The day before my friend Ben Arrived in town my good friend David came up with a plan. We would park off the road then after climbing Instinden via the South side we would ride the North face as Istinden in the Lyngen Alps is one of the best lines in Norway. He is a local and I was game for where ever he wanted to go so I was in as we drove to the bottom of a massive debris path that went all the way to the water and started climbing, first in dirt but after a bit of climbing we finally made it to the snow.
The climb was a consistent steep pitch as we bootpacked up the main bowl before traversing out onto an exposed ridge for the final 100 meters
Heading up the South face of Istinden
After 3 hours of climbing we were finally on the summit taking in the views and getting prepared for our descent.
Standing on the summit of Istinden
Once on the summit we took a while to take in the views of the Lyngen Alps before carefully looking into the North side making sure we weren’t standing on a cornice.
Looking down the North face of Istinden
David dropped in first and found amazing powder conditions and riding down to a safe spot before I caught up with him and we made our way down the 1000 meter face in perfect conditions.
The north face of Istinden in Prime conditions
David making his way over to a safe spot where I am waiting
Once we both were at a safe spot below the upper face making sure not to expose each other to potential sluffs we made our way down the lower slope one at a time all the way to the bottom.
David Dropping into the lower slopes
See you at the bottom
The snow was perfect from top to bottom and didn’t really get effected until we got into the sun on the lower apron
Looking back up at the North face of Istinden
We rode almost to the valley bottom before transitioning and making our way towards Riehppi col and the long descent towards Kviteberg
Once in the valley I looked at all the potential ski trips I could visit on a future trip and knew that I would have to come back to this area at a latter time.
Looking across the valley at Skaidevarri as we traverse to the col
Once on the col we transitioned and did a long ride down towards the Rottenvik Plateau and with a final skin we rode down to the road and the additional 2 kms to get to his house. It was an amazing day for many reasons and one of those lines that sticks out over my years riding Istinden in the Lyngen Alps.The final skin around the lake and looking up at Store Kjostinden in the afternoon sun.
Looking up at Store Kjostinden as we exited the Lyngen Alps
