Page 19 - 2019 AMA Summer

Night Extraction
up confidence before moving onto longer classic multi-pitch routes. The first few days were spent at either Ozimossis or Krokan. Both had plenty to do from easy WI2 to shake out on to steep pumpy WI4, and some within 2 mins of the car. With much of the expedition being novices, and it being the first time on water ice for some of the leaders it was essential that we spent time focussing on movement techniques and building up comfort before moving onto the bigger routes.
As the week progressed so did the quality of climbing. The groups spread out to Vemork Bridge and Upper Gorge areas. Sitting over the climbs was the Norsk Hydro Plant, home of the German Nuclear Weapons project during WW2. Norwegian Saboteurs spent months recceing and attempting to sabotage the plant, eventually succeeding during Operation Gunnerside. These areas were home to some outstanding climbing, although conditions were challenging. Due to the amount of snowfall some routes were unclimbable, such as the elusive Tracy’s Eyes. Along with heavy snow, some of the ice was quite thin requiring delicate, careful climbing especially by Tarquin
Jon Evans wading up Fabriskfossen
Shipley and Marcus Levens who led their groups up Sabotørfossen (WI5 ***). Some of the highlights were Trapfoss (WI4 ***) and Vemorkbrufoss Øst (WI4 ***), and the short, steep and pumpy Host (WI4 *).
Some of the groups decided to explore other areas with three groups descending on Bolgen for one of the days. Unfortu- nately, many other groups had the same idea that day, and going was slow. Deep snow on the approaches, steep sustained climbing, and some hanging around on belays meant that some of the groups returned after darkness. However, this did allow Chris Dowd and Graham Stephenson to call on the experience in ensuring the safe decent of their groups. Under headtorches and descending as a group of 6, in cold conditions this was a good test of the leadership skills, and the teamwork of the whole group. All safely returned, only slightly tired but with big smiles.
By the end of the week the novices were comfortable on water ice, with the majority returning to Krokan and Ozimossis to progress onto lead climbing. With the delivery of WCF complete all
The two Phils colour coordinating
the instructors were happy to award WCF to the novices. This allowed us to spend the sixth day of climbing as con- solidation and allowing groups to spend more time climbing as they saw fit. Some wanted to do more lead climbing, others returned to earlier routes to see how they had progressed over the week. Others headed deep into the Upper Gorge to climb the incredible Rjukanfossen (WI4 ***) and Verdens Ende (WI5 ***), and eye up Lipton (WI7 ***)
With the poor Scottish conditions this year and many expeditions and courses cancelled we were fortunate that this exped allowed us to award WCF to the eleven novices. Thanks go to the team from ATG(A) at Bicester who spent a significant amount on new equipment for us and future expeds to use, and the exped wouldn’t have been possible without the generous funding provided by ATG(A), the AMA, and Ulysses Trust. The success of this expedition will hopefully be repeated next year on Ex TIGER AMA RJUKAN20 as we have barely scratched the surface of Rjukan climbing.
Christopher Cookson on Rjukanfossen
Duncan Francis leading Ozimossis
Rjukanfossen
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