Storsnasen, Sverige 2007.

​

We had experienced huge problems on the day of placement because of bad weather. There where drifting clouds on Snasen that made landing with the helicopter impossible. We stayed home and waited when the pilot suddenly called and said that it's a cap in the cloud. We hurried to the helicopter station, loaded all the equipment and got off. On the way up there was a new cloud on its way and, (see picture), so the pilot suggested that we should land on a rift 100 meters below the top which we accepted. Then we had to carry the equipment by hand. 100 meters doesn't sound much but here it's vertical and in an extremely rough terrain. It took us three turns and approximately one hour to get the good 70 kilos to the top. We had to leave our 25 kilo rucksacks at the landing place. When we reach the top it was covered in clouds and the visibility almost zero. The temperature was below zero and the wind hard and that made the work difficult. But just by the top we found a perfect place for Hope in a cleft. The concrete was blended and the cleft filled up, then we placed Hope with her face towards the sunrise with a beautiful view to Handöl, Ånnsjön and in the horizon Årefjällen. A fantastic place.

​

When we were ready we had to hurry down. It was cold and a rather difficult descending down Snasen. We stayed the next two hole days on the mountain. In tents at night (10 degrees below zero, lovely) and climbing during the days. The weather was fantastic, sunny but cold.

 

The last day, on the way down, we decided to on more time climb to the top to see Hope. It was a 800 vertical meters climbing and it took us 1,5 hour in a fast pace. Nothing you do just for the fun of it. When we reached the top everything was perfect. Hope was standing there in high altitude silently looking out on wonderful scenery. Just look at the pictures. It feels incredibly "heavy" to know that she is standing on such a perfect place. It was a nice rehearsal before Himalaya. Now I know how it works.

-Olov Holst