walkhighlands

This board helps you to share your walking route experiences in England and Wales... or overseas.
Warning Please note that hillwalking when there is snow lying requires an ice-axe, crampons and the knowledge, experience and skill to use them correctly. Summer routes may not be viable or appropriate in winter. See winter information on our skills and safety pages for more information.

Rombakstøtta, Norway

Rombakstøtta, Norway


Postby jmarkb » Sun Sep 29, 2019 7:22 pm

Date walked: 23/07/2019

Time taken: 6.5

Distance: 15 km

Ascent: 1000m

Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).

Rombakstøtta, also know by the locals as Tøttatoppen, is very much Narvik's mountain: it's not the highest of the group of hills that overlook the city, but it's certainly the most eyecatching. We had a superb view of it across the fjord from our rented holiday cabin, and our next door neighbours, a lovely retired local couple, kept asking if we had climbed it yet, so we just had to give it a go!

The route starts from a car park at the Taraldsvik waterworks, and follows a wide track to a lovely little lake (Førstevannet) with a dramatic view of the summit, that looks completely impossible from this direction. From here, there a well worn path contours the hillside with increasingly fine views, leading to another lake, but before you reach that, there is a branch off to the right which climbs through the woods, and then rounds the hillside above. The path then follows a line of pylons across the outflow from a pair of lakes, and then crosses another stream through increasingly rocky ground to a knoll overlooking the impressive corrie containing Isvatnet. The route now continues through a chaos of boulders, first downhill and then up the other side. Beyond the boulders there is a wide shelf composed of huge slabs: the hillside ahead looks impregnable, but the path makes a long rising traverse to meet the skyline ridge well to the east of the summit.

Here the terrain becomes entirely composed of rock, and there are several very deep cracks in the broad ridge: at some point in the future a large chunk of hillside could be heading for the fjord! The ridge to the summit has a series of steps, each of which has to be turned by some scrambling on the left hand side, but none of them are really exposed. The first step is quite easy (Grade 1), the second is the hardest (Grade 2/3) with some awkward moves up a corner crack, and the last, immediately below the summit block, soon eases after an initial big step up (Grade 1/2).

The summit is in a spectacular position, right on the edge of a dizzying drop down to the railway and fjord over 1000m below. The weather had turned rather cloudy, and on the way down, just after we had reversed the scrambling sections, we were caught in a shower. This turned the slabby shelf really slippery, so we edged down it very carefully. By the time we reached the boulder chaos, the rocks had started to dry out a bit: as we descended further the sun came out again, and we made it back to the car just before another heavy shower came through.

Online map

Image
Rombakstøtta from our holiday cabin

Image
Førstevannet

Image
Heading up through woods

Image
Views to the north

Image
Boulders!

Image
Looks a bit less ridiculous from this angle!

Image
Isvatnet

Image
Looking down from the summit: our holiday cabin in the centre of the shot

Image
Looking east towards the Swedish border

Image
Down to Isvatnet

Image
Sunny again

Image
Looking back at the summit

Image
...and again

Image
Heavy shower heading for Narvik
User avatar
jmarkb
Mountaineer
 
Posts: 5857
Munros:246   Corbetts:105
Fionas:91   Donalds:32
Sub 2000:46   
Joined: Oct 28, 2011
Location: Edinburgh

Re: Rombakstøtta, Norway

Postby Sgurr » Sun Sep 29, 2019 10:54 pm

That summit looks terrifying from some angles. I always have to repeat to myself "There must be an easier back door," as R marches me towards some impossible shark fin.
User avatar
Sgurr
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 5679
Munros:282   Corbetts:222
Fionas:219   Donalds:89+52
Sub 2000:569   Hewitts:172
Wainwrights:214   Islands:58
Joined: Nov 15, 2010
Location: Fife

Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).




Can you help support Walkhighlands?


Our forum is free from adverts - your generosity keeps it running.
Can you help support Walkhighlands and this community by donating by direct debit?



Return to Walk reports - Outside Scotland

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests