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Spanstinden, Norway

Spanstinden, Norway


Postby jmarkb » Sun Sep 01, 2019 12:57 pm

Date walked: 12/07/2019

Time taken: 6

Distance: 10.5 km

Ascent: 1050m

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This was the first day of our 2019 trip to Norway. After a few trips to the Tromsø area, we decided to go somewhere new this time, and we were based in a lovely rented cabin next to the sea, just to the north of Narvik.

We awoke to low cloud, but on our flight in the previous evening, we had seen that there was a temperature inversion, with most of the summits sticking out of the cloud, so we decided to get as high as possible! Most of the hills in the area have sea-level starts, but the main E6 road heading north rises to a high point at about 400m, where the path to Spanstinden starts. After 10 minutes or so we were in the cloud, following the path up a series of shelves towards the steep face of Sølvfjellet, which is a lower top of the main summit. At this point we started to emerge from the cloud tops, as we had hoped, and the path heads right up a wide slanting shelf towards the col between Sølvfjellet and the main summit. Here there were a few snow patches to cross, but they were soft and low-angled, and the views above the inversion started to open out.

Beyond the col the ground becomes steeper and more bouldery, but the waymarking is clear. Gradually the angle eases towards the summit, which is perched on the edge of the impressive north face of the mountain. At 1458m, it's one of the higher hills in the area, so the views we really great, and we spent a while eating our lunch on the top and taking it all in. On the way down the cloud layer had thinned and broken up a bit, so we saw a bit more of the lower slopes, and enjoying the lovely variety of wild flowers.

Online map


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First views above the clouds

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At the start of the shelf

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Views to the south-west

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Rivtinden

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Melkefjellet

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Sølvfjellet

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Looking up towards the summit from the col

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Views to the west

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Angle easing off

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Almost there....

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West top from the main summit

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Summit views

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Looking east

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Sølvfjellet again

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Lower slopes on the way down
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jmarkb
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Re: Spanstinden, Norway

Postby HalfManHalfTitanium » Sun Sep 01, 2019 4:45 pm

Stunning photos. This is an area i visited long ago but didn't do any walks on this scale. I remember the high point on the E6 - what a great place to start a walk.

The views would be great even without the inversions - but with them, and the air clarity, the photos are truly amazing.

Tim
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Re: Spanstinden, Norway

Postby mrssanta » Mon Sep 02, 2019 7:11 pm

ooh lovely
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Re: Spanstinden, Norway

Postby jmarkb » Fri Sep 06, 2019 3:54 pm

Thanks, folks!
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Re: Spanstinden, Norway

Postby Mal Grey » Sat Sep 07, 2019 7:43 pm

Wow! Stunning imagery.

Scandinavia really is amazing.
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