Rock climbing at Setesdal
The Setesdal valley is located in southern Norway, southwest of Oslo, and is one of Norway’s most accessible climbing areas from the rest of Europe.
The climbing is centred on the town of Valle, where there are many large granite domes scattered on either side of the valley. These granite domes provide many excellent slab routes, both long and short. However not all the routes are slabby with a good mixture of wall and crack climbing also available. During the winter these huge granite walls form many towering icefalls providing at great adventurous ice climbing experience.
There is a variety of long multi-pitch routes up to 18-pitches long, and shorter single pitch routes at the cliff bases. The climbing is spread across a wide range of grades with lots of routes between Norwegian 5 to 7 (English VS to E2/3 or French 4+ to 6c). There is also a mixture of traditional and sport routes with many of the belays bolted on good quality granite rock. Towards the southern part of Setesdal, close to Evje, is where the bouldering is found, with around 150 boulder problems.
The best time to visit Setesdal for rock climbing is from late May to late September. Setesdal has the added advantage of sitting in the rain shadow of the mountains in the west coast. This means that when high pressure system establishes itself over southern Norway, as it often does, the weather is very settled and warm.
Map of the Setesdal rock climbing area in southern Norway
Setesdal climbing logistics and beta
The current guidebook is simple called “Setesdal – Climbing in Southern Norway”. This guidebook describes more than 670 routes, a wide range of bouldering problems and 3 Via Ferrates routes. Published in 2021 the guidebook is written in Norwegian, German and English throughout, with all the routes shown on colour photo topos. Buy this Setesdal climbing guidebook from our shop.
Getting to Setesdal is relatively easy. For northern mainland Europe access via Denmark is straight forward with a ferry to Kristiansand being the quickest route. Alternatively fly into either Oslo or Stavanger, which is then a 4-hour drive to Setesdal.
With regards to accommodation there is a campsite at Valle. Here you can also hire a Hytte (Hut), which is more convenient if you are flying into Norway to avoid carrying heavy camping equipment.
Ice Climbing at Setesdal
During the winter, throughout the Setesdal Valley numerous impressive icefalls are formed, with many of them providing ice climbs of national importance. These huge granite walls and towering waterfalls become an ice-climber's paradise.
Some of these icefalls have relatively easy access, particularly those in the north of the valley around Bykle. However, climbing in Setesdal is water-ice climbing in its rawest form, with adventure and solitude at the heart of the mountaineering experience. The superb adventurous nature of the climbing here comes with a price. You must be prepared to break trail through deep snow to approach the base of the route; you may be required to clear ledges or ramps on ice routes of snow crust and rotten ice. You will certainly need to think about approaches and descents, and to evaluate avalanche and weather factors as part of your planning. Whilst the enjoyment of ice climbing in Setedal comes with a lot of work, it also provides memorable routes and climbing experiences.
The Setesdal Selected Ice Climbs Guidebook describes almost 200 of the best ice climbs in the Setsdal Valley and the neighboring Aseral Valley. The routes span a wide range of grades from WI2 to WI7. Buy the Setesdal Selected Ice Climbs Guidebook from our shop.