How to get there:
The standard route to the summit of Store Knutsholstind is from the
small lake just north of the water divide in Svartdalen. Svartdalen leads
between Gjende lake and Bygdin lake, and the DNT huts Torfinnsbu or Gjendebu
make good starting points (Gjendebu is closer to the peak, and makes for
an easier approach.) You can get to Gjendebu by boat on the lake Gjende
from the touristhut Gjendesheim, this hut is on the road between the
major valley of Valdres and the Otta valley (a branch from the
Gudbrandsdalen valley). Better yet, start the hike from Gjendesheim
and walk the famous, but often crowded trail to Gjendebu, or hike
south of Gjende in an area with almost no hikers. Route description:
A possible route (which I used) starts right at the same
spot as the route to Store Knutsholstind. Head up towards
what look like a rather flat area, the distinct needles
should be visible further to the north (left) of this
plateau. The route gets steeper towards the end, but there
are ledges (with grass) and a little route finding should
get one up without any real climbing. On the top, one finds
a quite large, fairly flat area. There is a high point on the ridge
in the direction of Store Knutsholstind that requires some light
scrambling, this is not Nordre Knutsholstind. Rather, the flat
area slopes up to a high point with good views of the glaciers
below, this is the summit. Comments:
I did this climb with my sons Pål Jørgen (9 years) and
Tor Erling (16 years). The intention was to climb Store
Knutsholstind, but an inaccurate description of Slingsby's
original route led us astray. Following the ridge between Nordre
Knutsholstind and Store Knutsholstind gets you to a rather
steep section most suitable for a rappel. It became very
clear that this was not the route that Slingsby ascended with
a lady.
Resources:
Images
On Nordre Knutsholstind. Two boys that
wonder why daddy did not get them to the
"right" summit (behind).
View north from Nordre Knutsholstinden, a large
number of summits can be identified.