Store-SkagastølstindScandinavian Mountains over 2000 metres - James Baxter
Areas › Rauddalen Area › Midtre Rauddalseggi › Alternative Routes
The simplest way up Midtre Rauddalseggi is via the north ridge and this is described in the main section. The only other two routes to the top both require climbing.
The first is up the difficult west ridge of Store Rauddalsggi, over this mountain to the saddle with Midtre Rauddalseggi and then the scramble up the west ridge of this mountain. Details for this route are on the Store Rauddalseggi page. The other route is the difficult east ridge described below.
East Ridge
The east ridge is best begun in Gjendebu lodge. Leave the lodge and follow the steep marked path Ra.12 to the prominent nose of Gjendetunga. From Gjendetunga head east across pleasant open tundra dotted with tarns passing north of Grisletjørni lake.
Cross the stream emerging from the lake and veer north east climbing gently for ½ hour to some tarns at the foot of the east ridge. Climb this easy ridge for another ½ hour to reach a desolate plateau at 1700 metres with two lakes. Walk across this plateau to the outlet of the first lake.
If starting at Olavsbu cabin it best to follow the marked path, Ra.6, to Gjendebu lodge for 5 km passing over the watershed and on to the small tarn at 1445m. Leave the path on the east side of this tarn and pass to the north of lake 1439m.
Continue east for another 2 km climbing an easy stone and tundra incline under the steep crags of the east ridge until you reach its end. It is now possible to clamber up the prow of a steep spur descending from the ridge for an easy ½ hour to reach the desolate plateau with the two lakes.
Go to the east and north of the first lake to the outlet where this route meet the routes from Gjendebu lodge.
At the lake outlet follow the north side of the plateau for a km to the base of another spur on the east ridge just to the north of a small glacier. Climb this easy, but bouldery, spur for a good ½ hour until you reach a top. This is Østre Rauddalseggi, 1936m, a very seldom visited top.
From this top the route to Midtre Rauddalseggi gets much more challenging. Initially follow the ridge east for an easy ½ km until you reach a 5 metre tower on the ridge. After this tower is a steep 20 metre crag.Both the tower and crag involve climbing involve climbing but I do not know the grade of these climbs, but assume it is no more than grade IV. They are also likely to be exposed.
Neither of these can be easily avoided on either the vertical south side or the craggy and glacier clad north side. If you avoid the crag on the north side go on to the crevassed glacier and follow it upper edge for 300 metres under the crag until there is a steep snowfield which goes up into a gully. There is likely to be a large bergschrund at the bottom of the gully. The gully is about 20m and is grade III.
From the top of the gully it is a short easy walk to the summit of Midtre Rauddalseggi. However it is possible to avoid these difficulties by skirting the glacier on the north side well below the ridge at an altitude of about 1700 metres. This would mean traversing the north flank of Østre Rauddalseggi from the 2 lakes on the desolate plateau to the north ridge of Midtre Rauddalseggi, crossing the bottom of the glacier and avoiding the steep wall above its western edge.