Store Knutsholstinden

Store Knutsholstinden is a mountain in Vågå Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The 2342 m tall mountain is located in the Jotunheimen mountains within Jotunheimen National Park. The mountain sits about 60 km southwest of the village of Vågåmo and about 25 km northwest of the village of Beitostølen. The mountain is surrounded by several other notable mountains including Skarvflytindene to the east, Leirungstinden and Vesle Knutsholstinden to the southeast, Store Svartdalspiggen to the west, and Nordre Knutsholstinden to the north.

Name
The first element is the genitive of the name of the large gorge Knutsholet. The last element is the finite form of tind which means 'mountain peak'. The name of the gorge is a compound of the male name Knut and hol which means 'hole', 'hollow', or 'gorge'. The reason for the name, and who the person Knut was, is unknown. The prefix store means 'the big' or 'the great'.

Disputes
Johannes Heftye made the first ascent of Store Knutsholstinden in 1875.

William Cecil Slingsby made the first ascent of the higher Store Skagastølstind in 1876 which was hailed as a major achievement, and Heftye soon felt it eclipsed his own first ascent of Store Knutsholstinden the year before. He set out to ascend Store Skagastølstind in 1880 and successfully used the popular route that is now named after him to reach the summit. His main claim was that Store Knutsholstind was at least as difficult as Storen, thus, must be regarded a first grade mountain.

While Heftye's route on Store Knutsholstind may have been slightly more difficult than Slingsby's route on Storen, Heftye was at the time unaware that there were an easier route on Store Knutsholstind. Slingsby was approached by Marie Sønstenes, a woman who lived on farm near Store Knutsholstind, who claimed that she knew a straightforward route. Together, they ascended the mountain by this route. Heftye, who was very outspoken against female mountaineers, was humiliated and deeply offended.