7 Mountains in Oppland That You Shouldn't Miss

Reviewed By aarild - Oslo, Norway

First, this is a spectacular hike to Norway’s and Northern Europe’s highest summit, up in Jotunheimen. It is only advisable in June-August and you can choose between two starting points: Spiterstulen and Juvasshytta. The latter is the most used and most accessible. But it is not for everyone, you need to be prepared for up to seven hours in quite rough mountain terrain. We stayed in Lom, five hours from Oslo with train to Otta and then one hour’s corresponding bus ride. There’s a fairly cheap camping there offering rooms from $80/£60 (suitable for families up to six persons) and some nice hotels. For hotels, book early! You can also stay at the starting point for the hike, Juvasshytta, but it is very full in high season, particularly in the weekends. We therefore took an 8am bus to Juvasshytta at 1860 meters altitude, where you arrive just before 9am. The place offers guided tours starting 09:45, which really only means a Sherpa or local mountaineer will walk with large groups to cross a glacier, and then you’re on your own for the last hour’s walk. It’s tough and steep, if you lack proper boots you can rent them from the Juvasshytta, but book your size a day in advance (European scale, 36-47). The trip is $30 per adult including the lending of a simple harness for the crossing of the glacier as well as crampons, boots are another $18. Apart from the glacier, no equipment is required. They say the minimum age for children is seven, but that does not mean it is suitable for exactly your seven year old child. Expect three hours rough walk to the summit and a bit less for the descent to be sure. Moreover, you should avoid coffee and too much liquid as there are no facilities along the route and the surroundings can’t tackle thousands of tourists unless everyone takes good care of the unique and highly vulnerable environment. But the experience is nothing short of fantastic. This far up north, 2469 meters altitude makes for a really special landscape, and there is obviously a spectacular view included... The air is not so thin that it requires physical preparations or anything, you will meet people in every age 6-80 and the low price makes it something everyone can do, provided you are not scared by the prospect of five to seven hours’ hikes. The bus to Lom leaves from Juvasshytta at 17:00 as of September 2018.