The Fjord
Like a freshly sharpened Viking sword, the Hjørund Fjord cuts the Sunnmøre Alps in two.
I WON’T INSIST. Not at all. But if you really want to get the most out of life, I would suggest that you sail up the Hjørund Fjord on a February day.
Yes, in February.
That’s all it would take.
The route to happiness is the seafaring route into the Sunnmøre Alps.
HOW IT WORKS is that you jump aboard an old fishing boat several days after a big snowfall. You deposit your fat skis on deck, greet the spry captain and stand along the rail in the company of good friends, watching Jønshorn slide past, then Molaupstind, Randers, Sylvkallen and Råna. As those mountains parade by, you study them in your binoculars, searching for natural lines that might serve as descent routes, running from the summit all the way to the fjord. You go ashore someplace, anyplace, and pick yourself a mountain.
That’s all you have to do.
Maybe you ought to chat up the local farmer before heading up, though. Get him talking about weather and wind.
And then: Pick yourself a mountain.
BUT WHERE IS THIS HJØRUND FJORD, you ask. Where is this place? Where are these peaks? Must you fly to New Zealand to find them? To Patagonia? Alaska? No, no, no. You needn't travel further than Vigra Airport, a blustery airfield on Norway's western coast, known for its meat-patty sandwiches and turbulent landings.
That's where your plane comes down, like a panicky crow, before you proceed by road through undersea tunnels to Ålesund – a city perhaps best known for burning down in 1904 and receiving massive emergency aid from Friedrich Wilhelm Albert Victor, better known as Wilhelm II, the King of Prussia and Kaiser of the German Empire.
In the years after the fire, as the city rose again, it acquired its characteristic Jugend style. If you are interested in architecture, or art, or things in general, you’ll want to take time to wander the beautiful city streets.
But if your primary interest is snow crystals – billions of snow crystals piled up under your skis – then Ålesund is just a way station.
For you, only the Hjørund Fjord matters.
It’s the Hjørund Fjord that is the purpose and destination of your pilgrimage.
IT IS WRITTEN in black and white, at Wikipedia.com: “The Hjørund Fjord is ranked by many as one of the most beautiful in the world." Who exactly this refers to is not clear, but if that question should ever arise – if someone should demand to know who it is that believes the Hjørund Fjord is one of the world's most beautiful fjords – then we would gladly put ourselves forward as an example. After all, it was we who engaged the fishing boat MS Vikaskjær for a week back in February,2010.
FROM ELEVATION ZERO to the top of any and all surrounding mountain peaks, we saw an abundance of dry, powdery snow. We ate bacalao for dinner. We felt the warmth of the sun for the first time since October. We were no longer interested in having the world at our feet, because we had something else.
We had the Hjørund Fjord at our feet.
And on those large, sweaty feet of ours, what did we wear? High, stiff, plastic randonnée boots.
The first day, we made it to the top of Grønetinden, the secret bearing wall of the Hjørund Fjord region.
The next day, we climbed Nordre Sætretind, the Ama Dablam of the Hjørund Fjord.
Another day, we climbed Skårasalen, the Mont Blanc of the Hjørund Fjord.
And thus it continued.
It just went on.
As if it was a dream. A naïve one.
I CAN’T REMEMBER when it happened. If it was on the way up a mountain, if it was on the way down a mountain, or while sitting on board the boat with a venison sausage in one hand and an ice ax in the other. It doesn't really matter. But I remember the sudden feeling of being in the right place at the right time.
There's really no other way to say it: right place, right time.
Such a feeling is rare and may last only a second or two.
It is like a breath of wind, the slightest touch, a snowflake that melts on the face of a child.
And I will remember it. Always. Alongside the mental image I carry of a fjord.
A fjord which – after this trip – will forever be The Fjord.
Definitive, singular.
Text: Eivind Eidslott
Photos: Sverre Hjørnevik