Lee Harrison Climbing

After the underwhelming climbing experience on Siluetten two days prior I was keen to try a route that would stay in my memory a little longer.  Kruttårnet-Lettvinten looked a good option. It was the longest route on Skogshorn, totalling 470m and 14 pitches, and followed a prominent ridge via a fore-summit at mid-height. It looked well-suited for a solo attempt because of it's amiable grade and stretches of easier ground that could be covered quickly by myself. The harder pitches lay in the upper half, where the Skogshorn rock quality was generally better, and therefore likely suitable for back-roping if necessary. The route could also be escaped from the top of Kruttårnet via a scree gully should I not fancy the harder pitches, and consequently not overly committing. The South Face of Skogshorn As with Overaskelsen and  Siluetten some of the rock was loose on the initial pitches. Particularly the first pitch. I made best efforts to climb primarily with my feet whi...

The first couple of pitches of Siluetten were not feeling optimally in control. Not what I was hoping for given this was a solo effort. The rock wasn't strictly 'loose', it was more 'suspect', which was actually worse because of the greater element of doubt playing on my mind. Many holds needed careful checking to ensure they would not dislodge, which slowed the climbing to a crawl at one point. To add to this, some powerful westerly gusts were blowing across the face and making my slow, fitful progress all the more sketchy. One prolonged gust in particular made me consider whether to continue but as it happened this proved to be the last one of note. Skogshorn from the road The route starts up the left side of the triangle in the lower right of the photo and then continued up the rib on the skyline  After the first couple of pitches the climbing became much easier. Both in terms of technical difficulty and with regards the rock stability. All of which ...

Matias and I were making things somewhat hard for ourselves. Firstly due to sleep deprivation, having stayed up too late at the Ballesteinfestival in Bø i Telemark the previous evening. Albeit sober, as a consequence of missing the Saturday 6pm supermarket curfew for alcohol sales. Secondly the final stretch of road to Hægefjell proved to be shut 5km before the camping area, making the approach a little more sporting. At least an opportunity to wake-up, magnified by a gusty north-easterly wind that was meeting with us. Hopefully we would be in its lee once on the route. Road closure The approach Hægefjell in the distance It had rained lightly throughout the night, however the Sunday forecast looked excellent and with a casual starting time we hoped to find some dry rock somewhere. Gone with the Weed  had been our first choice but the broad streaks of seepage descending the entirety of the route firmly placed it in the 'wet' category. Heavy seepage also affecte...