CLOSE TO HOME Text & Photo: Pim Shaitosa
Pim Shaitosa travelled the world for five years searching for new places to climb before she realised that there was actually some truly magnificent climbing to be found a little closer to home. Read about how she found her way to Flatanger and the world's most difficult climbing route in the Hanshelleren cave. I remember the intro to Silence so well, even though I haven't watched it for years. I was glued to the screen: the hypnotic music, disembodied voices echoing, close-ups of perfect granite, a single rope hanging from the rock and Adam Ondra's screams. It took my breath away. After sitting there and watching how one of the world's best climbers prepared and trained before sending the world's hardest climbing route, I was so eager to go; just to feel the stone and soak in the views – Silence, of course, was far beyond my skills. In 2018, I was sitting on my friend Graham's worn-down couch in New Zealand. I'd moved there for its dramatic landscapes, which sounds weird coming from a Swede, but I'd convinced myself I had to travel to find real wilderness. I'd spent most of my young adult life in Stockholm, and over the years, the urge to get out of there had grown stronger. I constantly felt there was something more exciting than the Stockholm party scene; something more fulfilling than a nine-to-five job. So, I left town and spent the next five years on a climbing trip that took me all over the world in search of inspiration. 2020 saw me and millions of others stuck at home. My summer trip to Canada was cancelled due to covid restrictions, so I decided to tag along with some friends who were going to Niemisel, northern Sweden's best cliff for challenging sport climbing routes. I booked my train tickets just a few hours before departure, packed all my gear in a stressful rush and just about managed to catch the night train to Boden. The climbing was phenomenal, but after a week, it was time to drive to Flatanger to meet the rest of the Stockholm gang. Great expectations, exceeded!
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I think time must have dulled my memories of Flatanger because it blew my mind on the first day – and the second day, and pretty much every subsequent day! The Hanshelleren cave was so much bigger than I expected, dwarfing the people standing at the bottom. The view from the foot of the cliff was just as breathtaking and looked completely different in every different type of weather. During the three weeks we spent in Flatanger, we had all kinds of weather, from "it's too hot in the sun and I can't climb" to "it's so foggy that I can barely see my hand in front of my face". Luckily, we had the rock gods on our side, so we mostly got perfect weather and none of the infamous gnats. Despite the excellent weather, I was super happy I'd booked a room at the climbing campsite. Only 20-minutes' walk from the cliff, it's run by the lovely and kind Olof, and on the hottest days, I retreated to the house to cool down. You can always take a quick break in the large cold-storage room if you really start to overheat. On rainy days, I was grateful to be able to sit in the warm and dry by the wood-burning stove. For all campers and van-lifers at the campsite, thereʼs a small kitchen, bathroom, shared fridge and living room. The boulder wall that Adam Ondra built to warm up on before climbing Silence is still in the barn, and I felt a little starstruck when I saw it and other locations from the film.
Quiet as a library
It's been a long time since I was so inspired by rock and nature. A veil of calm seems to lie over Flatanger; most days, it felt like climbing in a giant library, and it's so quiet that you find yourself talking in whispers. The cliff is vast, and all climbers are so spread out that you barely hear anyone
