Gripped for days in Rjukan

Andy making his way through a sea of pillows on the way to Sabotorfossen. It would have been annoying if it wasn’t so picturesque!

A team entering the chimney section in the middle of the route. The crux pitch can be seen looming above.

Andy climbs featured ice at the start of the second pitch. From here the route disappears around the corner into a series of steep chimney slots.

The easy angled but very brittle approach pitch on Juvsoyla. We were lucky this year that the pitch was fat enough to take screws and it provided a good warm up. Photo credit: Andy Inglis

Havard Sandaker enjoying the steepness on pitch 2. We elected to shelter in a cave out of the fall-line and let them finish the route rather than spend time below them in the firing line.

The view across the gorge from the top of Juvsoyla – a proper Scandinavian winter wonderland!

Andy shaking out on the sustained final pitch of Juvsoyla – a spectacular finale to a great route!

The view from the top – a belayer’s perspective of me milking the final rest for all it was worth! Photo credit: Andy Inglis

Topping out the steepest and most sustained ice I’ve ever climbed. My forearms had gone beyond pumped by this point and were cramping painfully, totally worth it though! Photo credit: Andy Inglis

The Queen of the Upper Gorge – Juvsoyla in all her glory!

The eponymous route of The Upper Gorge, Rjukanfossen, starts as a wide ice sheet before tapering into a narrow slot gully with a mixed exit. Photo credit: Andy Inglis

Andy climbed the first two pitches in a onner, heading straight through the steep bulges above to make a long and sustained pitch.

The “walk off” from the top of Rjukanfossen consisted mainly of floundering in waist deep snow. It was very pretty though. Photo credit: Andy Inglis

Andy leads the steep right hand side of the Kong Vinter icefall in a long single pitch. Ice conditions turned out to be very poor but the only way out was up!

Seconding the final section of Kong Vinter on vertical slush. A good lead from Andy and far more serious than it first appeared. Photo credit: Andy Inglis

Wild Norwegian splendour on the walk out from Kong Vinter.

Andy transitions from rock to ice on a spectacular variation to Not Only a N(ice) Guy. From here he moved left around the curtain to climb the outside face of the icicle to the top.

The End of The World, or the Upper Gorge at least. A very exciting route to end the trip on, consisting of steep, highly featured ice – spicy! Photo credit: Andy Inglis

The spectacular direct finish to Verdens Ende was in climbable but thin conditions – a pitch I found harder than anything on Juvsoyla, but one that Andy led very steadily.

Concentration face on the final few metres of the direct finish to Verdens Ende. Photo credit: Andy Inglis