For our first SOTA adventure of the year, we headed for LA/NT-162 Lauvlia. It is one of the many yet‑to‑be‑activated summits in Nord-Trøndelag in the Meråker area, about a 1.5‑hour drive from Trondheim. With fresh enthusiasm for the new year and conditions that looked stable enough for a winter activation, it felt like a fitting start to the new year.
At the parking lot near Mårråkstuggu, we prepared our rather mixed collection of skis. LB9JJ brought mountain skis, LB6GH used an old kind of back-country skis, LB5DH went with Telemark skis, and DB4STI had borrowed a pair of randonnée skis for the tour.
The route was easy to follow, with clear markings and a scooter track. The climb to the summit was roughly 5.2 km with about 300 m of elevation gain, which we covered in around two hours. The top was exposed to a lot of wind which resulted in barely any snow at the summit itself. We therefore walked the last few meters and looked for a more sheltered operating spot while staying within the SOTA requirement of being less than 25 m below the actual summit.
A small stand of bushes offered minimal protection from the wind, and we built an additional snow wall to establish a temporary shelter for our shack. Additionally we used for the first time a small shelter tent to protect one person and the radio from wind and rain. This turned out to be a nice lightweight addition that helped keeping the equipment, the paper log and us self dry during the operation.
This time we used the self supporting vertical antenna for 20 m together with the proven Yaesu FT-891 Radio powered by a 24 Ah LiFePO4 Battery that we use on almost every SOTA activation. LB5DH activated the Summit with four calls and then DB4STI, LB9JJ and LB6GH followed with more QSOs wit England, France, Austria and Poland to where one Summit to Summit Contact was made. There were also a lot contacts with Germany and even one friend of DB4STI at his former club DK0TU at the Technical University Berlin who knew about the planned activation. Due to the wind and low temperatures, we kept the total operating time to about half an hour before packing down the station.
As the way back was mostly downhill, the Telemark and randonnée skis were clearly more comfortable on the downhill sections, while the lighter mountain and back‑country skis made the short uphill stretches on the return easier.
We reached the car around nightfall and drove back to Trondheim after a satisfying and well‑balanced winter outing. With one more summit now activated and the route proving both scenic and manageable, this is certainly a trip we may repeat in the future.
Impressing effort.