Via Ferrata Sjoa

17/08/2025

The next point of interest on my map was a via ferrata near Sjoa. We agreed that after two days of mountain biking we would see how our legs were feeling before we made a commitment. So we scouted out a nearby parkup for the night where we could rest and recuperate.

Parking at Kvam – Innlandet

We found a parkup in a car park in Kvam that looked suitable (there is more than one Kvam in Norway, hence the Innlandet bit). The parking was located in the centre of this village, next to the Kiwi supermarket and opposite a bar. We drove in and spotted the service point where we took care of the usual. After driving around the car park we realised the parking spots were on the grass on the other side of the supermarket. It doesn’t sound very prepossessing I know but it was a perfectly good place to park and had electricity.

Parked up at Kvam – we chose to focus on the hills rather than the supermarket

We had to pay in the supermarket so in we went and bought a few bits and pieces. This was our first trip to a Norwegian supermarket and the prices were interesting. We were expecting high prices but this supermarket was just plain disorganised, we couldn’t work out what cost what. In the end we decided that probably no one looked at the prices anyway because its just too scary so there probably isn’t much point in taking care over labelling.

The same was true of the parking cost. We had no idea whether it was meant to be 100 Kroner (the price quoted on P4N), 250 kroner (the price quoted on one display board) or 300 Kroner (the price on another display board). The checkout assistant charged us 250 NOK. Fair enough with electric hook up.

Kvam Village

That evening we sat at the wooden bench and watched as a running competition finished at the bar across the road. I looked this up and it was a beer based run, with vouchers for beer provided as part of your sign up and four pubs en route. It sounded like fun and the teams in fancy dress who settled in at the bar looked like they were having fun too. We were treated to the same ‘now that’s what I call music’ CD playing over and again through the speakers and the loud chatter of people until about 11pm (it was Saturday night after all). Then all went quiet and we had a lovely peaceful nights sleep.

The following morning we had a look around the village to test our legs, which were feeling perfectly normal, if a little bruised. Kvam was the location of a battle between German and British troops during WWII. The church was destroyed during the battle and rebuilt afterwards. There are also a couple of war memorials and a British cemetery by the church, as well as a war museum (which wasn’t open on Sunday).

Via Ferrata Sjoa

Given that our legs were in good condition we decided to go to the Via Ferrata. This might be the only one we manage to climb on this trip as they are mostly down south and by the time we get south the weather will probably be against us.

Via Ferratas in Norway all seem to be privately owned and maintained (in other countries where there is a longer history of via ferratas they tend to be maintained by the mountaineering societies). Because of this we had to pay a climbing fee of 390 NOK each to the owners who also operate an outdoor activities centre offering white water rafting and canyoning. The company appear to operate under two names – Explore Sjoa and Heidal Rafting.

We popped into their small bar/restaurant to pay the climbing fee and ask when we could climb, as they only let self-guided climbers up after all groups have finished for the day. Luckily for us the groups were all done and we were directed to drive up a gravel track to a small parking spot about 2.5 km up the slopes behind their buildings. We were glad we only had a small van as we found another van (parked perfectly reasonably) and two badly parked cars taking up most of the space. We were parked so wonkily it was almost impossible to do anything and I had visions of us toppling over.

Parked by the via ferrata – impossible to tell from this photo just how wonky we were

We sorted out harnesses and helmets and made our way up the small path to the bottom of the via ferrata. It’s the first time we’ve been climbing since our trip to Switzerland two years ago and I got the wibbles as I looked at the rock face above us. Not helped by the fact the safety wire was a couple of meters above me so I was going to need to climb a little before I could clip on.

The first few steps are the hardest!

After a little while we both got into the swing of things and enjoyed a climb on staples and bare rock in the hot sunshine. I’d seen a review that said there were no overhangs but there were still a couple of sections which needed some interesting navigation around trees and over rock. It wasn’t easy and I had to rely on pulling myself up by the wire a few times as I didn’t feel confident in some of the handholds. I left with a blister despite having gloves.

At the top we had the option of doing a three wire bridge which – of course – we did. We wobbled our way over the bridge which had the ‘handrails’ at an awkward height and then shuffled along a traverse before finishing the climb. We were both buzzing with adrenaline at this point and really happy that we’d completed it.

Overnight at Heidal Rafting

We were allowed to stay overnight here at the rafting centre which was much appreciated especially as it was included in our climbing fee. The camping was in their car park but it was on grass and felt more like a campsite. Behind us were small group of camping huts, one person was in a tent and the Norwegian couple in the van we’d seen up at the via ferrata were also staying overnight (they were going canyoning the next day which was very tempting until we saw the price).

We had lovely hot showers in the facilities and then got our new Cadac stove out do do some outdoors cooking. We’d been informed by our neighbours that we only had one more day of warm weather so wanted to make the most of it. We cracked open a drink from our meagre supply and basked in the sun for as long as we could.

Parked up back at Heidal Camping – we climbed the cliff on the right