Kjerringhelvetet - Haugfjell

This summer has produced a lot of weather in all kind of styles.
From super warm in the beginning of june to really miserable and rainy stuff in the end of the summer. One day sun, next day rain.
But overall, I have been most lucky and had the good sunny stuff on the important days.
So a trip up to Norway and E-Fjord booked in august with a few weeks of work I thought that I could lengthen that with a week or 10 days to get some private time for some bigger routes and maybe even to be able to look for a new route.

Kjerringveggen

But how wrong this would become. After the first week of sun the weather turned Norwegian style and I became to spend most of my time in my new running shoes, weightlifting in the gym and reading at the sofa in the back of my van. Luckily my good friend Jonny was in Riksgränsen so we could at least focus on good dinners and wine...

There is also some good fishing opportunities, view from the top.

So this meant I soon gave up the ideas of bigger routes and focused the climbing towards Haugfjell. A quite nice mountain some 20k after the border to Norway. Easy access and good solid granit with every type of climbs; slabs and  steep cracks. But not so high and most of the bigger things already climbed.
So, it was to my surprise to find, at least for me, a new wall with a bunch of steep sport climbs, bolted and trad route and up to 25mts high at Kjerringveggen. And even more surprise to find a bolted route that hadn't been freed yet, but an open project perfectly bolted!
Good thing when someone puts up a new topo like the "Dancing on the Devils dance floor" written by Mikael Ekenstam and Lars Thulin via Topptur Förlag.
This wall, suited some 15 min walk west of the parking lot and super easy access is just perfect for unstable days which might produce rain.

Crimping at the best

After a first glance the route looked just super hard, with a good reason that it never had been freed actually.
But after climbing a couple of the other routes like "Skidor är löjligt", "Pilutta" and "Escalade Feminin" I thought I might at least give it a try.
And it was mostly a try. Working my way up past the 4 first bolts quite easy but then I banged straight in to trouble and soon my fingers crimped out and all the skin was gone. Two serious tries and that was it. The crystals was just to sharp and the sequence on the last bit with hard pulls on micro crimps on friction steeps was just to much.

After a weekend ´s rest in the archipelago of Luleå with a lot of finger training I drove back north late in the evening. Scanning the meteo that it would be a couple of sunny days coming in before the next front splashing in from the coast.
So I had an early morning start and got up passing the border again for a second try. A couple of warm up routes and I had an other go.
But, over focused I misjudged the second clip and just fell of by pure f..ked up!
On the second second try I relaxed a bit more and got to the small left hand crimp with a long right reach followed by a right dyno. And felt the pull super easy to hold. But a bit surprised by this I fell of again!! And again my left finger was not up for a third try the same day...so just spending the day on easier stuff. At least able to insight "Hjørnet Direct" 7a.

The next days became mostly gym days, again, combined with a lot of running. But then the day before departure I got the spell I hoped for. It cleared up the evening before and the whole day was to be filled with sun.
So after a healthy breakfast, its always healthy at Jonny´s place, I drove off with a good spirit.
Drove the 22k, parked and walked up to the cliff for the third time in a week. This time I changed the rhythm and only climbed one warm up before my first try. Which was a bad idea. I was stiff and didn't have a good footwork. So again I just slipped of at the start on the second bolt.

So, a new try and this time just let everything go.
Relaxing and memorizing the route during the time I climb an other warm up route;
1:A small slopy hold with the right hand followed by an other for the left and then up to a good right pull.
2:A small left crimp and then up high with the right to a side pull.
3:Left feet up high and a left undercling to reach a crimp with the right hand.
And then easy in to a left finger jam followed by a right easy to pull out right jam.
4:Friction feet up to some good crimps but with very precise feets with a high placement for the left foot and then a long side pull out left to a good side pull, dyno.
5:Change to a better left side pull keeping the right on the crime to place left foot a little higher for the better left pull.
6:Then keep the right hand on the crimp and move the body out right and feels more right to take the weight of the arms/fingers. Then up to a tiny crimp with the right followed by a slow move to a very small crystal with for the left hand finger and a short dyno out little right to a tumb/finger crystal. Followed by a similar move to an exact similar hold for the left, tumb/finger.
7:Then move first right then left feet up on tiny friction steeps getting high enough so its possible to reach a tiny rightward crimp with the left fingers. Keep the right crystal and then semi move up to a faiding crimp with the right hand. Steep up with the left foot and dyno up high again with the right.
8:HOME!!
9:After this its an awkward but easy move high placement with first the right then the left foot to give a long reach with the left hand to an other good hold. A couple of easy moves over easy terrain to the anchor.
10:Done!!
(this is for someone in the length of 172cm, might be totally different if you are 165 or 185)

I left the proposed grade of 7c+ and also kept the name "Kjerringhelvetet" by respect of the original driller, Børge Soleng, who put up all the hard initial work on this route.
Many thanks to you Børge!!

Route:

Kjerringhelvetet
Grade 7c+
Bolted with rappel anchors.
FFA August 2017
Link to topo over E-Fjord/Narvik

Access from the parking and view over the walls of Haugfjell

//Every awake moment is a new opportunity