Climb Norway’s national mountain and then spend a week in the climbers and walkers playground that is the Lofoten Isles.

This trip is scheduled so that I can meet up with a friend of mine who is working in Lofoten and unfortunately the only week she can get off clashes with Jim’s alpine trip. Although, there is the option to leave a couple of days early, to head down to the alps, and have an epic fortnight of climbing and alpinism!

If you would like to join this trip or have any questions then please get in touch!  Due to the cost of car hire it makes most sense to organise people into groups of 4. I’m happy to coordinate linking up individuals or smaller groups, if needed.

The Plan

Friday the 19th

Fly to Harstad / Narvik Airport (EVE), pick up the hire cars, and drive ~2 hrs to Stetind. Set up camp and try to get some sleep in the midnight sun (eye masks recommended).

Saturday the 20th & Sunday the 21st

Stetind – Google Maps

Climb / explore Stetind and the surrounding region.

Stetind has various routes up it, with the easiest being very achievable. It involves a single pitch of Severe climbing, some scrambling and some moving together on a rope alpine style.  However, it is still a big mountain (1394m), and you’re starting at sea level so it shouldn’t be underestimated. Hopefully the two days will give us long enough to get a suitable weather window and to recover a bit afterwards!

For those who don’t fancy a Severe hand traverse pitch with 600m of exposure, there are plenty of other climbing options in the area, as well as lots of walking.

Monday the 22nd

Two ferries and some driving (4-5 hrs total) to get to our accommodation on the Lofoten Islands. We are staying here Forside | Kalle i Lofoten, but there are other Airbnb options in the area that may work out a bit cheaper if that is your priority. If we’re lucky there will be some time for a bit of climbing at the nearby single pitch crag at the end of the day.

Tuesday the 23rd – Saturday the 27th

Climb / scramble / walk / kayak, etc. Lofoten is an amazing place to be for anyone interested in the outdoors! There are innumerable climbing and walking routes, most of the climbing is multi-pitch and is spread over a range of grades.

Sunday the 22nd

Fly home

What to bring

Standard camping, climbing and outdoor gear, expect daytime temperatures between 10 – 15 degrees and at least some rain. The camping spot at Stetind is beside the car park, so you won’t have to carry your gear for. We’ll have to pick up stove fuel when we arrive but otherwise try to bring as many supplies as you can, due to the cost of everything in Norway. If you’ve got space in your luggage then bringing some food could help keep the bills down also, stock up on duty free!

Services

There is and outdoor shop in Narvik, about an hour’s drive from Stetind, and on Lofoten but at Norwegian prices it’s better not to forget anything!

Accommodation

Whilst at Stetind we’ll be wild camping (with a stream for water, and composting toilets). On Lofoten the group so far is staying here; Forside | Kalle i Lofoten but there are also Airbnb’s in the area, if you’d prefer.

Transport

We are flying into Harstad / Narvik Airport (EVE) as it is the closest and flight prices were reasonable when we looked. We will be on the SAS flight from Oslo that lands at 19:10.

There are several other airports within a few hours drive (last time we went to Lofoten we flew to Kiruna in Sweden) but when I last looked, they weren’t that much cheaper and added a lot of driving.

A hire car is the best way to get around the area, there are several car hire companies at the airport.