Snøhetta is the highest mountain 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 ...

mountain range 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 ...

. At , it is the highest mountain in

outside the Jotunheimen range, making it the 24th highest peak in Norway, based on a

topographic prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

cutoff. At , its

is the third highest in Norway. The mountain is located in the Dovrefjell mountains in northern

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 in

Dovre Municipality Dovre 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 Dovre. Other villages in Dovre include Dombås and Hjerkinn. The ...

. The mountain lies inside Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park and it is the highest peak in the park. It is surrounded by several other mountains including Brunkollen to the east; Einøvlingseggen to the south; Skredahøin Bruri, Nordre Svånåtinden, and

Storstyggesvånåtinden Storstyggesvånåtinden is a mountain in Lesja Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The tall mountain lies within Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park, about north of the village of Dombås in the Svånåtindene mountains. The mountain ...

to the southwest; and Store Langvasstinden, Larstinden, and Drugshøi to the west. The mountain has several peaks: * Stortoppen is the highest summit at . * Midttoppen is the next highest summit reaching with a

of . * Hettpiggen is the third highest peak on the mountain reaching with a prominence of . * Vesttoppen is the fourth highest peak at an elevation of and a prominence of . Vesttoppen and Stortoppen are easily available by hiking or skiing, and traveling from Stortoppen, Midttoppen is easily accessible. Traversing Midttoppen, via Hettpiggen and to Vesttoppen requires

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...

with a rope. On Stortoppen there is a radio link station, originally installed by the

Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army () is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway in 1628. The ...

, and now serving primarily civilian purposes. The station and its emergency diesel generator, as well as a nearby

helipad A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fa ...

, detract somewhat from the aesthetics of the summit. For this reason, many recommend Vesttoppen as a better destination. A small monument for the Norwegian

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, humourist, author and

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

Peter Wessel Zapffe is located near the summit of Vesttoppen. Under good conditions in both summer and winter, the ascent is relatively easy. Common starting points are the DNT-cabins Reinheim, Snøheim, or Åmotdalshytta.

History

Snøhetta was visited for the first time in 1798 as part of a scientific trip to the area. At that time it was assumed that was the highest summit in Norway, because the Jotunheimen area with its higher peaks was rather inaccessible and unresearched, while Snøhetta is visible from the traditional travel route Oslo-Trondheim across the Dovrefjell mountains. The expression "until the Dovre mountains fall" () was used in the oath sworn during the

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

in 1814, when Norway formed an independent nation after being in a union with Denmark for hundreds of years.

Etymology

The name is a compound of the Norwegian word ''snø'' which means "

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

" and the finite form of ''hette'' which means " hood", thus the name is translated as "the mountain with a hood of snow".

Media gallery

1009. Dovrefjeld, Snehætten - no-nb digifoto 20160104 00077 bldsa AL1009.jpg, View from a distance Peder Balke - Mt. Snøhetta, Dovre Mountains - TKM-1121-1972 - Trondheim kunstmuseum (cropped).jpg, Painting of the mountain by Peder Balke Snøhetta (east elevation from E6).jpg, View of the east side from the E6 highway Hjerkinn mot Snøhetta - no-nb digifoto 20151105 00042 NB MIT FNR 06490.jpg, Snøhetta seen from Hjerkinn StortoppenFromHettpiggenSnøhetta.jpg, Stortoppen seen from Hettpiggen in summer

History

Etymology

Media gallery

References

External links

Guidebook