Info About Jempehaugen
Jempehaugen is one of a few lines to go to on stormy days in the Tamokdalen Backcountry. Being a sparsely treed slope it is easy to get in a few laps in near white out conditions. This place is quite popular with it being right off the road and a 45 minute skin to the top. With the slope angle being mellow it is a safe place to ride if avalanche conditions are questionable.
Arriving in the Tamokdalen Valley
I arrived to Tamokhuset in Early April to be the caretaker of the place for a bit over a month. Tamokhuset is a hut situated within the Tamokdalen Valley just 10 kilometres South of the Lyngen Alps. It was put together by both Jarkko Juhani Henttonen and Aadne Olsrud. Making my way to the 35 bunk hut we were in the middle of a storm that had been going off for almost a week. With most of the terrain being open alpine we needed to find some good tree skiing so that we could actually see where we were going down. At the time Jarkko’s daughter Aino was in town and we decided to go for some laps on Jempehaugen.
First Turns of the Spring Season on Jempehaugen
Leaving from the Tamokhuset parking lot the storm outside was still raging. Looking around at the surrounding mountains the summits were buried in the clouds. The freezing levels were just about the valley floor with new snow accumulating and powder easily found within the area.
Driving to the base of Jempehaugen it was one of the only safe places to go ski touring with trees running up the entire slope. The area was still below tree line but a few years earlier a wide open patch had been cut out leaving us with sub alpine open terrain.
Skinning to the top we had the whole zone to ourselves as we made powder turns down a few hundred meters before climbing back up for another lap.
Riding Hot Pow Laps
Though the snow was fresh it was quite warm with the snow sticking to my skins. Each step it seemed that the snow gathered more and more until I had a few kilos underneath my feet.
While a pain to climb it was worth it just to get some powder turns on Jempehaugen. With Each run we would just go a few meters off to the side of our run before and have a blank canvas to ride down.
Looking back up at our tracks Kjempetinden loomed in the background. While it would be a great run the snow was way too unstable to get into the area and it would have to wait for another day.
Final Run of the Day on Jempehaugen
By our third run our gear was getting soaked from the wet snow and decided it was time to get back to Tamokhuset. By now we had tracked out the area and felt satisfied with our day in the mountains.
Hiking back to the parking lot I would occasionally look back at Jempehaugen. It had been a fun day making the most out of conditions and a sample of what the rest of the season would be.
