof at Stem Bastensen sector might even stay dry in the rain (but seep after) and it's close to Henningsvaer. Sea Gold is a good 7C there, while Monster (up the road) is the uber-classic Lofoten 8A, very workable and Tare Baby (across the road) is an ace 7C.Kingfisher is definitely worth it. It's down the same road as Slartibartfast 7B+ which is world class. A sea eagle flew ridiculously low overhead when I was there. Like 20m away.Old Man and the Sea 7B is a total gem.Blue Skies 7C+/8A is world class and possibly not as hard as it first appears.I liked the roadside block at Skagsanden, could be convenient if you're passing as it's pretty roadside and has a few nice problems up to 7B.The best boulder I didn't do was The Grizzly, a proud 7C arete on Gimsoy, made from the perfect sandstone-esque granite.That would probably keep you busy but let me know if you want more info on the boulders!
Sounds like you'd get on well with Monster and everything at Stem Bastensen, like Knight Rider 7C+ and Sunshine (8A+ but not). The bottom half of Blue Skies climbs a bit board-style too.The hillside opposite Blue Skies has a huge boulder jumble called Storura. Good Morning Shit (7C+) was a cool crimpy one and Unnütze Raute 7B is worth doing there. Loads of potential for more too! Also on Flakstadoya is a sector called Flakstadpollen, Moon Arete 8A might suit you there (I felt the holds, seemed hard!)I think 27crags is mostly good for info without the guidebook (the pin is wrong for Good Morning Shit - there are accurate coordinates on UKC). But drop me a DM if you want anything more specific!
Freya on Storpillaren has gotten some repeats in the last years. Goes free at 7b+. There's some in situ beaks if I remember correctly which are worth checking out.For all you Tromsø needs there's https://klatreforer.tromsoklatring.no/. Gemini is only 6c, and I found Thanatos to be quite flared. Didn't get any good hands in there. I definitely don't think Blåmann will dry out this year. Since Jonas has been here there's been a bunch of development at Storstolpan. I do think the climbing is better in Tromsø, but the climbing is easies and more easily accessible in Lofoten.Let me know if you're stopping by in Tromsø. I own the boulder gym here and live up the road.
Nice! I've done Vestveggen/Vesteggen and Storpillaren, but backed off Silmarillion. We were not sure we were on the right route as none of the promised pitons were in place on the 7- pitch. High gravity day maybe?For the descent from Vågakallen, there are some who claim that it is "easy" to scramble back on to the North East ridge and that this is easy to reverse. We just cut diagonally across the south face using a running belay. Took us 4 hours to get back to Djupfjord where a friend picked us up. Some mates have rapped off straight down the gully, leaving some slings, and scrambled back along the beach to Kalle. That descent has also very little to recommend it.For Vestveggen, as long as you climb the Devil's dance floor pitch I think you are sufficiently on route :D
