Store-SkagastølstindScandinavian Mountains over 2000 metres - James Baxter
Areas › Hurrungane › 1.4 Sentraltind (2348m)
Sentraltind, 2348 m is an steep sided fortress and the meeting point of the 3 main ridges of east Hurrungane. These 3 ridges are the Styggedals ridge the Skagastøls ridge and the Maradals ridge all of which are sharp arêtes requiring climbing skills to traverse. Consequently Sentraltind is arguably the most difficult of all the 2000 metre mountains in Scandinavia, and one of the more remote in terms of time.
| The Route from Turtagrø Hotel | |
|---|---|
 20km  1500m  11-14hrs |
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Leave Turtagrø hotel and follow route Hu.8 as described in the introduction, up to Skagastølsbu. This route initially crosses the road then river before continuing up to the Tindeklubhytta. Continue on the east of the river through a boulder field while climbing up above the lake to reach the edge of the glacier.
The glacier is a little more than 1 km and although relatively crevasse free does have a large bergschrund at the top which you should be wary of and is best avoided on the west side. Glacial equipment is necessary. At the top of the glacier on the south side of the saddle is Skagastølsbu shelter, about 3 hours from Turtagrø.
Slingsbybrean glacier
From this shelter descend for a very short section down into Midtmaradalen until you reach a noticeable shelf called "Berges chausée" which heads east under the south face of Storen for about a km almost horizontally to the edge of the Slingsbybrean glacier. At the edge of the glacier rope up don crampons and start to head up the fissured glacier.
The gradient of the glacier is quite reasonable at about 25 degrees initially however during the lower ½ km it gradually steepens to about 35 degrees. During this climb it is quite fissured.
At the top of this ½km section the shrinkage of the glacier has exposed a band of slab. These slabs are up to 40 degrees steep but are often wet and can be difficult to pass to gain the smaller upper section of the glacier. Early in the summer these slabs will still be covered by snowfields and be much easier, but will certainly be exposed by mid August.
The upper section of the Slingsbybrean is about 35-40 degrees for a couple of hundred metres, and while this section is far less crevassed it can be covered in hard icy snow. At the top of this upper section is the historic Mohns Skar saddle between Storen and Vetle Skagastølstind, which is about 3-4 hours from Skagastølsbu shelter.
To continue to Sentraltind it is not necessary to climb up the north ridge of Vetle Skagastølstind, which involves grade IV and then V, climbing for 2 pitches, as is possible to traverse across some ill defined shelves on the south face of the peak to reach the saddle with Sentraltind on the east side.
These shelves which are snow covered until late run in a rough horizontal line from saddle to saddle and with the occasional grade II step.
If going the other direction the shelves can be tricky to locate on the eastern side of the traverse, but it is best to start to traverse out just above the west side of this eastern saddle. From this saddle between Vetle Skagastølstind and Sentraltind the west ridge of Sentraltind begins with a steep 25 metre grade IV pitch during which it is best to follow the ridge line itself.
Once the top of this step has been gained it is an exciting but easy walk up the airy arête for 3-400 metres to reach the flat summit.
The Return
The return can be by the same way. Alternatively is very feasible to descend Maradals ridge to the south east as described above and return to the Skagastølsbu shelter via this top.
Two considerably longer alternatives are to return to Skagastølsbu shelter via Mohns skar again and then go over Storen, as described on the Storen page, or to return to Turtagrø via the Skagastøls ridge over Vesle, Midtre and Nordre Skagastølstind, also described on the Storen page.
