[14-1] Tour T12 2 - 3 days [14-2]

[14-3] Between Resvatnet and Trollheimshytta [14-4]

[14-5] Ski weekend over summits to the north in Trollheimen [14-6] The tour is mostly away from marked routes. [14-7]

[14-8] Have you experienced skiing this rippling ridge from Svarthetta past Svarthamran and straight down in Finnskaret towards Folldalen and Trollheimshytta? [14-9] Or have you skied downhill from Troll-hetta past Skardet and down to Resvatnet? [14-10] BBoth these experiences are ours in this weekend tour to Jøldalshytta and Trollheimshytta. [14-11] Both have excellent self-service lodgings out of the staffed season. [14-12] The trip is suitable for a late winter weekend with fine snow conditions in the mountains when you can easily ski in to Jøldalshytta of an afternoon or a light evening. [14-13] The tour is suitable only for fit people. [14-14] Aside from the peaks and ridges, the tour is easy. [14-15]

[14-16] We get to Resvatnet on the Orkdal bus to Å in Meldal, and then by taxi or car all the way in. [14-17] This is an excellent starting point for tours to Jøldalen and towards Trollhetta- and the Rinnhatten area. [14-18] To come quickly up to easy skiing in the mountains, we go southwest up the ravine along Raudbekken. [14-19] We go south over Jølfjellet and past Grønlihammaren to Jølvatnet and Jøldalshytta, staffed (self-serve out of staffed season), TT. [14-20] The tour is about 14 km. [14-21] In good snow conditions, the tour takes about 3 hours. [14-22]

[14-23] For the tour to Trollheimshytta, staffed (self-service out of staffed season), TT, we start up along the route towards Gjevilvasshytta to Skrikhøa. [14-24] Here it is marked with branches through Easter. [14-25] We traverse over Kjølen, go in to the ridge that juts out from the southernmost part of Svarthetta and go up that ridge. [14-26] After a while, you must take off your skis. [14-27] It's steep, but easy to ascend. [14-28] Go to the cairn, 1548 m. [14-29] The downhill southwest of the summit is stony, but further along the ridge towards Svarthamran it's fine skiing. [14-30] It's also acceptable to drop the tour to the summit and go up the ridge south of the cap. [14-31] After a while, veer off westwards towards Finnskardet. [14-32] Go straight to the south side of the westernmost peak of Svarthamran, 1383 m, and glide in fine, soft snow down to the saddle. [14-33] Go in slightly twisting terrain up to the lowest part of the saddle, traverse down the hillside beneath Geithetta, go to the inner side of the little hillock at the tarn and go down to the mouth of Slettådalen. [14-34] Ski down through the big pine woods and find Trollheimshytta. [14-35] An easier variant is to ski Litjsvartådalen and get up to Finnskardet from there or to almost follow the summer route over Geithetta and directly down to the lodge. [14-36]

[14-37] Here in the heart of Trollheimen there's well-being. [14-38] So it's worthwhile to take an extra day for a day tour to Snota. [14-39]

[14-40] To ascend Trollhetta in wintertime, we must ski it from the east, and skiing is advisable only on the east peak, 1522 m. [14-41] Then we follow the usual winter route towards Jøldalen down past Gråsjøen and up the huillside before Kvernbekken. [14-42] From here it's marked with branches to Jøldalshytta at Easter time. [14-43] We can ski over Rinnhatten, 1335 m. [14-44] Then we go up the ridge to the summit from the west. [14-45] Down from the summit, we can, with good and safe ski conditions, run down Dukfonna on the south side. [14-46] Or we can take the fine downhill run on the north side to Litjrinnvatnet and ski up through the fine pine woods past Helgetunsetra up to Raudfjellvatnet. [14-47]

[14-48] But we're headed up to Trollhetta, and the tour is more strenuous. [14-49] We follow the lake eastwards and after a while veer up on the hillside from the eastern part of Bjørnaråvatnet (Langvatnet). [14-50] It's a tough uphill to the summit. [14-51] But the view and not least the downhill run that awaits, give us much for our tour to the summit. [14-52] Run down the glacier towards Piksteinhøa and then smoothly down along Brebekken towards Storrinnvatnet. [14-53] Take the flat after the hillside up to Skaret and run past Raudfjellvatnet and down along Raudbekken to Resvatnet. [14-54]

[14-55] A variant of this tour is to go down to Jøldalshytta and overnight there after the tour to Trollhetta, and take an extra day with a tour over Resfjellet to Storås in Meldal. [14-56] The tour is easiest to ski round Resvatnet. [14-57] From here, the route can follow the lake, by the fine, old, protected Vålåskardet summer dairy and up "staircased" and "ramps" to Resfjellet. [14-58] It's gentler if you go from the southern part of the lake in the ravine along Krokbekken and up towards the summit. [14-59] But also here you can easily come upon steep stretches and jumbled terrain if you don't follow the map carefully. [14-60] And in a private cabin area such as this, by no means do all tracks lead towards Resfjellet. [14-61] If you choose to ski past Resfjellet, it's advisable to go by Vålåskardet and over the west ridge of the mountain. [14-62] Or the tour can go completely round, northwestwards from Resvatnet parallel with the face, over the drainage divide, and then northwards on the west side of Romundhaugen up to Bakkjølen. [14-63]

[14-64] The downhill run from Resfjellet is advisable towards the northwest down to Bakkjølen. [14-65] From here, thee are kilometers of fine marshes northwards over Høgkjølen. [14-66] The area is protected against development as the Høgkjølen / Bakkjølen natural reserve. [14-67] Go down through the woods to Storås to the State highway intersection there where busses run to Orkanger / Trondheim, Kristiansund / Molde and Berkåk. [14-68] Summer: [14-69] This hike is well suited for a long weekend tour in summer. [14-70] the hike from Resvatnet over to Jøldalen, 4 t, is a suitable afternoon tour for the hardy. [14-71] The hike past Svarthetta, Svarthamran, and Finnskardet is an equally fine summer tour. [14-72] It's about the same as an 8 hour hike. [14-73] In the summertime, the hike over Trollhetta follows the marked route ofer all three peaks. [14-74] Hiking all the way to Resvatnet makes the tour a good deal longer than to Jøldalshytta. [14-75] Leave the marked route from Piksteinhøa, go through Åkerdalen and down to the marked route from Jøldalshytta. [14-76] It's about the same as an 10 - 11 hour hike. [14-77]

[14-78] Route descriptions: [14-79] For detailed route descriptions of the marked routes between lodges and some of the most common hikes away from the marked routs, see the TT Guide, Sylene and Trollheimen and the website: www.tt.no [14-80]

[14-81] Maps: [14-82] 1:50,000 Trollhetta (and Snota for the tour to Snota and Løkken for the tour up to Storås) or the hiking and skiing map 1:75,000 Trollheimen. [14-83]

[14-84] Erik Stabell [14-85]

[14-86] Transportation to Trollheimshytta [14-87]

[14-88] Today, most provisions, goods, equipment, and fuel are transported in to Trollheimshytta on snow before or after Easter. [14-89] It's done using snowmobiles or tracked vehicles from the road at Gråsjøen in the valley. [14-90] There's supplementary transport by helicopter and by boat on Gråsjøen and packboarding 4 km up to the lodge. [14-91] In the past, transportation to the lodge was by pack animals from Rindal. [14-92] The trip is almost 30 km long. [14-93] But much more came, among other things dairy products from neighboring summer dairies, so, for which transportation needs were quite different. [14-94] Motorized terrain vehicles were used for transportation starting in the 1950s - 1960s. [14-95] Nonetheless, until the hydroelectric power development about 1970 brought a road to Gråhaugen and water in Gråsjøen, pack animals were used for transportation. [14-96]

[14-97] The hired hand at the lodge had the packing job. [14-98] The round trip took two days. [14-99] With many guests at the lodge and a sizeable need for goods and provisions, there could be a routine of packing for two days, working with wood and other chores at the lodge for a day, then a new packing trip for two days, etc. [14-100]

[14-101] From Trondheim to Trollheimen in 1896 [14-102]

[14-103] Today we can get to Jøldalshytta and Gjevilvasshytta in an afternoon by car or a combination of train, bus, and taxi. [14-104] After the Dovre rail line was opened in 1923, access to Trollheimen was much easier and Oppdal became a major gateway to the mountains. [14-105] In the TT Yearbook for 1912, E A Tønseth recounted an Easter tour that he and five others had from Trondheim to Trollheimen in 1896. [14-106] The tour started on the evening train to Hovin and the first overnighting at Lauvåsen after 12 km on foot. [14-107] From here they departed at 4 in the morning and passed Grut in Meldal at [14-108] 11 am, Jølvatnet around 6 pm, and reached Foldalshytten (Trollheims-hytta) at 11 in the evening. [14-109] They had traveled 75 km in 19 hours. [14-110] Then Foldalshytten was 6 years old, there were no lodgings in Jøldalen, and the lodges were unstaffed at Easter time. [14-111] The next day, they continued over to Storli and left the day after to return again to Foldalshytten. [14-112] The trip back to the city went to Grut with overnighting there before a day's hike over to Støren. [14-113] It was an impressive tour. [14-114] The story shows how today's communications have provided easier access to the mountains and also have "shrunk the country." [14-115]

[14-116] Source: TTs Yearbook 1912, (cited in DNT Yearbook 1996).