Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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61.52957°N / 8.33656°E |
Route Type:
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Scrambling |
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Time Required:
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Half a day |
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Rock Difficulty:
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Class 4 |
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Difficulty:
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UIAA I/II; UK Moderate |
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Overview
A good scramble on solid rock up the impressive ridge rising above Kyrkjaglupen directly to the summit of Visbretind.Getting There
From Spiterstulen follow the wet (when I was there anyway) but well marked path along the east side of Visdalen to the north east end of Kyrkyetjonne (lake). If you've got camping stuff you want to leave there are some rocks with convenient crevices in them near the large cairn hereabouts (although beware of more unpleasant things others might have left before you!).It takes about 3hrs to walk here from Spiterstulen.
From Leirvassbu reach the same point in about an hour by following the path west towards Spiterstulen along the north shore of Leirvatnet and through Kyrkjaglupen.
Route Description
From the north east tip of Kyrkyetjonne head South East, picking a way up fairly easy angled but boulder ridden slopes. After a while gain a moraine ridge adjacent to the Visbreen glacier with traces of a path. Ascend the crest of the moraine ridge to more continuous rocks, which are ascended easily enough as the ridge narrows to a slender neck requiring a slightly exposed move to cross.There are then two steeper pinnacles/steps to ascend, both of which involve nice scrambling on massive flake holds near the crest of the ridge. I thought this section was the crux and might just about warrant Moderate/UIAA II.
Above these steps is a third less steep step, easily ascended, followed by a very narrow section leading to a col where the Visbreen glaier on the left almost comes up to meet the ridge. You could bypass the narrow section on the right but the crest is fun and not hard.
The final section of ridge rising to the summit is less well defined and seems open to variation. I went up what seemed like a logical route slightly on the right of the crest - very direct might be a bit harder or maybe further right a bit easier (although increasingly vague/slabby/scree ridden). The final steepening just before the top is easier than it looks and gives more fun scrambling on giant holds.
Once at the top of the ridge, traverse the narrow summit ridge for c.100m to the top.
Essential Gear
Ice axe / crampons depending on conditions.Descent
The normal route follows a zig zagging line down the straightforward bouldery south west slopes (well marked by cairns but they can be quite hard to spot) before heading up the subsidiary top of Langvasshoe (maybe this can be bypassed on the north flank but I didn't find it!) and turning north west over a few more humps to the col south of Kyrkja (which you should go up if you've got time and enthusiasm as it's easy and excellent and only takes an hour or two).From the col there's a well marked path descending east to Horvaglen and thence to Leirvassbu.
If you're going back to Kyrkjaglupen/Spiterstulen you can either:
i) (longer) go to Leirvassbu and walk to Kyrkjagulpen on the main Spiterstulen path; or
ii) (rougher) descend a mixture of the north edge of the snowfield/glacier to the east of the col and the loose boulders on it's left hand side before walking round Kyrkyetjonne to join the path between Leivassbu and Spiterstulen. Please note, although this "snowfield" isn't shown on the 1:50 000 DNT map, it had some fairly sizeable crevasses in 2011 - so have a look and take care!