Goalsevarri and Rornestinden are two of the many beautiful peaks surrounding Lyngsedit in the Lyngen Alps of Norway. Being on the South side of town the area is quite popular during the main touring season with lots of aspects to choose. From powder to corn the area offers great opportunities for ski touring with some of the easiest access around. For this trip we would do a traverse heading West before one final and long run all the way to the Fjiord below. For low stress riding near Lyngesedit this is a classic.
Starting our Ski Tour from Lyngsedit
After to days of waiting for the weather to clear up we were starting to get impatient. Ben had now been in Norway for 3 days and other then our short day on Store Kjostinden we had been inside the whole time. Knowing that the weather was going to be cloudy we decided to head out anyways on a tour close to town. By linking up Goalsevarri and Rornestinden we would hopefully find some good corn in one of the most scenic environments.
Leaving the parking lot we had to put our boards on our packs as there was no snow down low. By then it was already Mid May and the snow was melting off fast.
The moment we hit snow there was a sigh of relief. We battled over skinning or bootpacking but decided that hiking up was faster and kept moving higher up the mountain. By now most of the lower basin was melted out but we made our way from patch of snow to the next.
Looking up the route to Goalsevarri we decided to follow the north ridge as it seemed to be easy traveling. Happy that we weren’t skinning we just put a bootpack straight up the mountain as the sun started coming out.
The slopes got steeper as we made our way up the ridge but finally we made it to a high point and we were up on the high ridge. Making our way towards the summit of Goalsevarri both the East and West slopes dropped off into the clouds below.
Preparing to Snowboard Goalsevarri
Finally we were standing on the summit of Goalsevarri and taking in the views. The weather was in and out and we wanted to time our descent to the East when the slope was in the sun. For the next 30 minutes we sat around taking photos and just waiting for weather to improve.
Our patience slowly ran out as it became obvious that we weren’t going to get our run in the light. With our snowboards on our feet we traversed over to a snow loaded gully and started our descent to the valley below. Before long we were in the basin and happy that the corn was soft enough to get some great turns.
By now we were well into the Midnight sun so we decided to take a long break before heading towards Rornestinden. Finding a few bare rocks we set up camp for a lunch break and took in views of Lyngenfjiord below us.
30 minutes later it was time to start heading North towards Rornestinden. Fortunately the upper basin was filled with snow so we worked with the terrain and gained elevation while the views got better with every step.
With the weather not raining we decided to head past our exit col to the top of Rornestinden to get some extra turns in.
Making our way back to civilisation
Standing up top it was obvious why I persuaded Ben to travel half way around the world to do some ski touring. Every mountain we looked at offered different ability level ski tours. It wasn’t long until we had our boards on our feet and were riding towards the final line of the day.
After riding to the valley we skinned back up to the col and started looking for our final line. It was a run I had done earlier and I knew that we wanted to go the right way to wrap around the cliffs. Looking down the north slopes we could see directly down to the Fjord below.
The long way down Rornestindin
Riding down the snowfield we stuck on the skiers right side and were able to get around the cliff bands. Immediately the stress was gone as we quickly lost elevation a turn at a time with Istinden directly in front of us.
From here on out we could see our line all the way to the valley below and made turns until the snow was gone. Out of all the ski tours in the Lyngen Alps this is quite a scenic line.
3 kilometer exit via the shorelines
Once on the shoreline it was time to put our boards back on our packs and make our way 3 kilometres back to the main road. We were both stoked that we had made the most out of the weather and we still hadn’t been rained on.
Arriving at the road we finally got a good view of our line. We were happy that we were able to make it around the cliff band and have a line all the way into the valley.
We made the most out of our time as we arrived back to our place with the clouds still clinging to the mountains above. Even though the weather had been bad we were still able to tag off a few good lines in the Lyngen Alps. Now it was just waiting again for the weather to improve.
Thank you for reading this trip report on Goalsevarri and Rornestinden.
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