Our final day on the islands, so I took it easy after a smashing week of Norwegian granite and perfect weather. Ross, Will and Clay climbed Lundeklubben (The Puffin Club) while I had a nap, after which Clay and I followed Ross up Skiløperen, possibly the most impressive looking HVS line I've ever seen.
A brilliant alpine expedition up the north ridge of Vagakallen. The climbing varied between scrambling and exciting crack climbing (with a huge dirty chimney thrown in too) and after many hours of moving up through the thick cloud, we emerged to a stunning panorama of the surrounding mountains. The climax of the route, a leap of faith across the chasm, is quite something too!
The weather looked a bit suspect so we opted for another easy crag day at Pianokrakken. I climbed Applecake Arete and Lys og skygge with Will and then Ross put a great effort in to lead the photogenic route Tapir.
Roadside cragging in Lofoten means solid, multi-pitch granite cracks overlooking glistening blue seas in the sunshine. Ross and I tried to tick all of the Top 50 routes at the crag in a day, failing only because we missed out the route of Gandalf itself. Another day of amazing trad climbing in Arctic Norway.
Tucked away above the little town of Svolvær is the Napes Needle of Lofoten (although it is considerably more impressive than its Wasdale equivalent). The famous twin ears at the top have an infamous jump between them, which none of us fancied. The pillar was first ascended in 1910 which is pretty remarkable and we climbed both the original 1910 route and the more exciting 5-pitch Forsida.
Team ascent of Bare Blåbær, pronounced in English as "bleur bleurbleur". "Only Bilberries" is a Norwegian expression meaning an easy task, and the hardest part of the day for Clay and Ross was finding the route itself..
