Juho Knuuttila adds new two committing mixed climbs to Rånkeipen in Norway, one rope-solo

Once again it's the time of year to solve frozen puzzles above the fjords of Northern Norway. I returned to Narvik in late November highly motivated and full of ideas after a summer away. Even though conditions were not as good as in winter 2022, there was still a lot to do.

During the polar nights I started focusing on exploring the SW Face of Rånkeipen, only 30 minutes drive south of Narvik. The face itself is steep and full of potential winter lines. I’ve often joked that it’s the Stanley Headwall of Narvik, but without the bolts.

The biggest problem is that the rock is very compact and lacks crack systems, so you need to rely on ice features. Its SW aspect also means that as soon as the sun hits the face after a polar night, there’s the concrete risk that all the thin ice you need, in order to climb the face in reasonable conditions, might suddenly melt. This December we were finally keen enough to take a closer look.

On the 13th of December Alexander Nordvall and I completed made the first ascent of the central line of the face, encountering difficulties up to M6 and WI6. In six pitches of climbing we were challenged by brittle ice, compact rock and of course lack of daylight.

Some of the pitches required us to resort to running belays, some took us inside the mountain, while others included hanging daggers above the void. It was such a special day to share a rope for the first time with Alex, who is also in the process of becoming a mountain guide.

Like I said, the climbing was varied and really good. We approached the line from below, walking up a 600m snow gully to the base of the face, and we made three long rappels with 70m ropes to get back down. We left one piton and one nut in-situ, but otherwise we rapped off Abalakovs. Alternatively, one could also descend by walking down Rånkeipen’s normal route.

Arctic Circus was the most obvious line of weakness on the wall and provided a nice introduction to what the climbing will be like on this exceptional wall.

After completing Arctic Circus, I couldn't stop thinking about the other possibilities on Rånkeipen and after New Years Day, I had only one feasible morning off work before the next cold front was forecast with freezing temperatures, but I couldn't find anyone to climb with. Nevertheless I reckoned I could still use my time well. At least to go up and have a look.

High winds had loaded the approach gullies and ledges which didn't feel inviting, but as there is flat plateau on top of the face, I thought I could go up with skis from the back and rappel down to the base of my planned line.

I set off on the 3rd of January and skinned up to 770 meters, following Rånkeipen’s normal route in a whiteout which wasn't particularly mood-lifting, but as soon as I started rappelling I felt better. I made a few steep rappels to get to the ledge underneath my planned line. This proved extremely committing as I had no idea if I’d be able to get back up to my skis. Plan B would have been navigating those gullies all the way down to Råndalen.

I expected to free solo most of the line but when the "easy" looking ramps turned out to be smooth slabs covered in powder snow, I had no other option than to climb down 20 meters, find a good belay and change my mindset to rope soloing mode.The first 50m pitch took me two hours to lead and included some thin M5ish climbing. I was now positioned directly below the first big ice structure and it didn't look like the WI5 Id hoped for. I was faced with an overhanging corner leading to icicles…

I needed another two hours to battle up this wild terrain. Dry tooling, a thin ice traverse, breaching small overhangs and daggers. Once I was committed to a small blob of ice, my feet cut loose and I swung them around a corner to find something to stand on. This was memorable, alone and high up on the wall.

I had used almost all the rope once I finally got to easier terrain. I cleaned the pitch, topped out by climbing easier ice and skied down to get to work at 13:30, exhausted but happy. I had just experienced some of the most intense hours of my life.

Polar Vortex (M6, WI6) is definitely a next step in my climbing as I haven't done that much rope soloing before. It opened my eyes to what I can do in the future. And put pre-work outings into a completely new dimension. I can’t wait to answer Rånkeipen’s call sometime soon!

by Juho Knuuttila

Juho Knuuttila is supported by Petzl, Lowa, Rab, Gloryfy, Lowe Alpine