It's been a long winter in Norway. It seemed the snow would never melt, the rain just kept pouring and the temperature was just too low... The biggest problem about living in Norway is that the climbing season is so short and unpredictable. Especially when you live further north than Oslo the climate is just not what you wish for as a climber. The climbing season is limited and the best time is from late April/ May til September. And even during these months you are guaranteed to get periods of heavy rain. This spring has been especially bad as we have had precipitation records and the coldest spring temperatures since 1997! But now, at last, it seems the weather is getting better and we have some good days out on the rocks. I live in Trondheim, a small city situated in the middle of Norway. If you do a three hour drive you get to some amazing granite bouldering on the coast. The area is called Fosen, and the two main climbing places is Harbak and Vingsand. At both places you find boulders from the grades 5/6 to 8B. And there are still many projects and lines that has not been done yet. Especially at Vingsand there is a huge potential. This area has seen a big development the last couple of years. The area has also been visited by strong international climbers like Nalle Hukkataival and Guntram Jörg who put up many new first ascents. The bouldering takes place on big rocks and in caves. The rock is quite rough with big features. The style of climbing is physical; mostly steep bouldering on big holds and good in-cut crimpers. Also many of the boulders tend to be long; often more than ten moves and some can be up to 20-30 moves. As I said we have finally had some days where the weather has been good enough for climbing. It felt so good to be out on the rock again. Trying the boulders that I could not finish last season and finding new projects. It can be so frustrating during winter just being stuck inside on plastic all day. When you finally get to go out on the rock again after what seems like forever its just pure happiness. You get the right motivation back and realise again what climbing is all about!  

  (Photo: Snow and climbers. Still snow at Harbak, but believe it or not; we did get to climb!)     There is also rope climbing crags near Trondheim. I like to do rope climbing just as much as bouldering much because of the fact that I have the opportunity to do both so close to my hometown. The nearest crag is called Hell and is only a 45 minutes drive from the city. The climbing here is slightly overhanging mostly on small pockets and crimpers. The rock type is conglomerate of granite. The wall is not very high and the routes are between 10 - 25 metres. This requires a good power endurance and finger strength. There are rarely any places to rest and you need to be efficient and straight forward when climbing. I finally got to climb at Hell this week as the routes just dried up after all the rain. It felt so nice to be at the local crag again and send some new routes. It was very motivating as I could feel improvement from last year already on the warm-ups. One of the best things about the first trips to the crag for the season is that you really notice the improvement that the training you have been during the winter has paid off! It is so motivating when you get on last years projects and feel that the moves you were struggling on then goes a lot easier now. All those hours at the gym during winter might sometimes feel useless when the temperature is freezing and the rain pouring, but once you get back on the rock it's suddenly all worth it! Photo: The Hell Cliff