Galdhøpiggen () is the
highest mountain in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
,
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
, and
Northern Europe
The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...
. The mountain is located in
Lom Municipality
Lom Municipality () is a frontier Municipalities of Bulgaria, municipality (''obshtina'') in Montana Province, Northwestern Bulgaria, located along the right bank of Danube river in the Danubian Plain (Bulgaria), Danubian Plain. It is named after ...
in
Innlandet
Innlandet is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (Jevnaker Municipality and Lunner Municipality were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken ( ...
county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. It is in the
Jotunheimen mountains within
Jotunheimen National Park. The mountain sits about southwest of the village of
Fossbergom and about northeast of the village of
Øvre Årdal
Øvre Årdal is a village in Årdal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is the larger of the two primary villages in Årdal. The village is situated at the northern end of the long lake Årdalsvatnet, with the village of Årdalstangen at ...
. The mountain is surrounded by several other notable mountains including
Keilhaus topp to the east;
Store Styggehøe to the southeast;
Svellnosbreahesten,
Midtre Tverråtinden, and
Store Tverråtinden to the south;
Storjuvtinden and
Skardstinden to the west;
Veslpiggen,
Storgrovtinden, and
Storgrovhøe to the northwest; and
Galdhøi and
Juvvasshøi to the northeast.
Etymology
''Galdhøpiggen'' means "the peak/spike (''
piggen'') of the mountain Galdhø." The first element in the name of the mountain is ''
gald'' (m.) which means "steep mountain road". The part of the valley
Bøverdalen closest to the mountain is called Galde. The last element is ''
hø'' (f.) which means "(big and) rounded mountain." An old road between
Gudbrandsdalen and
Sogn passes beneath the mountain.
History

Geologically, Galdhøpiggen belongs to the
Caledonian folding, like most of
South Norway's mountain ranges. The peak is made of
gabbro
Gabbro ( ) is a phaneritic (coarse-grained and magnesium- and iron-rich), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is ch ...
, a hard but rather coarse-grained rock which is found in most of the
Jotunheimen range. During the
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
s it was heavily glaciated and got its present form. The theory that the highest summits in Norway stayed above the ice as
nunatak
A nunatak (from Inuit language, Inuit ) is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They often form natural pyramidal peaks. Isolated nunataks are also cal ...
s 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 in fact the highest summit in Norway. That distinction was instead granted to
Snøhetta in 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 loca ...
range, visible on the
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) 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 of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
-
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
land route. 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 a summit, which was later named
Keilhaus topp (at 2,355 m above sea level very close to Galdhøpiggen), but the terrible weather forced him to return.
In 1850 three men from
Lom reached the summit; the guide Steinar Sulheim, the local teacher Lars Arnesen and the church warden Ingebrigt Flotten.
Access and modern tourism
There are two possible routes to reach the summit. One starts at
Juvasshytta and the other at
Spiterstulen.
There are three summits on the route from Spiterstulen: Svellnose,
Keilhaus topp and the summit itself. During the main season guided trips take one to the summit from Spiterstulen via the well known blue ice fall on Svellnosbreen.
The main season for hiking to Galdhøpiggen is between June and August.
The season is determined by the melting and first appearance of snow, so it does not follow a set date. The peak is a common destination for backcountry skiers in the months of April and May.
At Juvasshytta there is an alpine ski resort with lift on a glacier, reaching an elevation of above sea level, the highest in Scandinavia. It is called
Galdhøpiggen Summer Ski Centre 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
Glittertind, 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 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. Galdhøpiggen is not only the highest summit in
Northern Europe
The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...
, it also contains two probably unbreakable horticultural records in Northern Europe, being the upper limit for ''
Ranunculus glacialis
''Ranunculus'' is a List of the largest genera of flowering plants, large genus of about 1750 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots.
The genus is d ...
'' (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.
Media gallery
View from Galdhøpiggen to west.jpg, View from the top to west
View from Galdhøpiggen to east.jpg, View from the top to east
See also
*
List of mountains in Norway by height
*
Extreme points of Norway
The extreme points of Norway include the coordinates that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location in Norway; and the highest and the lowest altitudes in the country. The northernmost point is Rossøya on Svalbard, the sout ...
*
List of mountain peaks by prominence
*
List of European ultra-prominent peaks
*
Scandinavian mountain range
References
Sources
*
*
External links
*
Galdhøpiggen"Galdhøpiggen, Norway" on PeakbaggerDroner i naturen skaper reaksjoner: – Mange driter i at det er forbud(18 June 2021)
NRK
Juvasshytta
* Computer generated summit panorama
NorthSouth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galdhopiggen
Lom, Norway
Mountains of Innlandet
Highest points of Norwegian counties
Highest points of countries