Vardtinden is a 1,151 meter peak located on the Southwest side of the Lyngen Alps. It can be found within the Lakseldalen Valley and offers good west facing slopes directly from the road. With a mixture of both mellow and steep slopes it is a great place to ski tour for all ability levels. Mix that with relatively easy access you could be standing on the summit in a few hours.
Starting my 2015 Norwegian Touring Season
After a week long road trip from the Austrian Alps to Northern Norway Juho, Kuutti and I drove among the Lyngenfjord. The word on the street was that snow conditions were icy so we needed to find a ski tour that had options for slope angles.
Heading around the South end of the Lyngen Alps we started driving up the Lakseldalen Valley. A sign greeted us to let us know that we were in the Tromsø Commune (basically Tromso County) and although the sky was clear, looking up at the slopes there didn’t seem to be any fresh snow.
Skinning up the Lakseldalen Valley
Leaving the car we made our way through the scratchy trees that Northern Norway is famous for. What at first was a handful of trees quickly became thick as we looked above at open slopes.
Battling our way up we finally started skinning faster once past the trees. With every step more and more terrain opened up. This was my first time in the area and it was quickly apparent why this is such a good ski touring zone within the Lyngen Alps.
Climbing the Upper Slopes of Vardtinden
Before long we were on the upper slopes of Vardtinden making our way towards the summit. With the conditions being icy we were hoping to find a south facing chute that would hold good corn.
Once next to the summit of Vardtinden we starting looking into the west facing bowl for potential lines. Throwing a rock onto the slopes it didn’t leave a dent so we knew it was going to be firm.
Riding down an Icy Slope on Vardtinden
Admitting defeat we rode into the main cirque scraping our way down the ice. Once arriving into the valley below I couldn’t help but notice some awesome looking lines. The lower we got the better the conditions were as the best turns were in the the lower trees.
Sorry that there are no photos as the conditions were marginal and at the time I didn’t think to get riding pictures. This was my only time ski touring this area but I definitely plan on going back and would recommend it to other people.
Thank you for reading this Trip Report.
Below is the other trips in my 2015 Spring Season attempting to find good snow.