More pictures, slightly more talk

Four of us decided to hike the steep north-eastern side of Stabben, the square-topped syenite landmark that should be well-known from previous blog entries.


 
Joining us was Sune, the swedish/english field guide who just came back from a 2 month geological sampling expedition in our "local" mountain area.

Yes, it's the 2-man team from the "Field trip" entry in december, finally back from the wilderness! The shower at Troll was put to good use.

The expedition was rewarded with several hundred kilos of specimens for Horst to blast with his radiometric guns back at the University of Bristol. Particularly interesting are the samples from a supposedly 3 billion year old nunatak east of Jutulstraumen("Annendagstoppen") - measuring the age of this particular rock, using the latest methods (hafnium isotope analysis, to be exact), has the potential to shake the foundations of the Gonwanaland supercontinent theory (at least the part of it that claims East Antarctica was connected to Africa and India).  

I've always been a fan of paradigm-shattering.



On the sunny side of the mountain.



Highest form of botanical life around here: a moss cushion. Sunwarmed cliff providing heat; snowflake on the left providing water; weathered crumbly rock below providing nutrients. What more can you ask for?



A small snowhill had formed along the side of the cliff.



Sculptures in the ice.



Looking back down to where we started from. Heavy crevassing apparent on the bordering ice sheet.



We followed the narrow edge as far up as we could.



Approaching Stabben from behind. The ice ridge turned out to be an effective route across. We carried ice-axes -useful to brake potential unwanted rides down the slippery snow surface.

At the foot of the mountain we couldn't get any further without climbing the sheer rock face, something we were not equipped or in any case mentally prepared for.



Sune, the professional mountain and climbing guide, getting lost in his own thoughts as he gazes up the sheer cliff surface, criss-crossed by massive granitic intrusions.