Litlefjell - View of the Troll Wall

10. juli 2016

In 1965 two teams took up the challenge to climb the tallest vertical rock face in Europe. One Norwegian team and one British team were ready to face the wall. From the bottom of the valley to the top of the wall it's 1700 metres, where there is 1.000 metres (3.600 ft) of vertical drop. At its steepest, the summit ridge overhangs the base of the wall by nearly 50 meters (160 ft). It took the climbers almost two weeks to finish it, and the Norwegians managed to get to the top one day ahead of the British.

Because of several fatalities and rescue operations, base jumping and skydiving became illegal from 1986 until 2000. Today the Troll Wall is a classic exercise for climbing and base jumping. Summer and Winter. In 2012 a visitor center and café were built and in 2013 a memorial stone was raised for the 19 people who lost their lives at the Troll Wall.

A new journey, and this time with my oldest brother, David. We were on a photography road trip. It's nice when you finally find the same passion for something as your own brother. It's been a long time since we have been on a hike.

I live in the mountains, but driving over to the West Coast, mountains are a whole new experience as they rise sky-high, gigantic and majestical straight in to the air. As we were getting closer to Åndalsnes on route E136 the mountains got enormous as they were towering above our heads. Driving alongside Trollryggen and looking up, I felt tiny, like these huge gods from Norse mythology sitting on their thrones ready to squash me. Yeah, I was not ready to climb those vertical drops. I just have a tiny bit of fear for heights. So I think I will go for something a lot easier, but with an incredible view.

We had to drive all the way around Romsdalseggen to get to our night camp. Driving in through Venjesdalen we found a good place to set up camp, a little after Venjesdalsvatnet. We went to bed early because, the best light is at sundown and sunrise.

We were supposed to get up at 3 am, but as the alarm rang I could hear the raindrops knocking on my canvas. There were no noise from David either. I guess we both figured there would be no such thing as sunrise over the horizon.

We got out from our tents when the rain finally stopped drumming on our tents. The sun was trying to push through the clouds, and you could even get gleams of the blue sky.

This is a short but steep hill to conquer, not more than 1 km. The trail was easy to find, but because of the rain, it was a bit muddy. There could be some small loose stones too, trying to get you dancing up the hill. But not enough to get me scared since they have taken security measures along the trail.

David was faster than me and was greeted by a raven when he reached the top. I wasn't that lucky, but what a view! David went straight in to shooting mode. Having me stand here and there. The same thing with my dogs. It was a good mental training exercises for the dogs. And with no people around, I didn't mind letting go of the leash from time to time.

View down the valley to Åndalsnes

We had this little mountain top to ourselves for a long time. Therefore it became a lot of fun photographing the ravens flying around soaring above our heads. The dogs exploring and playing, tasting the fresh mountain-rain water. And of course, a little posing for the photographers. Litlefjell is more like a mountain ridge combining Romsdalseggen with Romsdalshornet, with vertical drop facing the Troll Wall and a possible steep hike on the other side. But as threatening, dark clouds full of rain came gliding over our heads, we figured it was time to head back to the camp.

On our way back down, we met this nice, talkative family of at least eight. I stepped out of their way, but one of the girls, probably not older than 6 or 7, got really startled. She didn't notice the dogs before she was facing them and staring them in the eyes. Nala tried to take the opportunity to lick her in the face. She seemed scared at first, but when I told her that these dogs travels to kids camp every year, she calmed down and started to cuddle them in stead. We ended up talking with them for about 15 minutes. I talked to the kids, and this young boy loved to talk. While David had a talk with the parents. I talked about dogs, cats and video games with the kids. It was so many stories at the same time. The father finally had to encourage them that they went up here to see the view too. That family came in different ages. From grandparents to kids. I guess this is what makes this hike a perfect mountain top to conquer for anyone. Even though it looks steep on the picture, it is for everyone. Young or old, in shape or not, a short, everyday hike and you get an amazing view when you finally reach the top.