The last three days of our Lofoten Island rock climbing trip were the most amazing of the trip…
Paradiset
Richard and Laetitia led the very fine and un-protected slab pitch of By the Dashboard LightThen it rained! So we went to Svolvaer for coffee, cakes, and ice-cream. Richard wanted to go back every day after that for more Royal ice-cream! 😀
Vestpillaren, take-1 and Store Festvag
Friday’s forecast was awesome, sunny, warm, and no (arctic) wind. Richard and I planned an ascent of Vestpillaren. According to the guidebook, it is the MUST DO route of the Lofoten Islands. Vestpillaren is nearly 500m long – a 12 pitch monster of a rock climb!
The only problem was that everyone else thought the same about the weather. We arrived at 10am (no rush with 24 hours of daylight) and were still waiting in line at 11am. The (British) team in front had taken over an hour for the leader to do the first pitch. When the second then decided to take a pee before starting to climb, followed by falling from the first move of the pitch we realised we were behind a seriously slow team! Plus there were at least ten more people above them on the route already – traffic jams were guaranteed. All that with a minimum of eight hours climbing with a clear route and two hours descending after that looked bad. We decided to come back on Saturday, and join Paul and Laetitia at Store Festvag…
What an awesome place. Perhaps some of the best pitches of climbing of the holiday.
The slab is much steeper than it looks in this ultra-wide-angle shot.
We resolved to get up at 6am to be first on Vestpillaren on our second attempt; our last opportunity before leaving the islands. Unfortunately, Friday night is party night in Henningsvaer! At 10pm we went to bed. At midnight the party started! It was loud! Richard declared that there was no chance of getting up early and climbing a 12 pitch route with no sleep, and a headache. So we turned our alarms off and got what sleep we could.
Vestpillaren, take 2
At 11am on our last day we drove below Vestpillaren to dream of what might have been. Amazingly with the help of Paul’s binoculars we could see that there wasn’t a single party on the whole line! 😛 Game on. 😀 Unfortunately Richard was wasted – his and Paul’s room was directly next to the bar where the party had been the night before. However, luckily for me Laetitia was up for it, and after some fast re-packing we set off…
If you know where to look there's a couple of pin-prick dots high on the face; that's us!
The crux, the Slanting Corner, was fantastic. And a relief to get behind us as, excepting the long descent walk, was the last difficulty. The corner itself can just be seen as the lower of two features near the top on the right hand side of the mountain shot above.
What a brilliant route! The best end to the holiday! 😉
That night we enjoyed the party atmosphere in the bar ourselves, this time not cursing the noise!
Kalle
While we climbed Vestpillaren, Paul and Richard went round to Kalle and climbed the Puffrisset… A desperately thin main slab pitch followed by a poor top section. Are those top pitches ever climbed?
… and Finally
Series - Lofoten
- Lofoten Islands
- Bare Blabaer
- An enforced day off…!
- A Day on Gandalf…!
- Lofoten – and to finish, Vestpillaren
- Lofoten – The Facts and Logistics
Great last Blog and a fantastic trip all round. Sitting at home thinking about what we were doing this time last week – don’t ya just hate having to work for a living….! 🙁
Yeah, work sucks! :angry: Wish we were back in Henningsvaer already, enjoying the midnight sun!
if you are sitting at home you’re not working, but I know what you mean if I remember back. glad to see you all had a great time, good routes, good company
For sheer enjoyable climbing and a superb line – Skiloperen too – just around the corner from Lundeklubben!
😉 Great blog and good information – it was great meeting up with you on Only Blueberries and the Gandalf Crag. What a great place the Lofotens are and what delightful people.
I’m off there in just over a week. Feeling quite inspired. Just praying for good weather
Hey Maggie, yeah – hope you have excellent weather! Have you been before? It’s a truly awesome place, and I’m not using that term in an “american dude” way either. It really is absolutely amazing, perhaps one of the best climbing destinations I’ve ever been too. But I can imagine it being quite depressing in the rain…
It was superb. Climbed 10 days out of 13 and could have done something on those two days except the body needed the break – and by the end so did the head. I’d definitely go again!
I had the pleasure to enjoy these incredibly turquoise beaches, too! Just amazing, for a place so far north! Anyone with a sense for the dramatic and romantic landscapes of the Earth should take a closer look to the area!
Thanks for the photos!
J K