Info About Háhttagáisi
Háhttagáisi is one of the more prominent peaks within the Tamokdalen Backcountry. While it is easy to access from the road this area also boasts the widest avalanche path in all of Norway. The South face starts off steep before mellowing out into an avalanche swath that is 3 kilometres wide. Summiting the peak is a bit of a challenge having to wrap around to the north side for an easy climb. With a summit Elevation of 1,407 meters it offers a 1,200 meter run directly back to the road.
Why Háhttagáisi
After doing the Melkefjellet and Istinden Ridge Traverse the day before it was time to head for South facing corn. Looking at the forecast it seemed that we were going to have the first warm day of Spring. Looking at our options we came upon the South Couloir of Háhttagáisi. Being one of the more exposed lines in the area we needed to drop in before it was too warm and became unstable.
Heading up Before the Heat of the Day
Leaving the car early in the morning we had a clear view of Háhttagáisi. The summit cliff band was broken by a small chute before the open face below. Underneath was a 3 kilometre long avalanche swath with trees barely poking out of the snowpack. This was not a place to make mistakes.
We ski toured up the skiers right side in semi firm snow with the plans of being on the summit before 11 a.m.
We had decided to wrap around the west side of Háhttagáisi before climbing up the Northwest slopes. Making our way over to the ridge we transitioned to snowboarding and did a painful toeside traverse before climbing up a mellow and direct slope to the summit.
On the Summit an Hour too Late
Our route had taken longer than we had expected arriving on the top just before noon. By now it was really warm and the snow under our feet was starting to tun to slush.
Looking down the South Couloir we debated over dropping in. We could only see the upper section and after a bit of time decided that it was way too dangerous. If someone had gotten caught in a wet slide they would have been dragged over a cliff band below.
Wrapping Around to the South Face of Háhttagáisi
Heading for Plab B we rode off the summit down the Northwest slope before traversing back to the west ridge. While it wasn’t the line we were hoping for there was still nice turns to be had.
Dropping in we started making fall line turns towards the car below. The snow was wet and heavy but made for fun riding. Instead of going on the steeper face to the east we went with a much mellower slope.
Making our way over to the base of the steeper slope an avalanche had gone off since we were last there. It had run all the way to the ground with what used to be snow now being sharp rocks with a massive amount of avalanche debris below. Though we were a bit sad that we didn’t do the chute we were happy with our choice of turning back. If we had gone down the South chute there was a good chance one of us could have triggered an avalanche.
In the end it is better to be a bit conservative than to charge it and hope for the best.
If you are interested in this ski tour here is the topo route below
