A traverse of Lyngen, part 1 of 3, how a scenic ferry convinced us to take plan B (sort of!)

Fantastic views on the Lyngen Peninsular

Always have a plan B, and C, D, E... etc...  At least, that's what I tell my clients (and I endeavour to follow this too).  And, to be fair, in my head a plan B in steep skiing terrain is, don't bother.  I guess that is a plan B, but it's probably not the plan you consider when organising a traverse of a specific mountain range, to which you have booked flights to; and most people would have a more skiing orientated plan B rather than just quit.

Walking to Tromso bus station at the start of our journey

Last April a small team of us flew to Tromso with the aim of traversing the Lyngen Peninsular.  Many hours of googling and pouring over maps revealed what could be an incredible route through the high glaciers and mountains of the area including a traverse of Jiehkkevarri.  It would be an arduous but amazing journey over two weeks, 100% self sufficient, pulling our pulks.  Research told me that a few people had more or less completed a traverse of the area (the only camping one I could find sounded like a complete epic of bad weather), some guides offered a variation on it, the 'Lyngen Haute Route'.  Nowhere could I find any record of anyone attempting a higher traverse over the glaciers.  And it was quite difficult to figure out what route previous and advertised groups used.

As you do, for the months preceding a trip, you read the avalanche bulletins and weather reports.  Dipping in and out more frequently the closer you are to departure.  Initially things looked good.  During March there were still persistent weak layers, well, that's nothing new.  For a while it looked like the snowpack might just stabilise and head into a more Springlike cycle.  Then, it just snowed and snowed, and then stopped.  We touched down and found very difficult conditions.

I hate persistent weak layers, how often do you actually know how close you have been to triggering it?  With more than half of our route in prime 35degree avalanche terrain at this height, the answer was simply to avoid it.

The classic Lyngen photo - fjords and mountains

What was our skiable plan B going to be?  Earlier in the month when I realised that plan A looked doubtful, I put all of my spare hours into finding another route.  It was broadly based on the 'Lyngen Trek', a summer hiking route that follows a series of shelves on the East side and then crosses through to the West side of the peninsular.  But... I couldn't find anyone that had skied it, and there were a couple of shorts sections of which I had no idea if we would be able to get through, most notably the end of the Vestbreen Glacier, west of Lyngsdalen.

The Lyngen Trek route marked in green, from The Lyngen Alps by Fri Flyt AS

A look on FATMAP and the Norwegian mapping website revealed that the vast majority of this route would avoid avalanche terrain, and there would be appropriate safe escape routes to a road if we couldn't continue through a more challenging bit.  Phew, what a relief to finally have a plan, that might work.  

Safer travel in a higher risk environment

Researching public transport options, we were able to get a bus from Tromso to Nordkjosbotn; and, the highlight, a ferry back from Nord Lenangen if we arrived on time.  To be honest, after the disappointing reality of having to change our plans, I think the possibility of taking a ferry tour at the end, sold Plan B to us!

The following day we got on the bus in misty weather and began our traverse in Nordkjosbotn.

On our way to find snow somewhere in the outskirts of Nordkjosbotn