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Our 2017 Norway Hike Rankings

We wanted to rank our hikes by scenery, challenge, length duration, elevation gain so others can gain from our experience.

Scenery:

1. Romsdalseggen Ridge -Amazing, beautiful city view of Åndalsnes, & super green rivers!
2. Mount Skala – Nice transition from forest, trees, streams, waterfalls, rocky terrain, and pure mountain bliss.
3. Besseggen Ridge – Awesome progressive climb to the the mountain wall, then you transition to a scramble.
4. Aurlandsdalen Valley (lower route) – Very historical hike where you can see old farms that were renovated back to original state!
5. Middagsfjellet Oyenibba – Weather hindered this hike and it was very foggy, but the locals call this hike amazing.
6. Trolltunga – Early morning conditions hindered this hike as well, but at the end it was amazing. From an overall hike experience perspective, I would rank the others higher.

Difficulty:

1. Mount Skala – extreme punishment on the body!
2. Trolltunga – length of hike made this brutal!
3. Romsdalseggen Ridge – tough climb up the mtn and ridgeline
4. Besseggen Ridge – challenging but not bad
5. Aurlandsdalen Valley (lower route) – relatively mild hike
6. Middagsfjellet Oyenibba

Length of Hike:

1. Trolltunga – 17.29 miles
2. Aurlandsdalen Valley (lower route) – 11.11 miles
3. Mount Skala – 10.89 miles
4. Besseggen Ridge – 9.77 miles
5. Romsdalseggen Ridge – 7.74 miles
6. Middagsfjellet Oyenibba – only completed partial up to 3 miles round trip

Time to complete hike:

1. Mount Skala – 8.5 hours
2. Trolltunga – 9.5 hours – 1.25 hrs waiting for photo = 8.25 hours
3. Romsdalseggen Ridge – 6.25 hours
4. Besseggen Ridge – 5 hours 49 minutes
5. Aurlandsdalen Valley (lower route) – 6 hours
6. Middagsfjellet Oyenibba – 2.75 hours

Elevation Gain:

1. Mount Skala – 6,562 feet
2. Trolltunga – 4,679 feet
3. Besseggen Ridge – 3,905 feet
4. Romsdalseggen Ridge – 3,182 feet
5. Aurlandsdalen Valley (lower route) – 2,967 feet
6. Middagsfjellet Oyenibba – 1,651 feet

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SWE/NOR Hiking Mount (Mt) Skala August 2017 (WD7)

Mt Skala 8/27/17 (Norwegians pronounce it as Skoal – la)

 

BRING WARM CLOTHES! The hike started out around 60-70F and once we got to the top it was close to 32F.

Mount Skåla is an imposingly beautiful giant of a mountain that towers 1,848 metres over the village of Loen in Nordfjord. At the top, you will find one of Norway’s most original hiking cabins, called Kloumannstårnet or Skålatårnet. Last October 2016 they built another more modern cabin next to the original original cabin. There is a bathroom without plumbing. Beware if you do decide to use the facility you are expected to pay 65kr per person during your day visit.

There is an annual race to to the top every August where there are a couple thousand runners racing to the top! The fastest to the top to date was 1 hour 7 minutes.

If you are driving from Loen, head towards the Lodalen valley and drive appr. 2 km until you arrive at Tjugen Camping. The parking lot is less than one minute further and across the road (check pictures for details). It is before Loenvatnet Lake, and there is an information board in the parking lot. Parking fee is 50kr.

The path is well marked all the way. The walk starts on a tractor road and continues on a path further up in the forest. The path continues to gradually climb through a mountainside full of dense low-growing vegetation. We saw several sheep along the way. Once passing lake Skalavatnet, the trail quickly changes to a steep climb up the rocky mountainside. We walked up stone steps until meeting the top.

The path up the mountain is incredible. Sherpa’s were hired approximately two years ago and they created the stone path by hand.

Click the pictures below to join our experience!

Total Distance from Car to Car: 10.89 miles

Total Trip Time: 8.5 hours