Store-SkagastølstindScandinavian Mountains over 2000 metres - James Baxter
Areas › Memuru Veo Massif › Søre Veotind › Alternative Routes
Søre Veotind is probably best ascended from Glitterheim lodge. However, this involves crossing the Styggehøbrean glacier and consequently requires the necessary glacial experience and equipment. There is however, another route which is longer but does not involve a serious glacier crossing, from Memurubu lodge. This minimal glacier route involves about 10 hours walking for the round trip. I have described this route here.
Leave Memurubu lodge and follow the marked path up Memurudalen on the north side of the Muru river through flower filled birch woods for two km until you enter shrub forest and the valley starts to open out. Continue along the marked path on the north of the Muru river as it veers north and climbs gently for another six km until you arrive at the Surtningssubekken stream tumbling down a small boulder filled valley to the north-east. Up to this point the route is well marked but from here on to the Styggehøbreskardet saddle it is only indicated by cairns. Ford this stream and continue up on the east side of the Muru river for a short two km until you reach another stream descending from the north east through a boulder-strewn moraine wasteland.
Follow this stream north east for two km climbing steadily across moraines until you reach the eastern snout of the Austre Memurubrean glacier. If conditions permit it is safe to ascend this glacier for one km along its eastern edge until it levels out at 1800m altitude. Leave the glacier here and head straight uphill in a north easterly direction across 500 metres of boulders and scree to reach the lower edge of a smaller glacier. This glacier is also safe to cross in a north east direction straight up its gradient for the ½ km, but beware of deep gashes cut by melt water streams and the wells they descend into. If these two short sections of glacier are icy and you do not have crampons it is possible (but unpleasant due to unstable boulders) to avoid them on their east side.
From the top edge of the glacier there is a further ½ km north east across stable scree to the saddle between Sørvestre Styggehøbreatind and Sore Veotind. From the saddle head up easy stable scree for a short km in a north west direction to reach the summit. It is about 6 hours from Memurubu lodge to the summit. The descent is by the same route. It is also possible to descend down Styggehøbrean glacier to Glitterheim lodge by reversing the descent route described below, if you have glacial experience and equipment.
During the spring this route is marked with branches all the way from Memurubu lodge to the Styggehøbreskardet saddle, where upon the marking branches continue, descending across the much larger and crevassed glacier to the north east and on to Glitterheim lodge.
