The Leva (640m) a mass ascent

Peter Price

An account of the ascent by John Devenport, Cliff Large, Neil Pomfret, Jason and Howard Humphreys, Graham and Arthur Salmon, Peter Price and Roy Pomfret of this peak as part of the Lofoten groups contribution to the Norwegian Meet of 1992.

This was our first day on Lofoten.  The day dawned wet and low cloud shrouded the hills, but we were eager to start.  The party comprised the whole Lofoten group except Paul and Pam who had not yet arrived.   We found a lay-by at the north end of the ridge which we believed would lead to the summit.  We donned our waterproofs and struggled up a steep slope covered with dwarf birch and attained a ridge which looked clearer.  This revealed a ‘path’ which followed the ridge.  Following this, the gradient soon increased, the birch trees thinned out and the rain fell!

We were soon on a lower summit where food and liquid were taken while waiting for the members of the group who were feeling the long drive from Bergen more than some of us.

After regrouping, everyone was convinced / bribed / blackmailed into continuing up.  Eventually we were met by a rock face which looked very wet and which was covered in loose moss.  First impressions were that this tower could not be circumnavigated, however, Arthur was convinced that it was possible to go round the left­hand side of it (and rightly so, as it turned out).

Howard led up this with Graham following.  By this time everyone else was getting wetter watching the climbing on the mossy wall and possibly because it looked more desperate than it really was may have contributed to the decision of all but four of us to return to the cars.  Arthur climbed this section followed by myself and this led us after about 100 feet to the top of the tower.  This was followed by a free hanging abseil into a gap where it was established that an easier route would have been to have gone around where Arthur had suggested.   The next step was a further climb on a slightly easier, but still moss covered rock for about 150 feet.  This was climbed free and took us to the summit.  The view from the summit was minimal due to mist and rain.

The way down was uneventful, apart from stirring up a hornet’s nest, which resulted in Arthur being stung on the eyebrow.  On the way down, it was noticed that the small path we had followed up had grown larger and large amounts of moss had been dislodged; large sheets of it simply peeled off when stood on.  The path actually continued back to the cars following a much easier route by a stream (actually in the stream for much of the way) and avoiding the birch covered slope we had battled up.

It was raining constantly that day, but everyone felt well and ready for the rest of the peaks, hopefully in better weather and after time to dry out a little.