Lee Harrison Climbing

Venstrelinja on Hydnefossen was not remotely on my radar as a climbing objective until a few hours after climbing the classic, easier neighbouring line, Midtlinja. Midtlinja had felt a full test of my abilities on the first failed attempt, but better route-finding on the second visit had made it feel a comparatively steady outing and benchmark for the grade. I definitely wasn't finished with the Hydnefossen experience, which meant I needed a new challenge to start obsessing about, and on Hydnefossen this generally means a harder challenge.  The first test was trying to find someone willing to attempt Venstrelinja with me. Moving up to a higher grade might have made partner recruitment a harder project, but luckily Fredrik said yes with little evidence of hesitation.  The forecast for the coming weekend wasn't ideal, but I was off to Scotland the following weekend, and so my next opportunity wouldn't otherwise be until mid-March. There seemed therefore a possibility of missi...

Hydnefossen is a waterfall that I was in awe of long before I ever felt capable of climbing it. Its prominent position over the main Hemsedal valley makes it impossible to miss. It has drawn my eye both summer and winter and it is undoubtedly Hemsedal's jewel in the crown when it comes to ice climbing. This awe has grown into an obsession of late. It's a waterfall that I've geared my winter season around. I even turned down an offer to visit the Canadian Rockies in case Midtlinja ('the middle line' in English) on Hydnefossen came into condition in my absence. Nobody successfully climbed Hydnefossen to my knowledge last season and the way the season was panning out, with some significant warm periods, I wasn't expecting much different this time around.  Then a report of an ascent of Midtlinja, with good conditions reported... That one took me by surprise!  My friend Murilo was visiting from the UK for four days. I popped the Hydnefossen question and he w...

The hardest element of climbing Hardis at Sørstulen seemed to be getting through the barrier at the start of the private road. The 200kr fee for using the road is around three to four times the typical rate, and arguably exploitative, but pragmatically it's still cheaper than Jeroen and I visiting a climbing wall together, and the quality of climbing at Sørstulen was top notch on my last visit a few years ago. It was worth biting the bullet and paying. We sent the text, with the car registration details as described, waited for the barrier to lift, but nothing happened, apart from receiving a 200 kr invoice by SMS. It was 8:20am and the customer services were not available to speak to until 9am. I tried sending another text ten minutes later but it was the same outcome. Another invoice. We waited patiently until 9am. Sending an angry email to the same customer services helped pass the time. Jeroen meanwhile Googled and tried several optimistic ways to trick the gate to op...