Nordkapp in February - possible?

Sergeant Pluck

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Is it actually possible to get there in February in terms of roads being open/passable etc? I gather it will be a bit nippy ;-)

How many hours of daylight is there at that time of year?

If we couldn't go in February, when would be the earliest realistic time to go - march? april?

Cheers,

Pluck
 
Really??

It'll be proper, proper, monkey cold, with plenty of snow on the roads. My wife's family in Hammerfest (150km from Nordkapp) reckon they get a couple of hours of dusky daylight a day.

It'll be a reall challenge, but good on ya for trying.

OT
 
Not possible because they dont keep the road open in the winter!

Road close some time in october and opens some time in april - date depends of snow level and weather conditions , but even in april I guess it will be a risky trip on studded tyres...
 
I travelled from Bergen to Nordkapp in June 2005 and, although the higher level roads were clear, there was still plenty of snow and frozen lakes by the roadside when you were in the mountains around Geiranger Fjord, etc. Even in June the temperatures were decidely cool at times especially when raining; weather was a bit like a Scottish spring. I found I needed my balaclava & merino wool baselayers quite a few days, although towards the end of the holiday (early July) it did start to get quite warm e.g. low 70's

I think you would be taking a big risk with the weather even thinking of riding that far north on a bike in March or even April. Having lived in the far north of Scotland, which is a considerably lower latitude than even Bergen, I would think you would be lucky to have 6 hours light per day in Feb. You would almost certainly encounter snow & find some of the more intersesting roads blocked / closed (e.g the Trollistigen pass, or roads into & out of Geiranger Fjord).

The short daylight hours would mean you would also miss the changing scenery which, for me, was one of the highlights of the trip. There are also a lot of reindeer wandering loose above the Arctic Circle who had a nasty habit of being on the road or crossing the road as you approached. I probably had to stop dead at least a dozen times. I would certainly not wish to ride after dark with so many bambi running loose; all the HGV's have bull bars for this reason. Northern Norway is also pretty sparsely populated & the roads quiet e.g. there may not be much help available if were to come a cropper in the dark.

I stayed on campsites & in campsite hytters during June as hotels were all very expensive, and hotels were none too frequent in the more northern areas. I suspect you may find campsites and accomodation thin on the ground in March / April as this is well before the tourist season (even in France, Spain,& the UK many tourist places do not open much before Easter). In the northern areas June - mid Sept seemed to be the tourist season.

I love Norway and would intend returning however this would be another summer trip. There is something magical about 24 hour summer daylight in northern latitudes.
 
I travelled from Bergen to Nordkapp in June 2005 and, although the higher level roads were clear, there was still plenty of snow and frozen lakes by the roadside when you were in the mountains around Geiranger Fjord, etc. Even in June the temperatures were decidely cool at times especially when raining; weather was a bit like a Scottish spring. I found I needed my balaclava & merino wool baselayers quite a few days, although towards the end of the holiday (early July) it did start to get quite warm e.g. low 70's

I think you would be taking a big risk with the weather even thinking of riding that far north on a bike in March or even April. Having lived in the far north of Scotland, which is a considerably lower latitude than even Bergen, I would think you would be lucky to have 6 hours light per day in Feb. You would almost certainly encounter snow & find some of the more intersesting roads blocked / closed (e.g the Trollistigen pass, or roads into & out of Geiranger Fjord).

The short daylight hours would mean you would also miss the changing scenery which, for me, was one of the highlights of the trip. There are also a lot of reindeer wandering loose above the Arctic Circle who had a nasty habit of being on the road or crossing the road as you approached. I probably had to stop dead at least a dozen times. I would certainly not wish to ride after dark with so many bambi running loose; all the HGV's have bull bars for this reason. Northern Norway is also pretty sparsely populated & the roads quiet e.g. there may not be much help available if were to come a cropper in the dark.

I stayed on campsites & in campsite hytters during June as hotels were all very expensive, and hotels were none too frequent in the more northern areas. I suspect you may find campsites and accomodation thin on the ground in March / April as this is well before the tourist season (even in France, Spain,& the UK many tourist places do not open much before Easter). In the northern areas June - mid Sept seemed to be the tourist season.

I love Norway and would intend returning however this would be another summer trip. There is something magical about 24 hour summer daylight in northern latitudes.

Thanks for all that. We're actually looking for a bit of cold/snow action, hence going before summer - just not to the point where the trip becomes impossible. Also apparently the Northern Lights are better at this time of year. We're not bothered about campsites and tourist places being open too much as we're planning to take advantage of Norways wild camping laws, plus we'll be 2 bikes and a Landrover so carrying the right kit won't be an issue. We just need to find out the earliest point at which the trip is possible without being too treacherous and when we'll get a good few hours of daylight each day.

Cheers,

Pluck
 
We just need to find out the earliest point at which the trip is possible without being too treacherous and when we'll get a good few hours of daylight each day.

Cheers,

Pluck

Well, we who live up here above the arctic cirkle, JUST 1200 SOUTH of Nordkapp, selden jue our bikes much until late april.

And we often hear that the guys up north cant ride due to snow in may!

I guess You have experience with riding in snow and on ice before?
As You plan a follow car I would had two sets of wheels for the bike. One with ordinary tyres and one set with studded ones. Also keep in mind, it can be wery hard to find new tyres here before may. The shops dont have them in stock because we dont need them sooner. Studded tyres has to be ordered anyway. In short, bring spare tyres in case of trouble.

The trip You plan has been done, with passenger! IN february! On a Suzuki GS1000G. They actually came up to Nordkapp! Some french 2CV club had arranged special opening of the road.

The guy who drove the Suki had a hard time after the trip. They had temperatures down to 36 C below! zero. He used state of the art clothes and some electric heated items, but got so exposet to low temp that his body suffered. Even 10 years after the trip he has minor revmatic problems. According to himselves, "If I had known how hard this would be, I has not did it..."
 
Well, we who live up here above the arctic cirkle, JUST 1200 SOUTH of Nordkapp, selden jue our bikes much until late april.

And we often hear that the guys up north cant ride due to snow in may!

I guess You have experience with riding in snow and on ice before?
As You plan a follow car I would had two sets of wheels for the bike. One with ordinary tyres and one set with studded ones. Also keep in mind, it can be wery hard to find new tyres here before may. The shops dont have them in stock because we dont need them sooner. Studded tyres has to be ordered anyway. In short, bring spare tyres in case of trouble.

The trip You plan has been done, with passenger! IN february! On a Suzuki GS1000G. They actually came up to Nordkapp! Some french 2CV club had arranged special opening of the road.

The guy who drove the Suki had a hard time after the trip. They had temperatures down to 36 C below! zero. He used state of the art clothes and some electric heated items, but got so exposet to low temp that his body suffered. Even 10 years after the trip he has minor revmatic problems. According to himselves, "If I had known how hard this would be, I has not did it..."

Thanks for this. No we've no experience of riding on snow but have done some pretty serious overlanding before on mud and sand - I don't know how transferable those skills will be.

Yes - we're planning to take studded tyres with us in the Landrover. We'll get them before we leave.

Mmmm - sound like April-ish might be the time to go - how much daylight do you get in April?

Cheers,

Pluck
 
Since the equinox is 21 March better than 12 hours I'd suspect. I was also in Norway in June 2005 and even then the Rv63 into Geiranger was still closed.

Plenty of this through Voss and the Hardanger Plateau.

2005_0106Norwayjen0033.jpg
 
I have no doubth in Your riding abilitys, but this can be hardcore... I hope You prepare well!

The traction You get on ice and snow wary a lot with temperature. On dry snow the studs have wery little contact with anything, and the tyres rubber quality is wery important! Below 15 there are lots of grip in the rubber are soft enough.

On wet ice the studs give most of the grip, but the tyres must manage to get the water away so rubber can come in contact with "dry" ice to help grip.

Motorbike tyres with qualitys to drain water from ice dont exist, and the studded tyres You find are often off road tyres witch are studded afterwards. I doubt the rubber in those tyres are soft in low temperatures.

And another drawback with studded tyres, they grip bad on roads WITHOUT snow / ice. This wary with how long the studs are. Long studs are dangerous on bare roads!
In my younger days we rode 100ccm bikes in the winter with normal road tyres, it was OK in the cold but we did crash a lot on ice...

On Nordkapp:

Whole sun visible from 11. may to 31. july
NO sun (mørketid) from 20. nov. to 22. january

So You get lots of daylight in april.
 
Thanks for all the info GPLongford - I'll let you know how the plans turn out.

:thumb

Pluck

Posted about Your plans on the Norwegian forum www.bike.no and the guys up in Alta told me to inform You about winterrally (meeting / treff) in Alta 15 - 17 february 2008, (Primus borealis treffet). You are wery welcome!

Here are pics from they who won Longest Distance at the rally in 2006:

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Album=UF67C7WY

A lot of the guys at the forum consider You crazy and hope that You don't freeze to death on Your trip!

Some guy had to "rescue" some french ones in the snow a couple of years ago. On their way north in february with a bit "low tech" equipment!
 


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