The Sunnmøre Alps

It’s steep, too steep to skin, so we take off our split skis and replace them with boot crampons and an ice axe. Oscar Almgren, the founder (and head guide even if he won’t admit it) of Uteguiden, is smiling from ear to ear. He’s in his element deep in the backcountry, far away from the near endless tasks of running one of Norway's biggest outdoor guiding companies.

As Oscar kicked steps into the hard but somewhat crumbling snow pack, heading for the summit of Grøtdalstindane, he seems carefree. I wish I could say the same but I'm just thinking ‘I really don’t want to fall right now.’

Chilling at the top, I try not to think about the bootpack down to where we’d left our boards (why is it always harder on the way down?). Oscar points out Skårasalen, a peak that we’d climbed yesterday, on the other side of a now greening valley and we could also look down on the village of Sæbø and our hotel. If I’d thought the side of Grøtdalstindane that we’d climbed was steep, the south side, which is viewable from our fjord side hotel, is a near-sheer slab of imposing black rock even snow wouldn’t dare cling to.

It’s not hard to see why Oscar has migrated to his now home of Stranda from Stockholm via a stint in Åre. Stranda, which sits in the heart of the Sunnmøre Alps (Sunnmørsalpane), is a small town with a massive amount of adventure on its doorstep as there are literally peaks in all directions. Lounging on a Scandi cool sofa in the Uteguiden office, which is actually a very stylish cafe/community hub currently full of a large group of women and one token young guy preparing to set off on a run and bun meet, and having just eaten a to-die-for cinnamon bun. I wish I’d had a run first too as I can feel the doughy treat filling my ever increasing winter gut.

Oscar explains that he’d first dreamed of Utegudien while studying on a Wilderness course in Åre, and he’d even used the name Uteguiden in a proposed case study. It must have been hard to think it would become a reality when he first moved to a tiny slope side cabin in Stranda ski resort, where he worked as ski patrol. Luckily, he met a good woman, stayed put and has now built more than just a company, as it honestly feels like it's part of the glue that holds the town of Stranda together. Before he arrived the town’s reputation was built on the 45 million frozen pizzas that are made here each year.

“There’s no point in being here if I’m not giving back! The bank called me when the local climbing wall went bust, so we bought it as it almost runs itself, and the rest of the business can help support it. No one climbs in the day time so the local school use it for the kids sports lessons, the locals and guides climb in the evenings and the guides even enjoy route setting it. It’s the same with the cafe, it wouldn’t be here without the guiding work we have supporting it as it’s simply not profitable as a stand alone business.”

While I finish off my bun and coffee, I watch the guides rush around unplugging electric vans and filling them with kit as they head off to meet their clients for the day’s ski touring/splitboarding adventure. And it’s not just a winter operation, Summer here is far busier, with sea kayaking, hiking, climbing, cycling and more on offer.

Lofoten Islands Film:
A Splitboarding Story

A ragtag bunch of splitboarders and ski tourers, join forces for a week of riding the sharks teeth spines of Norway’s far north.

We’d started the trip in the stunning city of Ålesund, which is well worth a visit. It’s around an hour and a half from the Kvitegga trailhead and, as we’d flown in the night before, we’d arrived at the start point a little late on our first day to tackle the local classic. It’s accessed from a little layby between tunnels, which now link villages together and which historically you’d have needed a boat to do. After a steep switchback path on foot, we toured up a ridge line to 1489m, which may sound low compared to the alps, but was still a 1100m climb as we’d started at around 350m above sea level. It was late April and Spring was trying to see off Winter, with the snow line being around 500m and the valley floor slowly turning green.

After riding some heavy snow on the way down, Oscar informed us, in his very relaxed but on point style, that the best we can hope for this week, as there was no snow forecast, is cold nights and warm days, so we’d get a freeze-thaw situation, “that way we can climb in the mornings and time our descents to that magic springtime snow between crust and gloop.” and to be fair to Oscar that’s exactly what we did, almost to perfection every other day.

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Ålesund and surrounding Sunnmøre Alps are about 250 miles south of the arctic circle, and as such the days in April are long, and it never gets dark all day even in the depths of December. When we were there it was getting dark around 21:00 so there was no mad rush in the mornings once we’d based ourselves in Sæbø, with 9:00 meet ups the norm, lunch on the summits, and on sunny days the perfect southern slopes being in the early afternoon, so we were finished by 4 or 5 most days. This led to a few pre-dinner saunas and terrifyingly cold North Sea dips at the excellent grass-roofed Sagafjord Hotel, before what can only be described as excellent dinners and a nightcap. The chef of the Sagafjord Hotel is a prize asset that they really must keep, with the Arctic cod being the best anyone in our group had ever had.

We’ve had 3 days of touring around Sæbø, with only a short 20 minute or so drive each day and after three nights and some wonderful peaks we shifted focus to the village and ski resort of Stranda, staying at the super stylised Mivo apartments complete with true Scandinavian design and our own little suna to boot. We’d been hard at it for a few days so we relaxed into looping the lifts of Stranda the next day. It was a Sunday and the resort was full of, but not busy with, local kids and Ålusand day trippers tearing up the park and slopes. Some of the really tiny kids were getting crazy air time, which was both hysterical and terrifying at the same time. It’s a really chilled resort with two mountain areas accessed and a large touring bowl just off the gondola. We all thoroughly enjoyed feeling like a local for the day, carving down the well groomed pistes while being overtaken by six year olds straight lining it, with grandad in tow laughing his head off.

After a day of resort rest we were back in the skin track, heading for Skårasalen. When I say skin track what I really mean is hiking up a steep forest trail with a board on our backs. It was hot work and I was really glad when we eventually got to the snow line. My heart sank when I saw how far the summit was, but I compartmentalised it into sections and surprisingly it wasn’t as far as I’d thought, and after a few hours I was happily clipping in on the summit, with a steep southern pitch falling away below. After ragging some wonderful spring turns we were back in the forest with a much shorter hike out. Hot and thoroughly worn out we headed to the local shop for ice creams, and our world was all good again.

Our last tour was a real treat. With only a very short walk in, Ystevasshornet at 1330m is a real adventure. Firstly, after a short forest you have to ascend a couloir, which was somewhat icy so we boot packed it, then there’s a gentle-ish eastern approach. You can simply turn around here and head back the same way, but Oscar had his eye on a 35 to 40 deg chute which, after dropping in and making some lovely turns, got a little icy and at one point had just enough snow to pick your way through rocks before opening up for more sweet turns down to a moraine field and lake. We ate lunch on a mossy patch of rock, before climbing back up the south face on lookers right, which turned out to be a right slog as the snow was sliding off leaving an icy crust underneath, thankfully nothing that couldn’t be handled with ski crampons on. Once back on the eastern flank of Ystevasshornet we climbed a little higher to avoid a flat spot, and then rode back to the car, with the icy north facing couloir still a little hard to bring out our a-game again.

It was hard saying goodbye to Oscar and his backyard. He’s such good company and knows almost every twist and turn of the mountains here. He’s truly built something special in the small village of Stranda, his staff all seem really happy to be there and the town’s really benefited from his drive, vision and willingness to give back. All I can really say is: before you head off to the far north you should check out the Sunnmøre Alps and Uteguiden. You’ll be happy you did!

Arctic Splitboard Festival

It’s 3 am as I roll out of bed, yet it’s not dark, there’s a twilight that is known to the beasts of the forest and the few crazy splitboarders who see it fit to drag themselves not just out of bed, but up a mountainside before the sun breaks the horizon…

How Do I

Uteguiden offer excellent guided backcountry packages throughout the region

Visit Northwest for local information

Visit Norway for general information on Norway

Norwegian Airlines for flights to Ålesund and across the region/country.

Avis offer competitive rental rates and offer good winter vehicles

Train and Bus

Bus from Ålesund to Åndalsnes, then train to Dombas, and another train to Oslo (the section between Åndalsnes and Dombas is magnificent and well worth the trip on its own) https://entur.no/ for ticket info