Norwegian Ice Climbing
Rjukan - January 2008 Climbers’ Club meet

All team members are staying at www.rjukan-hytteby .   Prices per night vary according to No. of occupants (up to 5 or 6).

Cost for 7 day trip accommodation (complete hut) is circa 4900 NK (circa £446 / No. of occupants) in total!

Alcohol is very expensive. Food (and drink) (similarly priced as UK) can be purchased (drinks in Duty Free in Oslo Torp on arrival) and (supermarket food) in Rjukan itself. More could be carried in the sports bag (discreetly).

All that remains is to sort out shared car hire . Bus transport is not practicable unless the journey can be spread over two days – requires bus into Oslo central, then bus to Rjukan. Rjukan road trip - circa 3 hours depending upon amount of snow/bad weather) and I recommend Hertz (not ‘Rent a Wreck’) for the car hire (poor quality tyres are often on RAW Cars). The organising of transport should be not be left too late and room for equipment should be considered (rope/boots in seat wells etc.)

To wet your appetite below are some details about a recent trip to Rjukan – Norway

Long considered too difficult to get to, too expensive, too cold, and other deterring reasons, this has now all changed for the better, thanks to Ryanair.

The steep ice climbing in the Rjukan Gorge, in southern Norway, was our objective in February this season. We longed for good conditions, reasonable weather, things not so prevalent in our usual Scottish winter.

Flying to Oslo (Torp) with Ryanair was very straightforward (as long as our pre-planning and booking had been done correctly). The addition of a £15 each way sports bag meant we could take an enormous amount of equipment, spare dried food, and a couple of bottles of alcohol (that is expensive in Norway!). Arriving at Torp, it was a simple routine to get the hire car (from Rent a Wreck).

The weather was cool and cloudy, with some occasional snow showers. A 3-hour journey in those conditions was acceptable, and we arrived in the town in the early evening. We had pre-booked our apartment through the website and were very pleased to find such good quality. Soon we were wrapped up in duvets, while outside, the temperatures plummeted.

Emerging from our beds to snow falling lightly, we soon found this made little difference to our climbing plans. Our accommodation was situated within ten minutes walk of the famous Vemork Bridge, famous in the war years when the allies prevented the Germans from removing vast quantities of a special type of water needed for the manufacture of an ATOMIC BOMB!

Fortunately for everyone, with some heroics, the lads persevered in atrocious weather and wrecked the Germans’ plans, by destroying the Vemork factory. Now rebuilt for historical reference, the factory is now a major tourist attraction and receives many visitors a day throughout each year.

Our climbing days in the Gorge were outstanding, and so wonderful that each day melted into the next. Superb single or multi-pitch icefalls were flowing everywhere one looked and the guidebook (Heavy Water, by Rockfax) was easy and fun to follow.

A variety of routes were climbed, (around ten in four days) with many being straightforward and others, bold and exciting. My favourite two were Ozzimosis (WI4) in the area of the same name, and Vermorkbrufoss Vest (WI5) in the Vemork Bridge area. Both routes provided steep and sustained ice climbing but were very pleasing to climb. Access was SO easy!

There were also many routes at WI 2, WI 3 and WI 4 to go at, and time ran out just as we were getting a real ‘feel’ to the place.

Norway is a huge country and with a vast potential for fun ice climbing, I intend to make an annual visit here. January through to the end of February is the best period for Rjukan, although it often keeps cold well into March. Expect the early months to be cold!

Hope you can join me - Smiler Cuthbertson

PS To see more pictures from Rjukan - visit the CC Image Albums

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