| Auskjeret from
Fausa-intersection (ski) |
| Estimated net time | 2½-3½ hours |
| Difficulty | No difficulties. |
| Drinking water | No access to drinking water during winter. |
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route. |
| Parking | Room for many cars at the car park by trail head. |
| Start height | 333 metres |
| Vertical metres | 870 metres for the roundtrip |
| Trip distance | 8.1 km |
| GPS-file | X |
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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This is the most common route to Auskjeret during winter.
From the ferry at Aursneset drive 21.9 km towards Stranda on road 60. Take left towards Fjellsetra, and continue 6.0 km until you get to the intersection between the roads going to Fausa, Ramstaddalen and Fjellsetra. Find parking at the car park on the left hand side of the road.
From trail head aim for the left hand side of the plateau "Latmannshøgda" (lazy man's plateau) at just above 900 metres. From here continue north-west before turning north towards the summit.
The descent is done through the same route as the ascent.
The plan was that Sigurd should have joined us for yesterday's hike to Auskjeret, but when a friend called and asked to join him at the ski-centre we agreed that I would take Sigurd to Auskjeret today. This Saturday was not as warm as yesterday, but we had sun throughout our hike, but as yesterday there were a lot of clouds all around.
Today's hike was quite a bit harder for me; firstly I had a big back-pack, carrying Sigurd's snow board and shoes, and secondly Sigurd weighs close to nothing and is a tough nut to crack in steep terrain. When we got to Latmannshøgda I stopped for a couple of minutes to chat with an older man, and after this I was never able to catch Sigurd before the summit.
As yesterday the summit was quite windy, but the only hiker to make it to the summit before us had already left so we were able to find a good spot on the sheltered side of the cairn. Here we killed some 25 minutes, hoping that the sun would melt the snow so our descent would be easier. Unfortunately the sun hadn't been able to melt the snow so the descent was quite challenging, having to combat crust that gave way when doing Telemark turns. Hence the descent took quite a bit longer time than yesterday, and was also considerably less enjoying.
Elisabeth and me did this hike together, on Good Friday, while Sigurd were in the slopes at Fjellsetra, and Eirik and Njål were back at the cabin. When we started we were joined by my colleague Lars Rune, and we skied more or less the whole hike with him. Elisabeth got problems with blisters, as well as feeling the strain, and decided to pack it in at Latmannshøgda.
There were many tens of people skiing Auskjeret this Friday, as had been the case also the previous days, everyone enjoying the fine snow and the warming sun. The summit was a little windy, but with the spring sun shining on the mountain it was never cold.
Except for the lower 100 vertical metres the snow was in a state allowing also amateurs like me to excel, and doing telemark turns while keeping a good speed required almost no effort.
I had already bagged 30km on cross-country skies this Good Friday, but staying at our cabin at Fjellsetra usually means two sessions of physical activity per day, and given the fact that this was the first day with sun since last Saturday I really wanted to do something also in the afternoon. I decided to pay Auskjeret a visit, even though there was a strong wind.
I left the cabin around 15:00 and skied to the Sunnmørsalpane ski centre car park, in order to drive to the Auskjeret trail head. When I got to the car park I found the whole area terribly busy, and was alarmed to see that both our cars were blocked from moving anywhere by other parked cars. I went to the ski centre's management house and was told that they had to squeeze in all these cars because of the chaos in the area this busy day. I was not impressed but could do little other than ask the guy to call for the owner of a silver Toyota Corolla with registration number xxx. 45 minutes after I arrived by my car I was able to drive to the Auskjeret trail head!
When I got to the Auskjeret trail head at the Fausa-intersection at 16:15 there were still several cars parked there, and I assumed there would still be a number of skiers either on their way up or down Auskjeret.
I started skiing at 16:20 and met a number of skiers on my way up towards Latmannshøgda. The one I met just as I was about to get to Latmannshøgda stopped for a chat, and could inform that the wind at the summit was really bad. Further up I met a dad and his two teenage sons; he was also keen on a chat.
At the summit it was really windy. I didn't feel like spending much time up there; just a few photos and skins off the skies before heading back down. The descent was really enjoyable, and in particular below Latmannshøgda the snow was close to perfect for telemark skiing.