Store Knutsholstinden 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 higher t ...

Vågå Municipality Vågå () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of ...

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 ...

. 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 (, ) 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 Jotunheimen. More than 250 peaks rise above an elevation ...

. The mountain sits about southwest of the village of

Vågåmo Vågåmo is the administrative centre of Vågå Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located along the Otta River, at the eastern end of the lake Vågåvatn in the Ottadalen valley. The Norwegian National Road 15 passes thr ...

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 an ...

. The mountain is surrounded by several other notable mountains including Skarvflytindene to the east, Leirungstinden and Vesle Knutsholstinden to the southeast, Store Svartdalspiggen to the west, and Nordre Knutsholstinden to the north.

Name

The first element is the genitive of the name of the large

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

''Knutsholet''. The last element is the finite form of ''tind'' which means '

mountain peak A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

'. The name of the gorge is a compound of the male name

Knut Knut ( Norwegian and Swedish), Knud ( Danish), or Knútur ( Icelandic) is a Scandinavian and German first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used which ...

and ''hol'' which means 'hole', '

hollow Hollow may refer to: Natural phenomena *Hollow, a low, wooded area, such as a copse * Hollow (landform), a small vee-shaped, riverine type of valley *Tree hollow, a void in a branch or trunk, which may provide habitat for animals Arts, entertai ...

', or '

'. The reason for the name, and who the person Knut was, is unknown. The prefix ''store'' means 'the big' or 'the great'.

Disputes

Johannes Heftye made the first ascent of Store Knutsholstinden in 1875.

William Cecil Slingsby William Cecil Slingsby (1849–1929) was an English mountain climber and alpine explorer born in Bell Busk, near Gargrave, Yorkshire. In 1863 his family moved to Carleton where they opened a cotton spinning and weaving mill which operated for ...

made the first ascent of the higher

Store Skagastølstind Store Skagastølstind (also known as Storen) is the third highest peak in Norway. It is situated on the border between the municipality of Luster and Årdal in Vestland county, Norway. The mountain is part of the Hurrungane range. The mounta ...

in 1876 which was hailed as a major achievement, and Heftye soon felt it eclipsed his own first ascent of Store Knutsholstinden the year before. He set out to ascend Store Skagastølstind in 1880 and successfully used the popular route that is now named after him to reach the summit. His main claim was that Store Knutsholstind was at least as difficult as Storen, thus, must be regarded a first grade mountain. While Heftye's route on Store Knutsholstind may have been slightly more difficult than Slingsby's route on Storen, Heftye was at the time unaware that there were an easier route on Store Knutsholstind. Slingsby was approached by Marie Sønstenes, a woman who lived on farm near Store Knutsholstind, who claimed that she knew a straightforward route. Together, they ascended the mountain by this route. Heftye, who was very outspoken against female mountaineers, was humiliated and deeply offended.

References

Jotunheimen Vågå Mountains of Innlandet {{Innlandet-mountain-stub

Name

Disputes

See also

References