Over to Jim:
"We followed footprints up through the forest, too far to the left of the icefall, and found ourselves on a fallen tree which was the equivalent of a Scottish mixed IV!!!In addition, this arduous access route bypassed an nice introductory WI2 pitch. I had the first pitch proper which was reasonableWI4, although running with water (the air temp was +2C). However, this made the ice nice and plastic, like guid Scottish stuff, although some of the ice screws placed may have been questionable. I aimed for a hole in the ice which allowed access to a superb dry cave formed by a huge overhang halfway up the icefall. The cave would have easily accomodated "20 armed men" but unfortunately we had to relinquish it by a vertical ice pillar which was "reckless" Erick's lead.
Jim on Svaddefossen
Erick managed to place his first thread runner from inside the cave and bravely overcame the steepest section, which fortunately wasn't too long. After that, the angle was more amenable, WI3, but there was still another 45m runout to the end of the 3rd pitch.
Erick on Svaddefossen
Descent was off in situ recent tat on trees to the left".
Chris, Tom, Davie, Paul, Trevor and Dougie headed to the lower gorge area. Chris and Davie soloed Knerten WI3 to set up a top rope for Dougie (our novice).
Afterwards Paul and Dougie climbed LP Plata WI3. Over to Dougie - "This is my first effort at ice climbing and after watching some of these guys soloing steep icefalls, I thought "oh f**k what am I doing here", but after some great coaching from Davie and Paul, I managed to top rope Knerten WI3 and seconded Paul on both LP Plata WI3 and Lillebror WI3. Although starting to tire quickly, I was pleased with my efforts and looking forward to my next climb".
Dougie seconding LP Plata
Chris:
"Tom then set off up Lillebror WI3 and climbed up approximately 25m and set up a belay.
Tom on Lillebror
"I took over the lead and found it time consuming as there was a 2 inch layer of snow which had to be cleared to reveal the quality of axe placements. The final steep section was extremely fragile and resulted in a few hairy moments".
Davie and Trevor opted for a parallel line on the same route. Over to Davie - "Trevor led a nice ramp pitch to the right of Tom and Chris, on about 70 deg water ice. I think we were lucky with the ice on this line, as it wasn't so brittle and platey. Trevor belayed off 2 ice screws and I set off up another ramp that gradually increased in angle and exposure. The ice screws I placed were more than welcome on the final section which required care and with this being my first ice lead of the season my arse was winking on the steep bits!!"
Davie on Lillebror
Chris - "I then opted to have a go at Hjemreisen, a single pitch WI4. It seemed easy for the grade, due to the amount of traffic it had obviously seen, and was climbed by hooking old axe placements".
Chris on Hjemreisen
Davie and Trevor then climbed Trippel WI4 and Tom and Chris climbed LP Plata WI3.
Meanwhile, Ian and Stuart headed for the Vemork Bridge area. Stuart - "Climbed Vemorkbrufoss Ost, an 80m WI4 and it was very pleasant. We heard the best ever excuse for not climbing its sister route, Vemorkbrufoss Vest WI5. There was a TV crew filming a commercial for outdoor products!!! Must remember to use this excuse myself sometime in the future. We then soloed Nedre Swingfoss, a single pitch WI3 and then descended to attempt Nye Vemorkfoss (WI5 160m). I got my ass kicked!!! I blame my wife for not having been climbing and leashless isn't the way for me on steep ice. I escaped the route by downclimbing to Ian's belay. Ian then pulled off a brilliant lead to save the day, well done Ian!!"
Nye Vemorkfoss
We all returned to our chalet well pleased with our first days efforts.