Mountain·Norway

Galdhøpiggen

2,469m

Jotunheimen

Kristoffer Trolle from Copenhagen, Denmark · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 2,469m
Prominence: 2,436m
Isolation: 1,568km
Relief: 1,287mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 64°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
First ascent: 1850
Summit: 61.6303°N, 8.2989°E

Mountain in Lom, Oppland, Norway

Galdhøpiggen is a mountain in the Jotunheimen (Norway). Its summit stands 2,469 m above sea level. It is the highest point of NO. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 2,436 m, and the nearest higher ground is 1,568 km away. It was first climbed in 1850.

From the lowest point within 5 km (1,182 m), it rises 1,287 m. The steepest side is the south-west face: 24° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 64° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

Galdhøpiggen for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

6.9/10

Difficulty to the top

Mountain walk

Most path sections around the top are T4 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

2.0/2.514 waymarked routes and 15 path sections nearby
0.5/1.52 huts and shelters
1.3/21,287 m of ascent from the valley
1.5/1.52,436 m of prominence
1.0/1.54 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
0.6/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

—

No ski runs within 12 km in OpenStreetMap.

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

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Snow

When there is snow on Galdhøpiggen

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit2,469 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up1,825 msnow from September to July	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Foot of the mountain1,182 msnow from October to June	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Galdhøpiggen, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average July afternoon the summit reaches about 4 °C; on February nights it falls to about -22 °C. In 9 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In July the 0 °C line climbs to about 3,150 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, April is the driest month (76 mm) and July the wettest (147 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-16	-21	40	111	22	1.3
February	-15	-22	170	80	18	3.0
March	-12	-20	600	82	20	6.2
April	-9	-15	1,140	76	19	8.9
May	-6	-10	1,610	96	18	7.7
June	1	-5	2,630	120	21	7.2
July	4	-2	3,150	147	23	6.8
August	3	-3	2,950	146	23	5.6
September	-2	-7	2,240	124	21	4.2
October	-8	-13	1,320	110	21	2.4
November	-12	-18	550	112	21	1.0
December	-15	-20	200	116	22	1.0

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 1,258 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. Heights drawn 2× taller than lengths, so the shape can be seen.

West – east

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Galdhøpiggen

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

Galdhøpiggen seen from above (Sentinel-2)

N 5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

2mountain huts and shelters
Spiterstulen turisthytte (1,106 m), Juvasshytta (1,841 m)
—cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
1ski areas
Galdhøpiggen Sommerskisenter
14waymarked hiking routes
Signatur Omveien (Dag 12), Signatur Omveien (Dag 11) and 12 more
—via ferratas
1climbing crags and routes
16named glaciers
Storbrean, Juvfonne, Vesljuvbreen, Svellnosbrean and 12 more
3viewpoints
Leirdalen
4campsites
Spiterstulen
3hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Elveseter Hotell, Bøvertjønnen, Storhaugen gard
4restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

15 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2T3T4T5

T1 hiking
T2 mountain hiking
T3 demanding mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking

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OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Galdhøpiggen summit - panoramio — TomasEE · CC BY 3.0

Galdhøpiggen view - panoramio (1) — TomasEE · CC BY 3.0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	-16	-15	-12	-9	-6	1	4	3	-2	-8	-12	-15
2020	+5.3	+2.7	+0.6	−0.1	−3.0	+2.9	−3.4	+1.8	−0.3	+1.2	+3.2	+0.3
2021	−3.5	−2.9	+1.3	−2.0	+0.4	+2.7	+2.0	−0.1	+1.1	+1.7	+0.8	−1.9
2022	+2.7	+1.7	+1.7	−0.9	−0.5	+1.4	−1.3	+0.7	+0.5	+1.1	+1.8	−3.4
2023	+0.9	+3.0	−2.1	±0.0	−0.9	+4.0	−0.9	−0.3	+2.1	−2.4	−3.6	−2.9
2024	−0.6	+0.5	+1.3	−0.5	+5.1	+0.1	−0.7	−0.6	+2.1	+1.1	+1.9	+2.2
2025	+0.7	+1.1	+2.6	+1.4	+1.7	−0.1	+2.9	−0.5	+1.1	+0.7	+1.5	+3.1

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

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2,286 mSnøhetta

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About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q203942) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

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