Friday, June 30, 2023

Norway day 6: rainy climbing

The weather forecast is crap, but after having had a rest day we want to get out and at least do something. The guide book suggest a couple of small crags with bolts (or top rope) and short approaches near Mjelva, so we head over there in the afternoon when the rain has stopped.

The crag, Blahammeren, has a number of short easy routes including one which you can self-protect, so we start there. Unfortunately the rock is also quite green and (of course), still wet. G does the beginning of the left-most route (4b) in his trail-running shoes, but it's really all horribly wet and slippery and generally no fun, so he turns around at the halfway point (where there's an anchor for the neighboring route to practice multi-pitch). We pack the stuff back up, head back to the car, and move to the other side of Mjelva to try the crag Mjelvasteinen. 

This one, which is just a giant boulder, takes us a while to find since the use trail to get there really isn't pronounced (and there are a couple of other trails to other things), but we eventually find it. The rock is steep enough that it's not completely wet and might be doable, so G heads up top to rig the top rope (there are no bolts in the face, just big anchors up top). It turns out that every ledge is still wet, so the climbing just doesn't work. And it rains a bit more. So much for that idea. Still, there is a bit of rock protected by an overhang, so G boulders around a bit before we pack the stuff back up and head back.

Not our most successful of days, but we at least got outside for a while.

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