Arctic Lines EP2: Øksehøgget
The first mission of Arctic Lines takes our crew straight into one of the most classic steep couloirs of Tamok, Norway called Øksehøgget. The name means ‘axe cleft’ in Norwegian. Steep, sustained, and totally straight, it is the epitome of a classic steep couloir. No wonder it was voted as the best couloir in Norway few years back. Since then it has gained a lot of attraction amongst freeride communities and finally last December I decided it was time to try to see if I could tick it off from my list. For our crew, this couloir played as a great test for the project, especially due to lack of snow and light.
About Øksehøgget
Øksehøgget Couloir in Tamok, Norway is amazing couloir.
The couloir is very sheltered and north facing so it often holds good snow. The top of the couloir is the steepest, and is sustained at 50 degrees initially. It is also the narrowest at the top, so take care. After the top third, the angle lessens to 45 degrees as does the feeling of exposure. Therefore, although the line is a well-known classic, its steep nature and the fact that it is accessed by a rappel keeps the crowds away.
It is possible to climb the line, especially during early winter this can be a good option because you will then know how the snow is in the couloir. But to do this, you must have very stable conditions because even a small sluff or slide could take you to a very dangerous ride down.
This is also a reason why many choose to skin up around the back and enter the couloir with an obligatory 30 meter rappel.
For the climbing option: Start from the parking at the road just before it takes a right bend. Go over the bridge on the right hand side and head towards to valley in between Tamokfjellet and Lemmetfjellet. Skinning up is fairly easy but right at the treeline there is a bit steeper section that might require crampons if the snow is slippery, this part is fairly short so you can also carry your equipment over the point if it’s too hard to skin up.
Once in the valley keep going over halfway, you won’t see Oksehogget right away but it’s there on the right side in the north face of Tamokfjellet.
Once at the bottom, you can skin up as high up as you can to reach the mouth of the couloir. There is few good rocks with flat spots where you can change to climbing mode.
While climbing, consider checking the snow constantly. There are parts that collect snow and it can be slabby.
At least one Ice ax is recommended.
Once at the top. change your gear and take care in the beginning. If you want to ride or ski in front of the sluff then you must have perfect conditions because it is most likely impossible to stop once you start the descent in high speed.
The safest choice is to make some jump turns or sideslip on the top and start enjoying the ride a bit lower down when it widens up a bit.
This line is a magnificent experience with many sides of human-powered freeriding.
Gear I used during the adventure
Find out all the information below photo by clicking the name of the product
Jones Snowboards
Ultracraft Splitboard 156
Talon Poles
Spark R&D
Arc Pro Bindings
Ibex Pro Crampon
Haglöfs
Roc Nordic Jacket
Vassi GTX Pro Pants
Roc Nordic 30
Shred Optics
Notion Noshock Helmet
Simplify+ Goggles
Suunto
Suunto 9 baro
For the most accurate and detailed information for backcountry adventures such as Oksehogget
suunto.com/arcticlines
