UKH

I'm doing Finse to Rjukan soon, looking for paper maps. The scale of Hardangervidda means I'll need to buy a vast amount of maps to get any detail. 

Would anyone on here happen to have the range of maps covering Hardangervidda they no longer have use for?  

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Could use Norgeskart on your phone? It’s free or a month sub for offline use is about 40kr

In reply to ianstevens:

I'm on there right now, could print a tonne of A4 sheets, but would be a pain carrying around so many fragile sheets of paper. My phone wouldn't last 12 days in that cold, it already struggles with Scottish winter!

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

I used the 1:150k sheet for planning/overview and alpinequest on my phone for daily nav. Depends partially on whether you will be following the willow-wanded trails. 

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Also, I used printouts from Google maps (lol) on a 10- day river trip this summer; we used them to start our campfires after we had finished each section. 

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Getting second hand unwanted maps makes sense but in case you cannot, I think (assuming it is 1:50,000 you are looking for) it is still only two or three maps covering Finse to Rjukan. The Topo 3000 series has 4 for Hardanger that always reminds me of the 4 1:25s I used to use for the Lake District. 

In reply to gneiss boots:

I ordered the three required maps, came to about £85. It doesn't cover the last day to Rjukan, but that should be fairly straightforward so I'll just print out that short section.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Is your route not in this one then? 

https://www.dntbutikken.no/nordeca/122609/hardangervidda-sørø...

Expensive to be sure (less if you get member discount) but great maps, tyvek, long lasting and show summer/winter routes.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Makes sense. Personally I'd just turn down the brightness, use flight mode (GNSS still works)  and take a power bank to keep my phone alive. Keeping it close to your chest inside your layers works wonders too, even in Norwegian winter.

FYI if you do buy new maps, buy them in Norway - it'll be cheaper (IIRC they're 200- each).

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:  You won't need much detail for wandering around in the flat, slightly bumpy terrain following a massive track

In reply to wbo2:

I figure best case scenario it will be as you describe, but we are going next month and I'm not sure if they mark the trails then. Also a dump of snow could change everything 

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Appreciate you want paper maps, ideally second hand! But to note the amazing free Norwegian map site www.norgeskart.no  . This allows zooming in to an incredibly high resolution, and switching to photo view. Also can draw a track on it for distance and height info. I’ve used it a lot for planning trips in North Norway. You might be able to set the resolution you need (often 1:75000 or 1:100,000 is perfectly fine, and printout sections. the Norstedts outdoorkarten series is good, www.outdoorkarten.se , giving double sided maps at 1:75000. Otherwise the Fjallkartan series at 1:100,000 are good, and generally widely available in Norway. 

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Apologies . Just noticed you were already using Norgeskart, also recommended by ianstevens. Should have paid more attention , sorry! 

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Hi, 

I did  finse to rjukan in march last year over 7 days. I have gpx files if you want them, depending on what route you take.

My understanding is that trail marking with birch branches starts in February.  

In reply to wbo2:

I've been up on the HardangaVidda a couple of times in winter, including a crossing very off the regular routes.

I've never used a paper map. The terrain is very difficult for navigation (a bit rolling, quite featureless). If the weather is bad I wouldn't even think of getting a map out as you won't see anything to take a bearing off, and the map probably won't survive the experience.

We used pre-programmed tracks on my watch, backed up with phones. We also took several spare power banks. There is 4G coverage pretty much across the whole plateau.

In reply to gooberman-hill:

I'll be using my GPS preprogrammed with a route, I just always take paper maps for a backup. I'm under no pretense that using a paper map in a total GPS failure situation would be very difficult, but imagine not having them when your device fails!

I'm not sure how you manage your power banks but I have very little trust for anything electrical in extreme cold. The last time I took a power bank into the wild it got bricked by -32C, never held a charge again. Any time I've taken a phone and actually tried to use it, I find the battery chills in seconds and shuts off. I can only have so many batteries in my pocket!

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

The power banks weren't a problem - put one inside your jacket rather than in your rucsac, so it stays warm, and keep it in your sleeping bag at night.

Also, my main navigation was my watch (a Suunto 9). I had all my tracks across the plateau pre-programmed. It doesn't use much power so I knew that one power bank was enough. If you have a phone, keep it on airplane mode unless you actually use it - it will use far less power.

On that note, one really good tip when it is really cold is to always put your gloves inside your jacket if you take them off - it keeps them warmer so any moisture inside them doesn't get cold or freeze. An hour of hot aches when you put them back on is just not worth it!