Ice climbing in Norway

hi there! Every year for the past 4 to 5 years we have been going to Cogne for a week.This year we are thinking to change things up by going to Norway instead and I do have some questions.
Anyone been there? how is the climbing? We heard of Rjukan mostly. For reference we essentialy climb MP with under 3 hours approach.
Do we need to rent a car? Any advice on hotels/places to stay?
Is there a best period to go there? easiest for us would be one of the first two week of february
Any topo? Cannot seems to find one in english

Any idea/info appreciated, thanks!

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I've also been considering a trip here, but things seem unlikely for this upcoming season for me. The area I could find most info on was rjukan, but setesdal or hemesdal are both other options. I purchased guidebooks for both rjukan and setesdal. Rjukan seems to have a higher concentration, especially great single pitch. Setesdal seemed to be more spread out, but with tons of excellent options, plenty of stellar looking multipitch routes out there. I'm based out of the US so I bought physical guidebooks, but I believe rockfax may have digital stuff on there. Seems mid January to late feburary was the most consistent time from what I found online, but the season seems to be relatively long. Definitely seemed like a car would likely be necessary to get around though. I bought the guidebooks from climb-europe.com/

Would consider reaching out to Andreas Wenk in Oppdal. I went through this search early this year and ended up having him recommended to me. It’s hard to throw a rock and not find a good waterfall e.g this: http://leeharrisonclimbing.blogspot.com/2017/03/tftfossen-wi4-drivdalen.html?m=1 but might be worth trading a couple days of guiding for as much beta as you can eat. You’ll need a car and depending on where you’re heading, winter tires and 4WD. Oppdal is convenient as you’re centrally located to be able to chase good weather and conditions whether Drivdalen or Sunndal or Romsdalen. January conditions can be good but less light per day compared to say February. The further north you go, the tighter that light window gets but no personal experience north of Tromdheim. Happy to answer anything else that pops up. March might be the happy mix of daylight, weather, ability to ski tour, and the ability to ice climb. There’s some great guidebooks available but they don’t seem to make their way out of the country. Approaches vary from ten meters to a car to a few hours bootpacking.

TL:DR ended up spending three weeks in country this year and you’re in for a treat.

I’ve been considering a trip here for awhile as well but will not likely get there this season as I’m trying to target AK if I can find a partner.

The places I’ve saved from there have been from the what I’ve been able to google and creep on peoples social media.

Matthias scherer would be a good pro to reach out to for this info and he’s pretty responsive on his social media. The spots I’ve seen there are rjukan, senja, narvik and tromso.

What grades are you looking for and how big of climbs? Finnkona is probably as impressive of a pure ice line as you’ll find anywhere in the world but goes at 6+ I believe.

So really depends on what you’re looking for. I would highly recommend renting a car wherever you go based on what I’ve researched. I would get a flight into the arctic near lofoten if you want the big lines 

$$$$$ Norway is pricey booze is outrageous 

L.L. Biner

Ricky Retardo

LL Biner wrote:

$$$$$ Norway is pricey booze is outrageous 

L.L. Biner

Ricky Retardo

Can’t be that much worse than Switzerland or most mountain spots in the US.

I spent 4 weeks in Norway this summer and I live in Switzerland. I would say they are very similar in price except alcohol which is more expensive in Norway. If you cook your own meals most of the time and aren't reliant on alcohol, then it's no big deal.

thanks for all the info guys. we are just a bit worried that the logistic of it will be time consuming for a week (ie. fly, rent a car, drive there, etc) vs. Cogne where you can just drive there with your car under 4 hours and enjoy great cheap food every night in restaurants.... We want to be sure it would be worth it, any topo online?

Rjukan is very easy logistically. I was there last season for 4 days of climbing, we managed 14 routes (half were multipitch). 

The climbing in the gorge is ace, walk ins are very short (mostly sub 30mins for the gorge stuff).

Renting a car is definitely the best option and gives you flexibility, the drive is about 3hrs, but there is barely any traffic and the roads are cleared quickly after snowfall.

We flew from the UK, overall the trip was comparable to the same amount of time in Scotland cost wise.

Airbnb worked out at $20 a night per person. If you cook food was similar to UK prices, some things cheaper some more expensive. Alcohol is expensive, but not crazy. Car hire is expensive, make sure you get a hybrid or an electric with enough range (most new cars in Norway are electric).

Best of all it's quiet and there is loads of ice,. Other than at Krokan we didn't see many other teams.

The Oxford Alpine Club guidebook is good, rockfax has quite a bit on the app too.

Lots of info to be found here: 

for rjukan: https://www.facebook.com/groups/118510158161538

and: https://adventure.norrona.com/en/eastern-norway/norrona-ice-festival

Gudbrandsdalen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2573205959668747

Aurland, Lærdal and Årdal: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2249670705058347

Most of the facebooks have guide books, just go to "files..

Hire a dieselcar, (crossing the mountains in winter with an electric is possible, but a hassle for sure) 

4wd is nice, but not nessesary. most of us dont have it. The roads are being clared for snow quite effectively.

A week is a bit short, why not get 2 weeks off at least?

Norway is half the price it was 10 years ago for you americans, I was in the us in 2012 and felt like a king, now the NOK is down 50% against USD. So this could be a good time to come to Norway for you :D

Yeah, Norway felt very cheap compared to a recent trip to California...

FWIW, we decided to stick with Cogne one more time, so many great lines there and very hassle free.
We will rethink about Norway if one time we have 2 weeks worth of climbing available
Thanks all for the great info anyway