Day 5 – Daltinden in the sun

The weather gods took pity on us today and decided we deserved some sunshine. The day dawned with blue sky and for the first time we could really see where we are. The mountains rise out of the fiords all around us. They’re covered in snow down to the water’s edge. There are some awesome views to be had.

We didn’t want to waste the weather so headed down the road a bit for a tour up Daltinden (1533 m). The guide describes the tour as “one of the finest skiable mountain tours in the Lyngen Alps with a 1300 metre long descent from the top back down to Lyngsdalen.” Sounds good! The slopes have a maximum gradient of between 25 and 30 degrees and the route was perhaps one of the safer routes that we could have done near our accommodation considering the avalanche conditions. The tour starts with a section skinning up the valley before turning hard left after a couple of hours and heading up Daltinden for the remainder of the 1523 m climb.

Above: Cris ascending Daltinden in the Lyngen Alps, Norway. Note the blue sky… Premium.

On our ascent, the snow was mostly nice and soft and had a layer of heavy powder but with the occasional icy patch on the ridge. We took care crossing these and after 4.5 hours we reached the summit. We could see mountains in all directions from the top and looking East we could see the fiord (Storfjorden) running from North-to-South below us. But we weren’t there solely to admire the views. Tim and I headed off first and skied an awesome powdery descent to perhaps 2/3 the mountain height. We waited there for the others. Tim radioed Chris and Em, “Kiwis, you are clear to drop”. Chris and Em came weaving down the slope with the ‘Go Pro’ camera mounted to Chris’ ski pole. Next came Hallvard, the Norwegian, on his telemarks followed by Aly on his split board.

The goodness didn’t stop there and we continued down the mountain slicing tracks through the delicious snow. Mmmm 1300 m of descent. We eventually neared the tree line and weaved our way through the small bushes until we reached the valley floor. We skinned out to the car to end a great tour.

Above left: Cris with view of Storfjorden below. Above right: Sitting on the summit of Daltinden (1533 m).

Above left: Tim sets off down the mountain on his telemarks. Above right: Chris, Aly, and Em rave about the descent after skiing the first section.

Above: Cris skiing down Daltinden.

Above left: Emily in action. Above right: Cris and Chris after the tour.