Jukulkula (WI4, 280m)

After a late, albeit eventually good, start to the season the warm weather over Christmas and New Year pretty much killed off the possibilities of climbing some of the south facing objectives that were right at the top of my to-do list during January. There were of course plenty in reserve though and one route that has always eluded me is Jukulkula, which is a regional classic. It had already seen a number of ascents this season (not least from Pete Whittaker) meaning there was near certainty that we would find the route in good climbable condition. I also had a solid partner in Gareth, who was equally happy to solo the easy lower pitches in order to improve our climbing efficiency. That of course meant a little more time in bed could be afforded.

Jukulkula, viewed not far from the parking spot

The approach was surprisingly easy. The online guide stated an hour but we were beneath the route in what can't have been more than 40 minutes, despite there not being the easiest of snow conditions. Bare frozen ground was covered by a fair amount of powder and not much else, which made grip underfoot a sometimes rare commodity.

The first three pitches were largely WI2 when sticking to the weakest line, with a little bit of WI3 near the start. After running up Fabrikkfossen in a couple of hours the previous weekend, during which I placed just one runner, I was more than happy to forego the rope in the lower part. Conditions on Fabrikkfossen had essentially been perfect with first time placements the whole up. Jukulkula on the other hand needed a little more care as the slabby sections in particular had a habit of dinnerplating. Occasionally there would be an ominous delaminating cracking sound from within the ice. There was also a fair amount of cruddy ice on some sections that needed to be kicked into pieces and dispatched down the route in order to find usable ice beneath. Needless to say we needed to be doubly cautious about climbing beneath one another. The pair that started climbing a short while after us had no such luxury. All that we could do was to try and avoid sending any dinnerplates down the route that were larger than necessary, or at least shout a warning cry that they were incoming. Jukulkula's fairly uniform steepness in the lower half meant that any ice falling down the route tended not to get too much aerial time, or explode into smaller pieces on their way down. Fortunately when the ice became steeper it generally also became more consistent in nature and less brittle.

Near the start of the route

Gareth soloing what is probably the second pitch

Probably the third pitch 

With the easy ground solo'ed we were left with two pitches that needed to be pitched. The first, which fell to Gareth, consisted of a steep slab that was about 20m high. Soon after starting the pitch we were reminded that this was a south facing route by the appearance of the sun from behind the opposite ridgeline. With immediate effect the route quickly undertook a more alpine character, which left us debating whether a pair of cat 4 sunglasses wouldn't have gone amiss. Then a few minutes later it began to snow, or what at least seemed to, but it was actually just snow releasing itself from the tree branches above the route. With snowfall nowhere but in our immediate vicinity it resembled some sort of film set.

Snow and sunshine in close competition with one another on the fourth pitch

Gareth near the top of the fourth pitch

The final pitch fell to me. The pitch has a reputation for being quite different in character from year to year, with the ice in the final part often in excess of 80 degrees. In today's case it was a steady affair. At least from a technical perspective it was, with big features to use as steps and a fair amount of air in the ice so as to quickly find deep, solid axe placements without much effort. The trade-off of course was that my ice screws were complete rubbish, but in spite of this the large formations maintained the sense of 'fun' climbing. At 13:10 I was already on top of the route. It had felt a very steady outing, no doubt due to the good pace maintained throughout the route.

Me leading the final pitch (Photo by Gareth Lord)

Near the top of the final pitch (Photo by Gareth Lord)

The walk-off didn't sound an attractive prospect with little in the way of any underlying neve, and the trees lining the route made the decision all the more easier to start abseiling. Of course the easy angled snowy slabs in the lower half meant a fair of amount of rope faff due to them repeatedly knotting or catching on small branches but of course we were in no rush by this point.

We were back at the car around eight hours after our departure and feeling surprisingly fresh. Usually these sorts of long routes on a Saturday ensure that Sunday is a more relaxing cragging day. On this occasion however we would hopefully be fresh enough for more of the same.