UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => bouldering => Topic started by: yoda on March 31, 2007, 07:16:49 pm
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I there any decent bouldering in Norway,Ive always wondered as I live in Newcastle so could easily get a ferry over for a trip,any info would be appreciated ;)
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I set a comp in Stavanger last year, and the locals took me to an area called Sirevag - info here http://www.buldreinfo.com/sirevag.php
There are A LOT of boulders in Norway. A LOT. More than you could ever imagine, and not many boulderers. The strong boulderers in Norway only ever do first ascents - repeating stuff isn't as much fun, now is it?!?! Amazing quality granite, and a very English climate. Lots of hard stuff as well as easy problems too. I only had one day, but it was cracking - repeated a load of classics. Well worth the trip, but don't tell anybody.... ;)
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Thanks for the info Percy,a trip is definitley on the cards for next year, it looks stunning.
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Isn't the ferry pretty dear?
Some friends went to Lofoten last year, had 13 days of rain in two weeks on the islands. Said they nearly lost their minds.
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now that's gotta hurt :wall:
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Some great looking stuff on there!
(http://www.buldreinfo.com/eiane/venstreforoptimus.jpg)
(http://www.buldreinfo.com/eiane/botaniskfrelse.jpg)
(http://www.buldreinfo.com/eiane/jamminss.jpg)
(http://www.buldreinfo.com/gloppedalen/bigfoot.jpg)
(http://www.buldreinfo.com/hunnedalen/komlediederet.jpg)
(http://www.buldreinfo.com/hunnedalen/schwaigers.jpg)
(http://www.buldreinfo.com/hunnedalen/titanic.jpg)
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Norway is such an incredible country. I stayed with some of my relatives in Stavanger a couple of years ago and it was an amazing place. From my coach journey up to Haguesund, I saw literally thousands of boulders, there has to be room for such development (as Percy says).
Beer from bars is very expensive by the way in case you're a beer monster. At the time of the Stavanger Oil Show when I was there, I'm fairly sure they had hiked up already high prices.
In terms of accomodation, I was told about hjuttas( mountain huts check spelling). They're inexpensive huts you can use in the mountains (possibly even for an arbitrary donation?). Maybe staying in these would be a cheap way to spend a little extra time in an expensive country as well as putting you next to some potential prime new problems!
Get there!
Oh, and a link mentioning huts here. (http://www.tourist.no/templates/NTRarticle.aspx?id=28298)
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All those pics are from the bouldering around Stavanger. There are some high quality granite locations all close by, like Sirevåg, Eiane, Lysebotn and Gloppedalen/Hunnedalen. These 4 alone are more than worth a trip to Stavanger. The farthest away is Lysebotn which is 2 hours away. The link Percy put up is always up to date. There is still loads to be done.
Other than Stavanger, there is some great stuff in Lofoten, but it is a long way north, there is some classic stuff a bit further south on the mainland, but it is still a long way up. There are other cool places as well, like Romsdalen (where the Troll Wall is). Oslo and Bergen are pretty poor for boulders, but probably the best for routes. You can get Ryan Air to Haugesund which is only a few hours north of Stavanger...
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Toured around norway a couple of years ago, and other than getting soaked regularly had a good time, loads of good rock as everyone says. Found the locals really helpful, and some were almost offended we hadn't called into their local wall to arrange an outdoor session/tour. Can you imagine doing that in the uk!! 'hi is that the foundry, can someone take the day off to show me round the peak? cheers'
Fire some emails off to the locals if you're going, and you'll probably find yourself getting dragged all over the place by burly blond dudes.
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The ferry from Newcastle to Stavanger is around GBP 380 with 3 people in a car, round trip. Also, check out renting a cabin near the bouldering around Sirevaag. A beautiful settting with lots of nice bouldering! The rock here is sharp in texture, not too unlike gritstone. We usually stay at some cabins located near a great beach called Brusand. 3 min. drive from the nearest crags. From here you get to other great destinations (with less sharp rock) within an hours drive. Link here: http://www.brusand-camping.no/enmeny/index.html
The cabins are around GBP 50 a day, but sleeps easely 6-7 people. Yeah, Norway IS expensive, but the climbing is worth it ;D
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Thought I'd resurrect this thread rather than start a new one.
I'm going for a general exploring campervan trip Oslo -> Bergen -> Stavanger -> Oslo in a few weeks' time.
I've been given 2 passes for 'some bouldering, please pick a nice place and not some awful cave'...
Does anyone have any knowledge on the bouldering in that area? I'd be looking for an area or two along that route with a handful of decent problems up to 7Bish. I probably won't have a huge pad. Doesn't seem to be much info only but looks like there could be absolutely loads of bouldering.
thanks in advance.
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There should be tons of bouldering everywhere. From general knowledge, more around Bergen/Stavanger than around Oslo perhaps? (I've never been that far south in Norway)
Anyway, around Bergen: https://bergenklatreklubb.no/buldring-i-bergen/
around Stavanger https://buldreinfo.com/browse
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There is quite some worthwhile stuff around. I would suggest looking at 27crags; you'll find most good boulders there.
I'll give you some more specific suggestions when I'm at my PC tomorrow.
Only bouldering it is right? Because there would also be some absolutely amazing sportclimbing in this area.
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I got a momentary surge of excitement thinking the ferry service had been re-instated, then realised the OP was 2007.
Man I wish there was still a ferry direct to Norway.
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Similar thrill seeing Newcastle ferry there, before noticing the 2007 :'-)
There's very accessible, decent bouldering in Oslo around Østmarka, in a nice forest with lots of paths. When I was there last year there was a pad stash under Grevling (fun 7B+), generally there were good landings and it's thoroughly documented on 27crags.
My trip was north to south so I didn't overlap with your route much. My impression from 27c was that a lot of the bouldering was being documented elsewhere for certain areas. Might be worth look here: https://hkl.buldreinfo.com/sites/boulder
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Bit further south than Stavanger but I had half a day at Sirevåg about 10 years ago and was very impressed. Tons of rock. It was March, not sure it would be so nice this time of year?
You could go and do Mr Potato Head!
https://buldreinfo.com/problem/1369
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Similar thrill seeing Newcastle ferry there, before noticing the 2007 :'-)
https://www.thelocal.no/20220707/direct-ferry-link-between-england-and-norway-could-be-set-for-return
there is talk of a revival, but don't hold your breath
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I'm going for a general exploring campervan trip Oslo -> Bergen -> Stavanger -> Oslo in a few weeks' time.
Interested to hear about the rest of the trip. My wife works for a Bergen based company, and gets frequent offers to use their "cabins" by colleagues.
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OK, now to actually provide something more concrete. I've by far not seen everything that exists in this region, but I can suggest the following three areas, that I've visited on my own. All of them offer a relatively wide range of problems (you'll also find quite a lot of boulders that are situated on their own. I assume that this does not fit what you are looking for.
1) A little bit north of Oslo (not sure whether that is too far off for you) is Stange (next to Hamar): excellent rock; flat landings; nice wood with many blueberries; can be a little wet after rain.
http://www.stangebuldring.no/stange/stein_register.php?type=alle_steiner
2) Between Oslo and Stavanger you have Gautefall. Good amount of boulders situated in all grades on excellent granite in a very nice scenery. Has recently seen more visitors than a couple of years ago. Some landings would require more crashpads, but there are also enough boulders with good landing. Approach takes 20-30 minutes; go over some granite slabs at the northern end of the lake. You cannot see the boulders until you are almost there.
Possibly the least well known area of my suggestions, but I always enjoyed it very much there.
3) North of Bergen there is also Matre which has extensive boulders and I think is one of the more classical areas in Norway. Well-situated in the meadows. Some excellent harder problems.
https://buldring.bergen-klatreklubb.no/area/251
There are a couple of boulders around Stavanger, but they are quite far apart and often in rather swampy areas. Did not have the best experiences there and would personally rather go surfing than climbing if I am there. Might have missed the truly good stuff though...
Hope that helps!
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Fantastic, thanks for the info everyone.
If anyone happens to be in the area and fancies meeting for a boulder, I'll be there 24th Jun - 8th Jul.
:strongbench:
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I'll be driving through Norway in that time but heading north towards Trondheim. Would be ace if anyone has any beta on that area? Got some contacts though who are gonna clue me up when I'm there (or so it was promised!)
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In Trondheim there is a small conglomerate sector close to the airport, in a village named Hell. Short good power endurance routes from 6b to 9a/+. There is great steep bouldering in Harbak and Vingsand. A bit further north there is a pretty impressive cave in a village called Flatanger, with routes from easy to 9c or so.
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There are a couple of boulders around Stavanger, but they are quite far apart and often in rather swampy areas. Did not have the best experiences there and would personally rather go surfing than climbing if I am there. Might have missed the truly good stuff though...
Hope that helps!
This really surprises me! In Norway we consider Rogaland (Stavanger) to have the best bouldering in the country! Also everything is documented really clearly and for free on buldreinfo.no, also almost all the rest of the country if you scroll down.
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The bouldering around Stavanger is pretty excellent, and well documented on buldreinfo.com. Routes are on brattelinjer.no, and if you go to the bottom of the page there are links to some other areas. If you're travelling in from Kristiansand via ferry there is good bouldering around town, but I don't know of an online guide - I have the paper book.
Further up the E39 Sirevåg is well covered on buldreinfo,. The only problem is that it was one of the first areas, and the guide for eg. the Fortress needs updating - it needs a more modern map, and new grades - at the time 6A was the bucket grade for anything the grade was uncertain. Rock quality is normally ok, but it's a better winter venue.
If you're travelling with the family GLoppedalen isn't so far off theroad and is worth a look for bouldering and general touristing. In contrast Oltedal really does match the description of being in a swamp - it is!
27 crags is pretty useless for Norway, and is a complete black hole in the SW as noone uses it. But no matter what guide you get you'll see more unclimbed rock and boulders than you can ever imagine.
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E39
Talk about highball. Jesus.
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Yes Oltedal it was where I had been. It was recommended by some locals, and since Internet in Norway was prohibitive expensive for me back then, I just had to rely on this information.
It seems that I missed a lot of good stuff around Stavanger and I am happy to be corrected on this. Also thanks a lot for the reference to buldreinfo.com, which, at least I, was not aware of.
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Quite the round trip with Oslo-Bergen-Stavanger-Oslo.
Best bouldering is around Stavanger, places which should please your better half would be Lysebotn, Eiane, Spinneriet, Gloppedalen and Sirevåg (Fortress, Tua, Holmane Bil sectors). These are all well documented on buldreinfo.com. Summer is quite warm so connies wont be amazing.
Another lovely spot is Hvasser which is about 90 mins before you get back to Oslo from Stavanger, not much online about that place (a bit on 27crags) but there is a paper guide called Veiviseren, Selected climbs in Vestfold which has the bouldering in it.
Enjoy
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would personally rather go surfing than climbing if I am there
OT, but where is a good place to get knowledge on this? Stormrider's has limited info, and a lot of the places that crop up in "best places" websites are pretty remote and spread out.
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The surfing here is pretty hit and miss, can be amazing but it is always short-lived. The only reason to make a dedicated trip would be for the exotic feeling of surfing in the North. There are crowds here now and you'd be better off heading warmer...
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Sounds like NE Scotland! Surf would never be the main reason for the trip, but be a bonus on the side.
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Thanks everyone for the advice, we had a great holiday.
Mainly did various other outdoorsy things but had an enjoyable day of climbing at Sirevåg at the Fortress and Vedafjell areas since these had reasonable topos and the area was on our road trip route (and aligned with a day of decent weather).
I didn't have a pad in the end but the geology (blank boulders w rounded tops and good edges) lent itself very well for Fontainebleau style circuiting / general exploring. My wife who rarely climbs these days was inspired sufficiently to borrow my shoes and get involved too.
I'd love to head back at some point.
@SA Chris: Bergen was cool, if you've got the opportunity to head out the 'cabins' looked like a nice way to experience Norway. If you go, due to the weather I'd recommend having plans to do a variety of things and climb when the weather allows, the mountain biking for example was amazing (I think you have a mtb, maybe?).
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Thanks for the advice. Yes got bikes, but we would probably fly from Aberdeen, as it's a long drive down to the nearest ferry crossing and back up.