Galdhøpiggen
Encyclopedia
Galdhøpiggen is the highest mountain in Norway
, Scandinavia
and Northern Europe
, at 2,469 m (8,100 ft) above sea level. It is located within the municipality of Lom
, (in Oppland
) in the Jotunheimen
mountain area.
passes beneath the mountain.
, a hard but rather coarse-grained rock which is found in most of the Jotunheimen range. During the ice age
s it was heavily glaciated and got its present form. The theory that the highest summits in Norway stayed above the ice as nunataks has been abandoned by most geologists. It fits well with the present flora in the area, but it does not fit well with the present knowledge of ice thickness and the results of glaciation.
For many years, geologists did not know that Galdhøpiggen was the highest summit in Norway. The honor was granted to the much more visible Snøhetta
in the Dovrefjell
range. Hence no attempts were made to climb the peak, while Snøhetta was visited for the first time in 1798 as part of a scientific trip to the area. In 1844 the geologist and mountaineer, Baltazar Mathias Keilhau, made two unsuccessful attempts to reach the summit. On one of these he reached the summit which later was named Keilhaus topp
2,355 m above sea level very close to Galdhøpiggen, but the terrible weather forced them to return.
In 1850 three men from Lom reached the summit, the guide Steinar Sulheim, the local teacher Arnesen and the church warden Flotten.
In a 1559 anonymous English
poem, Galdhøpiggen is mentioned as "the barbarian's threshold":
Galdhøpiggen can also be hiked from the Spiterstulen
lodge in Visdalen, with a technically very easy, but still somewhat strenuous climb of 1300 m — nearly 4000 ft. It takes four hours walk up, two hours down. From Spiterstulen, hikers do not have to cross the Styggebreen glacier, and hence a guide is not required. Ardent peak-baggers may count three summits on the route from Spiterstulen: Svellnose, Keilhaus topp
and the summit itself.
At Juvasshytta there is an alpine ski resort with lift on a glacier, with top on 2200 m.a.sl, the highest in Scandinavia. It is called Galdhøpiggen summer ski center and is open from June and all the summer, when the road is open.
, as some measurements showed Glittertind was slightly higher including the glacier at its peak. This glacier has, however, shrunk
in recent years, and Glittertind is now only 2464 m even including the glacier. Hence, the dispute has been settled in Galdhøpiggen's favour.
At the summit a small cabin has been built. In the summer soft drinks, chocolate bars, postcards and other items are sold here. Earlier the Norwegian Postal Authority had a small post office here—being the highest in Northern Europe.
A sign which states that inline skates are strictly forbidden inside the cabin may be a somewhat superfluous warning, since heavy boots are the footwear up there.
Galdhøpiggen is not only the highest summit in Northern Europe
. It also contains two probably unbreakable horticultural records in Northern Europe, being the upper limit for Ranunculus glacialis
(2370 m) and Saxifraga oppositifolia (2350 m). Since the summer might not occur at all, some years, it tells something about these flowers' adaptation to the extremely harsh climate.
On sunny days in the later part of July and August, the summit is visited by hundreds of people.
Geography of Norway
Norway is a country located in Northern Europe on the western and northern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, bordering the North Sea in southwest and the Skagerrak inlet to the south, the North Atlantic Ocean in the west and the Barents Sea to the northeast...
, Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
and Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
, at 2,469 m (8,100 ft) above sea level. It is located within the municipality of Lom
Lom, Norway
Lom is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fossbergom....
, (in Oppland
Oppland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....
) in the Jotunheimen
Jotunheimen
Jotunheimen is a mountainous area of roughly 3,500 km² in Southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all in Jotunheimen, including the very highest - Galdhøpiggen...
mountain area.
Name
Galdhøpiggen means "the peak (piggen) of the mountain Galdhø." The first element in the name of the mountain is gald m "steep mountain road", the last element is hø f "(big and) rounded mountain." An old road between Gudbrandsdalen and SognSogn
Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway . It is located in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, surrounding the Sognefjord. Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestrand, Hyllestad, Høyanger, Gulen, Leikanger, Luster, Lærdal, Sogndal, Solund, Vik, and Årdal. The district covers ...
passes beneath the mountain.
History
Geologically Galdhøpiggen, as most of Southern Norway's mountain ranges, belongs to the Caledonian folding. The peak is made of gabbroGabbro
Gabbro refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained, intrusive mafic igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. The rocks are plutonic, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass....
, a hard but rather coarse-grained rock which is found in most of the Jotunheimen range. During the ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
s it was heavily glaciated and got its present form. The theory that the highest summits in Norway stayed above the ice as nunataks has been abandoned by most geologists. It fits well with the present flora in the area, but it does not fit well with the present knowledge of ice thickness and the results of glaciation.
For many years, geologists did not know that Galdhøpiggen was the highest summit in Norway. The honor was granted to the much more visible Snøhetta
Snøhetta
Snøhetta is an international architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design office based in Oslo, Norway and New York City. Craig Dykers and Kjetil Trædal Thorsen are the two principals of the company. In addition there are four partners, architect Robert Greenwood, architect Ole...
in the Dovrefjell
Dovrefjell
Dovrefjell is a mountain range in central Norway that forms a natural barrier between Eastern Norway and Trøndelag, the area around Trondheim. As a result, it has been heavily trafficked during and probably preceding historical times...
range. Hence no attempts were made to climb the peak, while Snøhetta was visited for the first time in 1798 as part of a scientific trip to the area. In 1844 the geologist and mountaineer, Baltazar Mathias Keilhau, made two unsuccessful attempts to reach the summit. On one of these he reached the summit which later was named Keilhaus topp
Keilhaus topp
Keilhaus topp is one of Norway's highest mountains, but is not always included in rankings due to its prominence of only 20 m.The summit lies approximately 750 m east of Galdhøpiggen, Norway's highest.-The name:...
2,355 m above sea level very close to Galdhøpiggen, but the terrible weather forced them to return.
In 1850 three men from Lom reached the summit, the guide Steinar Sulheim, the local teacher Arnesen and the church warden Flotten.
In a 1559 anonymous English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
poem, Galdhøpiggen is mentioned as "the barbarian's threshold":
- Oh my daere worrie naughtt,
- In thyce sognification thou wylt naughtt be caughtt,
- By the eivel barbarians, thuste frum the eastte,
- thust waering coattes, maddeth frum hide-of-beastte,
- And worrie naughtt, a cause beeth it faer oh thine lodt,
- thadt Golduypiggn, the Barbarian's threseholdt.
Access and modern tourism
Access to the top of Galdhøpiggen is not especially hard: from Juvasshytta (1850 metres above sea level, 5 km from the summit) it takes about three hours up (including about 45 minute to prepare for crossing the Styggebreen glacier), an hour at the top and about two hours back. Some days in the summer, a few hundred people reach the summit each day. Guides are needed to cross the glacier, but are available every summer morning.Galdhøpiggen can also be hiked from the Spiterstulen
Spiterstulen
Spiterstulen is a former mountain farm, now a tourist station in the valley Visdalen in Lom in Oppland, Norway. Spiterstulen lies 1,100 metres above sea level, between the two highest mountains in Norway, Galdhøpiggen and Glittertind. It is the largest tourist cabin in Jotunheimen, with around 230...
lodge in Visdalen, with a technically very easy, but still somewhat strenuous climb of 1300 m — nearly 4000 ft. It takes four hours walk up, two hours down. From Spiterstulen, hikers do not have to cross the Styggebreen glacier, and hence a guide is not required. Ardent peak-baggers may count three summits on the route from Spiterstulen: Svellnose, Keilhaus topp
Keilhaus topp
Keilhaus topp is one of Norway's highest mountains, but is not always included in rankings due to its prominence of only 20 m.The summit lies approximately 750 m east of Galdhøpiggen, Norway's highest.-The name:...
and the summit itself.
At Juvasshytta there is an alpine ski resort with lift on a glacier, with top on 2200 m.a.sl, the highest in Scandinavia. It is called Galdhøpiggen summer ski center and is open from June and all the summer, when the road is open.
Summit
Galdhøpiggen had earlier been challenged for the title as the highest mountain in Norway by GlittertindGlittertind
Glittertind is the second highest mountain in Norway, at 2,465 m above sea level, including the glacier at its peak...
, as some measurements showed Glittertind was slightly higher including the glacier at its peak. This glacier has, however, shrunk
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
in recent years, and Glittertind is now only 2464 m even including the glacier. Hence, the dispute has been settled in Galdhøpiggen's favour.
At the summit a small cabin has been built. In the summer soft drinks, chocolate bars, postcards and other items are sold here. Earlier the Norwegian Postal Authority had a small post office here—being the highest in Northern Europe.
A sign which states that inline skates are strictly forbidden inside the cabin may be a somewhat superfluous warning, since heavy boots are the footwear up there.
Galdhøpiggen is not only the highest summit in Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
. It also contains two probably unbreakable horticultural records in Northern Europe, being the upper limit for Ranunculus glacialis
Ranunculus glacialis
Ranunculus glacialis, the glacier crowfoot or glacier buttercup, is a plant of the family Ranunculaceae.-Distribution:Ranunculus glacialis is an arctic-alpine species, found in the high mountains of southern Europe as well as on the Scandinavian peninsula, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Jan Mayen,...
(2370 m) and Saxifraga oppositifolia (2350 m). Since the summer might not occur at all, some years, it tells something about these flowers' adaptation to the extremely harsh climate.
On sunny days in the later part of July and August, the summit is visited by hundreds of people.
External links
- Galdhøpiggen Juvasshytta
- Computer generated summit panoramas North South Index
Guidebooks
- A. Dyer et al. "Walks and Scrambles in Norway", ISBN 1-904466-25-7.
- Bernhard Pollmann "Norway South", ISBN 3763348077.