Hardangerjøkulen traverse
5th - 7th september 2026 · Leaders: Vlad, Artem, with Jesper assisting
The trip started a week early, with two theory evenings at Fantoft climbing gym, and continued with a full training day on the glacier: rope-team movement, crampon technique, stations, crevasse rescue. By the evening everyone could tie the knots they needed and understood why each of them exists.
Day two began early at Finse. The approach through Middalen was a straightforward march, and the tongue gave good walking until the real work started: an ice wall of sustained 30°+, closed off by a crevasse labyrinth. To keep to the schedule, the tour leader and assistant moved fast and light ahead of the group, reading the line and placing the running protection for the ascent 15 screws at roughly ten metres' spacing, a zigzag through the labyrinth with each turn on a solid rib, dimensioned so a whole rope team fits between the turns. The group then followed in two teams of four and five, clipping the points as they climbed. For most of the participants it was the first time intermediate protection was something you feel through the harness rather than see on a whiteboard.
On the cap the weather showed its usual character: cloud banks spilling over the ridge, flat light swallowing the horizon for an hour at a time. We kept navigation tight and moved in the windows; the summit gave a short spell of blue sky and a lunch stop, and by mid-afternoon we were at Jøkulhytta, weighing the descent. Light holding, wind down, we committed to Blåisen.
Getting onto Blåisen meant scouting a snow wall, and the descent closed with the day's most careful piece of work: a three-metre crevasse bridge, crossed one person at a time, belayed on an ATC from a quad anchor. Movement on Blåisen after the descent from the snow wall was easy, with some crevasses, but without any sections requiring ropework. Late-season ice, sun cups and melt channels underfoot kept everyone honest until we stepped off the glacier.
A good traverse, a strong group, and a glacier that taught everyone more than any evening lecture could. Takk for turen!
