Thursday 1 April 2010

Spring time in Sweden



On the 16th of March I returned to southern Sweden to climb with my friends Henrik and Torbjorn. Sweden has also had very good snow and ice conditions this winter, however by the time of this visit the temperatures had risen and the spring thaw set in. The Swedes were keen to start their rock climbing season so we first headed to the woodland crag at Valberget. Where Henrik led Lil Sis a Scandinavian grade 5 in cold conditions. That evening we spent the night camping in a clearing above the crag. My enjoyment of this natural woodland far from road noise and light pollution was crowned by a beautifully clear night sky, that had us lingering outside the tent until the temperatures dipped (-10) and we sought the warmth of our sleeping bags.




The next day we travelled to the nearby crag of Kopegarda where we found some warmth in the afternoon sun. I led Bullshit a Swedish three star grade 5 and Henrik led Rukramman a two star 5-.
Then in the evening we camped at Kullenberg, which is famous for its sea cliff climbing and has something of the atmosphere of Gogarth.

The following day Torbjorn made a welcome return to leading by climbing Tobrud a three star Scandinavian grade 3, which he did extremely smoothly considering the severe knee injury that has limited his mountaineering in recent times. I led Svenskerruten grade 5- and Henrik finished off our trip by leading Tobrud Diekte grade 4.

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