Rasletind or Rasletinden is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

on the border of

Vang Municipality Vang is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vang i Valdres. Other villages in Vang include Hænsgardane, Nystuen, Ø ...

and Vågå Municipality in

Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). The ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The tall mountain is located in the

Jotunheimen Jotunheimen (; "the home of the Jötunn") is a mountainous area of roughly in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all located in the Jotunheimen mountains, in ...

mountains within

Jotunheimen National Park Jotunheimen National Park ( no, Jotunheimen nasjonalpark, "Home of the Giants") is a national park in Norway, recognized as one of the country's premier hiking and fishing regions. The national park covers and is part of the larger area Jotunhe ...

. The mountain sits about southwest of the village of Vågåmo and about northwest of the village of

Beitostølen Beitostølen is a village in Øystre Slidre Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located at an elevation of about above mean sea level on the southern edge of the Valdresflye mountain plateau. The villages of Skammestein a ...

. The mountain is surrounded by several other notable mountains including Gråhøi to the east; Bukkehåmåren, Høgdebrotet, and Eggi to the north; Tjønnholstinden and Tjønnholsoksle to the northwest; and Kalvehøgde and Leirungskampen to the west. The mountain has two main summits, named Øystre Rasletind and Rasletind. The higher summit reaches an elevation of above sea level. It is located on the border between the municipalities of Vang and

Vågå Vågå () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vågåmo. Other village areas in Vågå include Lalm and Besshe ...

. The secondary peak reaches an elevation of above sea level a little further to the east. That peak forms a

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

for the municipal borders of Vang, Vågå, and

Øystre Slidre Øystre Slidre is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Heggenes. Other villages in the municipality include Hegge, Ro ...

municipalities. This mountain forms the southeasternmost edge of the

mountains. The mountain is situated on the western side of the

Valdresflye Valdresflye, also spelled Valdresflya and Valdresflyi, is a mountain plateau in the easternmost part of the Jotunheimen mountains in Norway. The plateau lies in Innlandet county, mostly in Øystre Slidre Municipality, but a small area extends in ...

high mountain plains. The mountain is the eastern end of the long east-west Kalvehøgde

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

. The summit can be observed from most of the mountain areas south and east of

. Both summits are located close to the main road

Norwegian County Road 51 County Road 51 ( no, Fylkesvei 51) is a highway which runs north–south between Vågå and Gol, Norway. Part of the road runs concurrently with E16, between Leira and Fagernes. The section across Valdresflye is designated a National Tour ...

which runs across Valdresflye. The mountain is among the furthest south of all the peaks in Norway and it is made of the extremely hard

gabbro Gabbro () is a phaneritic (coarse-grained), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is ch ...

rock. The gabbro in Rasletind is of the normal "gray-with-black-specs" variety which can easily be observed on the slopes that are covered with snow most of the year and gives no support to lichen colonies. The view from the summits is one of the best in southern

. On a clear day, you can see almost as far as

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

. You can see the Rondane range to the east-northeast and the

Dovrefjell Dovrefjell is a mountain range in Central Norway that forms a natural barrier between Eastern Norway and Trøndelag. The mountain range is located in Innlandet, Møre og Romsdal, and Trøndelag counties in Norway. As a result of its central ...

range to the north. Due south you see the summit of the beacon of

Bitihorn Bitihorn (local pronunciation: ) is a mountain on the border of Vang Municipality and Øystre Slidre Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The tall mountain is located in the Jotunheimen mountains about northwest of the village of Beitost ...

, and you also see the lakes of Vinstri and

Bygdin Bygdin is a lake in Vang Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The is located in the southern part of the Jotunheimen mountain range. The long, narrow mountain lake is located between the large lakes Tyin (to the west) and Vinstre to the ...

Name

The name probably derives from the Norwegian word for rumble "rasle" - the sound of stones falling down. The south wall of the summits is steep, so this makes the rumble-theory even more plausible. The name is also found in the tarn south of the summits and the smaller summit on the south end of the plain south of the summits is called Raslet. The eastern peak is called Øystre Rasletind ('øystre' means 'eastern').

Climbing

The mountain peaks are among the most easily available summits in Norway, particularly since they are located so close to a main road. Because of this, it has been impossible to establish who was first to first reach the summits.Interviews with several hikers visiting the summits 1984, 1996, 2005 and 2006 The eastern and western summits can be reached after an easy hike, which, dependent on the choice of directness of the route will be of varying steepness. The following is a brief description of the trip. From the Youth Hostel at the highest point along County Road 51, hike directly towards the eastern summit. There are traces of a path on the wet meadows on the south shore of lake Fisketjørni. Shortly after you leave the small lake, the very even route starts to climb, and you will not be able to see the summits any more. Walk in a northwesterly direction until you reach the shoulder of the Raslet mountain. From here you can choose to hike directly towards the steep southeastern ridge. This ridge needs no equipment to be climbed, but it is steep. The easier choice is to hike towards the pass between the Eastern summit and the small summit on its eastern ridge. From here it is a rocky, but an easy hike to the summit. From the extremely flat eastern summit, it is easy to spot the route to the main summit. This short hike is no challenge except that it is rocky. The greatest number of people climb the hikes in April and May after the County Route 51 has opened again after winter. On a sunny Saturday or Sunday you will never walk alone, and the number of alternative routes is higher than in summer. Many hikers will continue on from Rasletinden to the Kalvehøgde summits.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2022 Jotunheimen Vågå Vang, Oppland Øystre Slidre Mountains of Innlandet

Name

Climbing

See also

References