I am back from a beautiful vacation to Norway. Our furthest, most northern goal was climbing in the Hanshelleren cave. But rest days are key to a climbing vacation and what better way to spend such a day than SOTA. Here I want to share some impressions of the four first activations that I made in the LA/NT region, starting on the campsite using my bike.
Climbing at the cave was amazing. On the very first day in the cave, I enjoyed this beautiful view and I was already looking forward to attempt the first activation of Glasøyfjellet LA/NT-411 seen on the left. 
I was worried, as there was no path on the map, but I found a very good way up to the summit. The view was great and I already dreamed of activating Nova LA/NT-408, seen on the picture, which is located on an island. If only I would not have to pay for the boat… 70 QSOs were a very good start and I was motivated to try other summits in that region. 
My next activation was Middagsfjellet LA/NT-380. Again no path in the OSM map, but it was easy to find and even marked. Right at the summit, I found the perfect crack to put my mast. This day, there was strong and cold wind. I was freezing despite wearing my thick down jacket. Still I enjoyed that activation.
On the next day, I realized that my chance has come. I heard that some other climbers forgot gear on Halmøya island and offered to pay the boat for anyone who retrieves it. Even better - their gear was only a stone’s throw from the Nova LA/NT-408 summit. So of course I took that chance and went to the island. From there I had a nice view to the cave, Glasøyfjellet LA/NT-411 that I activated a few days before, and of course the ocean.
Then I felt like another rest day is a good idea. So the next day, I took on the challenge to activate Rødalklumpen LA/NT-343. This summit was more challenging than the others. It is slightly higher than the others, but mainly because of the final ascent up to the summit. In the end, this is the activation that felt most rewarding.
As always, my linked dipole did a very good job. The most important band was 20m. I wanted to try a vertical antenna during the last activation, but my radials snapped at the connector. The conditions were poor on that day. Good that I realized that on the dipole. Otherwise it would not have been a fair comparison.
We were very lucky with the weather. Not a single day, where we were forced to change our plans. It was my first time in Norway, but I think, this is not always the case. It will definitely not be the last time. There are still a few LA/ summits to activate. 
More pictures and my GPX tracks can be seen at the specific sotl.as pages of the particular summits. Looking forward to get a complete for these summits some day. 
