Rjukan - Engaging Ice

Rjukan is considered as one of the best locations in the world for ice climbing. The small town is situated in a magnificent steep sided valley in southern Norway with easy access to over 150 frozen waterfalls. Good, stable conditions are pretty much guaranteed and the recent RockFax guidebook, Heavy Water, makes finding the climbs pretty straight forward. The valley is dominated by the impressive Gaustatoppen (950 m, 3,117 ft), the highest peak in the area, which makes up one of its sides. The valley is also home to the Vemork hydroelectric power station, the scene of daring sabotage raids by Norwegian soldiers during the German occupation in the Second World War.

I went to Rjukan last year with two friends for my first ice climbing encounter and fell in love with the climbing and the area so I decided I had to go back this year and take Virginie. We left the planning a little bit late but managed to get reasonably cheap flights from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Oslo (Sandefjord Torp) with Ryanair. We found some accommodation at the Rjukan Hytte & Caravanpark staying in their warm and cosy two bed cabin 'Hansebu', which was a great base for our trip.

Monday

We started the week at the Ozzimosis Area for an easy reintroduction to the ice. The area is located on the side of the valley on the road up to the local skiing area and has lots of easier grade climbs which are dominated by the prominent route Ozzimosis (WI4). It was great to be back and the conditions were looking good with the temperature just below zero. Our first climb was the nice and easy Svada (WI2) which was my first lead last year. Next we notched it up a grade and climbed the one star Anakje (WI3). We ended the day on the easier Minidisken (WI2). A good start to the week.

Phil leading Svada (WI2), Ozzimosis Area	Virginie seconing Svada (WI2), Ozzimosis Area	Virginie after her first climb
Phil leading Anakje (WI3), Ozzimosis Area	Virginie's first abseil off Anakje - thanks Rob	Phil leading Minidisken (WI2), Ozzimosis Area

Tuesday

A trip to the ever popular Krokan above the main Rjukan gorge was our second destination. We started off on the Unknown (WI2) route. Whilst on the climb we saw some other people head further down the valley but they didn't come back so we though we'd go and see what they'd found. There turned out to be two easier WI2 routes which weren't in the guidebook. The first wasn't that long and had a snow plod up a narrow gully with a tree across it to finish. The second one provided better climbing but had a frozen turfy Cairngorms-esque traverse to the belay. I set up a top rope on the route and we finished off the day playing on some harder bits of ice.

A view of the Krokan Area seen from the approach	Unknown (WI2), Krokan	Phil leading Unknown (WI2), Krokan
The view from the top of Unknown (WI2), Krokan	Phil bridging on the first of the unlisted WI2 routes, Krokan	Virginie top roping the second unlisted WI2 route, Krokan

Wednesday

We'd planned to visit the Lower Gorge today but as we drove up to the car park we saw a car was already stuck and was being pushed out. It hadn't stopped snowing since Tuesday afternoon and we didn't fancy getting the car stuck or being buried in snow so we carried on driving up the valley to Krokan. After emerging from the trees on the approach to the climbing area we were greeted by the wide and popular Bullen (WI3 - 1 star). I started off by leading its steep hacked up steppy central line and then set up a top rope. After Virginie followed the same line I put in a couple of ice screws to direct the top rope above a couple of more interesting and harder blue ice columns to the right. The huge expanse of ice was gradually getting busier and at one point there were four different lines being climbed! After hanging around at the top for a while waiting for others to clear the way I moved the top rope to a nice steep line on the left for our final climbs of the day.

The ever popular Bullen (WI3), Krokan	Virginie tying in	Virginie top roping the blue ice column
The crowd at the bottom of Bullen	Climbers on Bullen	Virginie top roping the left line

Thursday

After waking up to the first clear skies of the week and seeing the pink glow on Gaustatoppen we decided to head back to the Ozzimosis Area to do some climbs we'd not managed to do on Monday. We started off by heading down to the lower area where following the recent snowfalls all the easier angled routes on the wide expanse of ice were covered in snow. Climbing Arsdagen (WI2) involved a lot of snow clearing simply to get to the ice. The next climb was a different line just to the right of the previous one that finished at the same belay. Then we headed up to the steeper one star Klassisk 4 (WI3) where the ice was getting thinner and in some places made a slightly off-putting hollow sound when hit with an axe! Having been in awe of the two star Ozzimosis (WI4) since last year it was with anticipation that I set up a top rope on it. The column of ice was suitably wide to allow several different lines to be climbed which provided some of the best climbing of the week. It's always amazing how the delicate little axe and crampon placements hold in the ice!

Sun rising on Gaustatoppen	Two lines on Arsdagen (WI2), Ozzimosis	Phil leading Klassisk 4 (WI3), Ozzimosis
Climber leading Ozzimosis (WI4)	Phil top roping Ozzimosis	Virginie top roping Ozzimosis

Friday

Today we finally made it to the Hjemreisen Area of the Lower Gorge. The weather forecast had suggested temperatures above zero but thankfully they stayed below. The first route of the day was the enjoyable three star LP-plata (WI3) described as 'a long pitch with few features'. I ended up (unnecessarily) turning it into a multi-pitch since it wasn't entirely clear where the route ended! Having heard encouraging reports from other climbers I started eyeing up my potential first WI4 lead, Hjemreisen. The three star route looked climbable since it had seen a fair amount of traffic and had been hacked quite a bit. Since the route was being climbed we headed to the very long one star Lillebror (WI3) which consisted of alternating steep then easier angled sections. Returning to Hjemreisen we found an Irish guy doing his first ever lead on it! Having psyched myself up to do the route we decided to wait for them to finish. Once on the route it felt like I climbed it in no time. I must have been concentrating far too much and not savouring the moment. Back at the bottom and feeling suitably satisfied with my first WI4 lead we finished off the day making Abalakov threads.

Phil leading LP-plata (WI3), Lower Gorge	The Lower Gorge with the ski area in the distance	Phil leading Lillebror (WI3), Lower Gorge
Phil first WI4 lead on Hjemreisen, Lower Gorge	Phil nearing the top of Hjemreisen	Virginie seconding Hjemreisen

Saturday

Our final day of climbing seemed to have come around far too quickly but our aching hands were telling us it was probably about the right time to be winding things up. We decided to finish off our week back at Krokan where I was having thoughts of leading another WI4. We started on another route that's not listed in the guidebook which seemed about WI3 with quite a steep final section. Again, after leading it I set up a top rope to try some harder lines. The WI4 that I had my eye on was Kjokkentrappa but in the flesh it was looking pretty steep. Rather than jump straight on it I decided to lead the harder left line on Bullen (WI3) that we'd top roped on Wednesday. Some other climbers suggested we take a look at Jomfrua, a two star WI4 that I'd top roped last year. The route was also quite hacked so the climbing looked straight forward. Whilst we waited for another pair to finish on the climb we felt inspired watching three Norwegian guys taking turns to lead the nicely formed three star Fyrstikka (WI5). Jomfrua proved to be a good climb and a great way to finish off the week. But with an hour of daylight left it didn't feel right to leave so we quickly climbed the Unknown (WI2) route again and I spent the last minutes of daylight top roping some harder lines.

Phil leading a WI3 route not in the guidebook, Krokan	Virginie at the top of the left line of Bullen (WI3), Krokan	Phil leading Jomfrua (WI4), Krokan
Phil leading Jomfrua (WI4) and a Norwegian climber leading Fyrstikka (WI5), Krokan	Sunlight on Fyrstikka (WI5)	Phil's final lead of the trip on Unknown (WI2), Krokan

Final Thoughts

Another great trip to Rjukan and thankfully the weather held all week. We only visited 3 out of the 14 areas in the guidebook sticking with those that are described as being 'similar to summer crags' with 'easy and short access'. So there are still plenty of areas and climbs, including many multipitch routes, left to explore. We're already thinking about next year's trip...

Hansebu, our home for the week	The river that's under your feet most of the time at Krokan and Lower Gorge!	Vemork hydroelectric power station at night
The lights in the valley from Ozzimosis	Something to save for next year	Our final inspiring view on the drive back to the airport

So here's to next year...

Phil & Virginie - February 2008