Norway – Hardangervidda crossing – route / gearlist / photos

[Marcel Bak]

Hello,

I just wanted to share gearlist / route that worked quite well for crossing Hardangervidda (plateau in Norway). My trip took 6,5 days. Starting point was Finse, finishing point was Haukeliseter. I went solo, F&L rather than UL style, used only tent.

The weather was fairly ok – temperatures between -8 and 0 degrees C; wind up to around 25 m/s, a bit of whiteout conditions (~50% of time), snowfall (including snowdrift) max 1 meter during the night.

Additionally, photos can be found here.

Hope maybe somebody will find it useful.

Cheers

[Tjaard Breeuwer]

Hi Marcel,

Would you like to put the list online, either here on the forum or somewhere else?
I'm never very cited about downloading stuff.

[Marcel Bak]

Hi Tjaard,

Please find the gearlist / route at the link in my post above. It should lead you to website sendspace.com where I hosted the files. If it does not work – please send me PM – I will try to post is somewhere else.

Cheers,

Marcel

[Tjaard Breeuwer]

Marcel,
That site offers a download. As mentioned its nicer to have a list on an actual web page for viewing.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Marcel,

Since you listed gear and photos showed that you use only the tent fly I'd like to comment on your shelter choice. I would much rather have taken a double walled tent for the trip, AND a tent design that used hoops for support instead of an old-school wedge shaped tent.

My own winter tent is a Tarptent Scarp 2 with modified crossing poles place inside the fly. That gives me a double walled tent with two vestibules and plenty of interior space for the modest weight. It can be used "fly only" if weight is a big problem.

But I guess you take what you have.

[Marcel Bak]

Hello,

Please find enclosed the list at my profile.

Eric – thank you for the comment. In the past I used double tent (Vaude Hogan UL) and also bought Bearpaw inner tent (plus Lightwave arctic tent for quick test). However, based on my experience & approach single skin tent / tarp-like tent turned out rather quickly as the best option for me. The only issue that I want to change is to add some flaps to ventilation (to avoid drifting snow inside). Otherwise, lack of floor and the resulting ability of digging the tent deep into snow is really great.

When it comes to shedding wind – when it blows up to 20-25 m/s usually there is no problem with the tent & calm sleep. When the wind exceeds ~30m/s the tent is shaky, but still holds pretty well.

I guess it is a bit like with water purification – more important is the place than measures applied (here – place where the tent is pitched rather than storm/bombproofness of the tent itself).

[Richard Fischel]

if i'm on the move, i much prefer a single wall tent or the like. i've used a tent fly as a winter camping shelter and find them to do the job nicely. you have added interior space without the inner, you can excavate down into the snow, fast pitch/takedown, etc. as with anything, it comes down to picking the right fly for the job. the exped orion fly makes a great winter shelter. you'd have to do a lot of huffing and puffing to blow that fly down. same with the old walrus hurricane hole. if i'm winter base camping i'd consider brining a double wall expedition tent as it can be nice to return to at the end of the day.

[Andreas K]

Marcel,

Thanks for sharing gear/info/photos from your trip. I might be looking to go a similar route later this spring, so read your post with interest.

How far did you get on a day with 25 m/s and whiteout conditions? Any tips (routines etc) to make such a day bearable? I would myself cancel or postpone the trip if this was in the forecast, but sometimes you don't know what you end up in.

Cheers

[Marcel Bak]

Andreas,

Usually around 16 km a day. When it blew hard – somewhere closer to 12 km a day. Sometimes it was like – first part of the day was hard, while the second part was much much better.

Tips? Positive thinking, assume that it is not that bad or hard (try imagine that conditions could be less favourable / other people had worse problems with weather –> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isrvecWrsUA / plus take some good music :)).

Routine – for me "cold" breakfast turned out a really good idea – saved a lot of weight by carrying less fuel (the same goes with saved time in the morning).

Forecast – you know – it is Atlantic kind of weather. You should be prepared that it may deteriorate rapidly. Plus – the conditions may be quite different between valleys, hills etc. Probably spring time will be much more enjoyable than deep winter (sometimes I do enjoy whiteout but more often I would prefer it to be sunshine all the way :).

I hope you will have a great trip.

[Derrick White]

Thank you Marcel for taking the time to share.

+1 on the fly in winter. I evolved from Big Sky Evoution Fly&Inner to Fly only and then to HMG Ultamid 2. I've been in some heavy wind with no problems. Part of the evolution was learning to, as you say, pick the right location, and also to use the snow advantageously: as a wind block and insulation. I should say that I do use it with an Eventy bivy in winter (MLD Soul).

None of that negates anything Eric said of course. He is right. A floor and double walls are superior in many ways – but they are heavier, and I've learned to be comfortable without them.

Thanks again.

Derrick

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