Instead of a fancy restaurant for Valentine’s Day, ice climber Juho Knuuttila of Finland took partner Sara Skoglund to the north face of Breitind in northern Norway. They celebrated February 14 with a new route in conditions possibly more appropriate for Halloween.
Juho Knuuttila. Photo: Sara Skoglund
One must admit the location, on Senja island above the Arctic Circle, is romantic in its own frigid way: fiords, the dim light of February at that latitude, and the formidable wall of Breitind coated in a thin layer of verglas. The climber’s short report on social media read in part:
We had a double rack of cams. We used two. We had ice screws. We ended up climbing 3cm thick verglass covering slabs. We had nuts and pitons. We were hammering them deeper into icy cracks for safety.
Second route
This is the second route that Knuuttila has opened on Breitind, after he and Sami Modenius climbed Finnjävel in 2022. Thus, he already knew the sort of terrain and the high commitment the climb would involve.
“We got what we expected,” he admitted.
Sara Skoglund. Photo: Juho Knuuttila
Except for a rough topo, below, Knuuttila has not yet posted further details on the route. Skoglund has also not said anything about their memorable date.
Knuuttila and Skoglund’s line. Photo: J. Knuuttila
Senja is the second-largest island in Norway outside of the Svalbard archipelago. Breitind, a formidable wall of granite, is the highest peak on the island and the only one (barely) surpassing 1,000m. Its highest northern point is 1,017m. Breitind also has a South peak and a West peak.
Senja Island, in northern Norway, marked with an ‘A.’
