On one of the many stormy days throughout the season we decided to take a scenic drive to check out the West side of Rostafjellet. Looking at the 3 kilometer long cliff face you could see numerous different couloirs. Once getting a closer look I could see that most of them ended in ice cliffs but there was one that seemed to go. I put it in the back of my list waiting for the perfect day.
By now the Tamokdalen area had received 40 cms of snow and it was still snowing hard. We decided to head out to the Rostafjellet hoping that it would be in the rain shadow with a bit less new snow.
Riding the West Couloir of Rostafjellet
The moment Jukkis and I drove away from the Tamokdalen valley the weather started improving. It was nuking snow over the past three days and we were still mid storm. Driving on the west side of Rostavatn we got glimpses of the couloir.
We parked right next to the creek drainage and started checking out the line. From what we could see there seemed to be a waterfall in the lower gully but up higher looked good. We couldn’t see all the way to the top but according to maps he line went.
At first we started in the creek as it was filled with snow and didn’t involve battling trees. Before long we reached the waterfall section and it was obviously unclimbable. We decided to cut left into the trees as we saw a upper ramp into the couloir much higher up.
The trees were thick and steep as we made our way up. Some spots would be solid ice while other sections was a few cms of wind drifted snow. Though it wasn’t too difficult to get through it seemed that if we rode down it we wouldn’t be able to open up our turns.
Around 400 meters later we reached the tree line and the base of the massive rock band. Looking at the area before it seemed that there was a mellow ramp back into the gully so we went to check it out.
5 minutes later and a few meters lower we were able to easily traverse over to the main gully. It was covered in avalanche debris but the snow off to the sides was deep fresh snow.
From our perspective it looked steep so we switched over to crampons and started booting up the line. There was a lot of wind transported snow so we stuck to the right side as it was much more wind scoured.
After climbing through the steep base couloir we were on the flatish bench that separated to couloirs with the huge rock in between them. Noticing that there was a nice sheltered spot we made our way over there to take a break and prepare for the main climb.
Heading up to the main section of the couloir we couldn’t see the top. All we could see was a nice looking line that wrapped around the cliffs.
The higher we climbed it seemed it kept getting steeper and steeper with some sections being firm but most was knee deep powder.
We had been sitting at our accomditions for a full day before we decided to get out. By now it was snowing heavily and what was ice two days ago had around 20cms of fresh snow on top of it. A few hours before sunset we decided to check out the Southwest ridge to see if we could find a semi safe climbing route and if visibility is bad we could follow our bootpack back down.
A rock at a time we made our way up the chute while being blasted by wind. Though there was quite a bit of snow it felt stable under or feet and it had seemed to have bonded pretty well.
We arrived on the top of our line when the weather seemed to be the worst. If we thought the wind was bad in the couloir it was twice as bad on the summit plateau. Immediately we found a spot with a deep enough snowpack and built up some walls for shelter. Occasional we would look over the walls to confirm that is was still windy and cloudy.
After around 30 minutes of waiting the visibility seemed to improve and we made our way back to the line. Standing on top of the West Couloir of Rostafjellet it looked steep but we knew there was good snow below.
From the moment Jukkis started snowboarding he was kicking up snow with every turn. Before riding we agreed on riding to a safe spot before the next person dropped in.
While the snow was good on the left side it was quite a bit deeper on the right as I slashed my way down the steep top section.
The upper part of the line was a bit tight but more then enough room to make turns with the snowboard.
With us being in the clouds it was good to have the rock walls as a reference.
Before long we were taking the last turns in the upper couloir before arriving at the flatish bench below. We were already excited about how good the conditions were up high and soon we would have to make a decision of how we would like to ride down.
Finally we were once again in sight of the lake below and had to make a decision. Would we ride back down the trees our attempt to go down the main gully as far as possible. Though it was still pretty flat light we were happy to be out of the clouds on the summit.
The plan was to ride the gully as far as possible and try to wrap around the waterfall. After riding through the lower chute we were back into the open gully with some of the deepest snow.
After a few hundred meters we reached our first crux which with closer inspection we could see was rideable. Being less then the width of a snowboard we were going to have to point it to make it through.
Back in the lower gully it was some of the best conditions with wind loaded snow. It seemed that all the snow that was in the trees had blown into the gully but before long we were at a small flat just above the waterfall. After a quick climb into the forest on the skiers left and some adventurous snowboarding we were making our final turns back to the car.
The West Couloir on Rostafjellet is a great line when the conditions are right. Being a steep chute it would have a trench down the middle of it in late spring so the best riding would be in late winter or powder conditions. As the line that it met up with that had a huge ice cliff and it seemed we ticked off what was one of the two rideable chutes through the cliff bands.
Thanks For Reading this and here is a link if you want to check out more
Ski Tours in the Tamokdalen area
Options for Other Ski Tours Tours Abroad
Snowboarding in the Cascade Mountains
Exploring the Khibney Mountains of Russia
Lyngen and Lofoten in Northern Norway
Huge Thanks to Jarkko, Christel and Aadne for having me help take care of the Tamokhuset.
Thanks For Reading this and here is a link if you want to check out the area
Ski Tours in the Tamokdalen area
Options for Other Ski Tours Tours Abroad
Snowboarding in the Cascade Mountains
Exploring the Khibney Mountains of Russia
Lyngen and Lofoten in Northern Norway
Huge Thanks to Jarkko, Christel and Aadne for having me help take care of the Tamokhuset.