Geiranger (English edition)

S T U PA N D E F O S S A R O G K VA S S N AT U R H A R L E I A C R U I S E B ÅTA R I N N F R Å H AV E T, R E I S A N D E O V E R FJ E L L E T O G P L A S S E R T FJ O R D E N PÅ U N E S C O S V E R D S A R V L I S T E .

B L I M E D I N N T I L D E N M Ø R K D J U P E FJ O R D E N , D E I H Ø G R E I S T E FJ E L L A , O G M Ø T M E N N E S K A

GEIRANGER

G E I R A N G E R FJ O R D E N H A R I F L E I R E HUNDREÅR LOKKA MENNESKA INN TIL SEG.

GEIR ANGER

I D E N L E VA N D E B Y G D A .

INGEBORG REFSNES

978-82-7959-292-1

9 788279 592921

GEIRANGER

Matvika farm

The Seven Sisters SkageflĂĽ farm

The Bridal Veil The Suitor

Towards Eidsdal

Ørnesvingane The Storsæter waterfall Vesterås farm Homlong

Maråk

The Geiranger church Flydalsjuvet The Fjord viewpoint Center

Dalsnibba viewpoint Dalen farm

Towards Grotli

Lake Djupvatnet

CO N T E N T S 11

FOREWORD

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T H E WAY I N

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A H I G H - F LY I N G F E AT O F ENGINEERING

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MYTHS, TRUTH AND PEACE I N A N O R W E G I A N FJ O R D

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THE CHURCH

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A BRIDE ON KNUTEN — ‘THE KNOT ROAD’

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F L O AT I N G O U T O F T H E FJ O R D

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W I T H A WA L K I N G C A N E T O S T O R S Æ T E R WAT E R FA L L

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HUNTING AND CAMARADERIE A C R O S S G E N E R AT I O N S

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THE GEIRANGER OF TOMORROW

And then we reach the beginning of the descent: the sharp hairpin bends of Ørnesvingane which have allowed cars to zig zag down towards Geiranger since 1954. In the past, the boat was the only method of transport for those wishing to reach Maråk in the centre of Geiranger, but now cars pick their way down the mountain. Several stop for a while, nearly tipping into the fjord at one of the hairpin bends, and often, in the spring, a cluster of motorcyclists in sticky leathers take a break on the wall there.

In the summer, life bursts forth in the mountains. The snow has melted, the waterfalls thunder in the distance as if to welcome the cruise ships that sail past in regulated, coordinated order. People can smell the summer, foreign licence plates on several of the cars driving past, on the coaches, considered the pulse of the city by many of those here midway between the mountains and fjord. Finally, they let themselves loose on the rest of the bends which take them down to sea level and into the centre of Geiranger.

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Geirangerfjord and The Seven Sisters seen from Ørnesvingane

The village center Maråk seen from Flydalsjuvet viewpoint

In 2010, the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage listed the road.

Now few changes can be made to it. The roads are to remain as they are, as an example of bygone building techniques and engineering skills.

On a summer day, the road undulates and snakes to its destination.

The trip has a comfortable rhythm, a dance which requires little of the driver. From leaving Grotli in the east, the road rolls past the lakes of Breiddalsvatnet and Langvatnet, past Lake Djupvatnet and gaining a first view of Geiranger beneath, the car journey takes half an hour. The amount of journeys taking place varies greatly with the seasons. In the summer, there are more than two thousand vehicles a day on average.

As autumn creeps over the mountain, the traffic tails off. Few hang out of their windows to capture the autumn hues and mist.

Dalsnibba Mountain Is there anywhere else in Europe where you can drive 1500 metres above sea level and enjoy the view from your car window? The route up to Dalsnibba is one of the most ambitious road projects in Norway.

Building a road soaring high in the mountains is as spectacular as it is challenging, which is why a small fee has to be paid to drive up here to the view which would have required hours of sweat by foot. The road was completed in 1939, just before the War came to Norway. This explains why it wasn’t until 1948 that the first people were allowed to go up here to take in the view which has tempted travellers from all over the world.

Now the Nibbevegen Road is only open for part of the year. And in the peak season, the road closes in the afternoon.

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Dalsnibba

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Randolf and Mary SkageflĂĽ

PROUD HEIR Close to the foot of the mountain, by one of the last hairpin bends of Ørnesvingane, which leads in to the centre of the village, you will find Solvang Farm, named ‘sol’ or ‘sun’ due to the sunny location of the farmyard. Whilst the sun shines in the valley close to the bends, it is absent throughout the long autumn and winter months in Maråk.

Randolf Skageflå is on his way back to his childhood home. He moved away from Geiranger to the town of Ålesund when he was 16 years old. He had to leave the village to go to school and later, work.

Together with his wife, Mary, he comes back for as many weekends and holidays as possible. Skageflå is a respected name here in the fjord, linked to the farm clinging to a mountain ledge, further within the fjord.

Randolf ’s grandfather was the last to work there.

“Well, watching the world from up there, is not the worst thing in the world,” Randolf tells us. He is one of the last persons alive able to recall life up there on the farm. Although he didn’t grow up there, he remembers the summers spent at Skageflå. The harvest.

“We used to work hard and live well,” Randolf describes his life simply. Every year he returns to Skageflå to harvest the grass. Together with other descendants, his family works to keep the grass under control. However, when Randolf talks about home, he means Solvang.

His father bought his own farm, but took on jobs outside the home.

The three children and his wife had to work hard to keep the tiny farm going.

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THE CHURCH A church for christenings, a church for confirmations, a church for weddings. Not everyone passed all these milestones in Geiranger. Life was hard, and the church records recall bleak facts of all those carried to their grave before their time. One story is particularly poignant, that of a husband who buried his wife, parents-in-law and four children after a major avalanche. When tons of snow descended on people and farms, there was little to be done or said. The church records go on to show that the same man, in his lifetime, lost thirteen children, two wives and three parentsin-law. Was grief different in a time when death struck so often?

Disease sought out farms no matter how hidden away they were. The contours of the land impeded the search for food and medicine. But avalanches were not only dangerous on land. The snow would also tumble into the fjord down the mountainside, creating waves which might engulf passersby, thus widowing their spouses. The fjord and mountains are as beautiful as they are dangerous. The church shone brightly throughout, giving hope of something beyond. When there were predictions of eternal life within the octagonal church building, there was no doubt that the message hit home to many. The church in Geiranger has survived ever since its construction in 1842. The snow has tumbled down in avalanches, and autumn storms have wreaked havoc, but the church has stood strong.

What did Hans Klipe, the architect, envisage when he designed the timber-built church? Could he foresee all the people that would pass through the doors to bury their infants, their wives, their daughters? The church is still important and living. Services are held two Sundays a month, to

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remind worshippers of higher powers, and satisfying the need of people to have a collective ritual. Should you be in Geiranger on a Sunday when the priest is in the village, the church doors are open for anyone who would like to take a seat in the pews. The church is otherwise used by young lovers, either from the village or elsewhere. Many choose to get married with the beautiful backdrop provided by Geiranger.

The Geiranger church

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A B R I D E O N K N U T E N — ‘ T H E K N OT R OA D ’ A vintage car reflects vows newly exchanged as it rises through the hairpin bends leading from Geiranger. Linda Johansen is 25 years old and has just got married in Geiranger Church. She is from the hamlet of Stranda, but her maternal family come from Geiranger. She remembers days when she and her grandfather ambled along the Maråk River in Flydalen, a few kilometres east of the village centre, on the rise towards the mountains.

Her grandfather told her about her great-grandfather who had painted the church ceiling. He hung high above the village, carrying out a task only attempted by the very bravest of inhabitants, at a time when health and safety was a case of watching where you walked. Linda has heard the stories from when Geiranger gained road access. Her grandfather recalled the sweat and manual labour, the stones rolled out of the way, and the community who forged the way for horse and carts, and later cars.

Now she is sitting in a vintage car in all her finery and is flying over those very same roads. Her veil cascades over her shoulders just like the waterfalls behind her. Every summer, she used to throw stones in the rivers and streams, clamber over rockfalls and feel as if she was part of it all. When she was going to get married, there was no question of the ceremony taking place anywhere but Geiranger. Now she is heading for Knuten. This road network, known as ‘The Knot’, made Europe turn its gaze north in 1900. Formed like a bow, it won a gold medal at the Paris Exposition. Linda bubbles with excitement as the car turns elegantly in Knuten.

The Knot road has a curve of 270° and crosses its own path by the means of a bridge

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When you have emerged from the head of Geiranger Fjord, you can turn and look back. The opening of the fjord looks large and wide, the mountains rise lazily and there is little to remind you of the suitors and sisters left behind as waterfalls.

Further forward you will be able to make out Hellesylt, a popular starting point to get to Geiranger for all those who take the ferry from there. In the peak season, ferries stream from the quayside eight times a day nearly fully loaded with passengers on every trip.

On some of the boat trips in the fjord, on the way back to the centre of Geiranger, you can choose to be set ashore along the shallows in the fjord, close to Skagehola. From here, you can clamber up the mountain to Skageflå Farm and take the path back to Homlong and continue to the centre of Geiranger.

One day when the boat slowed down into Skagehola, Richard and Gerry were standing ready to get off the boat. These Germans had read about the trip up to Skageflå Farm and wanted to hike the five or six hours along the edge of the mountain back to the campsite where they had left their car. They opted to find the route themselves on a very visible path which was well signposted. As the boat drifted further down the fjord, the two of them were relieved that there was no queue to climb up the path to the viewpoint. Father and son were enjoying the peace on the banks of the fjord and concentrating on the view: the birch trees framing the seven sisters on the other side; a kayak gliding quietly past, with a woman paddling alone with the deep fjord beneath her. Two hundred metres of layer upon layer of water beneath the brave woman.

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The Knivsflå waterfall, or more commonly known as The Seven Sisters

of light, lie the first steps, carefully placed in the terrain. There are about a hundred of them. Footstep by footstep, stone by stone, the Nepali Sherpas have made steps allowing tourists and local mountain hikers, to more easily find the waterfall which lies further inland. Birds are singing and bees are buzzing. Behind them lie cruise ships, hotels, bathing guests, kayaks, small boats, cyclists and tourists buying trolls. All of this lies behind the tiny family: the hairpin bends up to Dalsnibba, the church spire, the headstones with all the names. All this lies behind them as they slowly make their way inland towards the waterfall. It only takes an hour to reach this thundering spot. When you first see the waterfall, from the side, it doesn’t make much of an impression. However, you have to walk down the steps. The rocks are wet from all the splashing water. The chain hangs loosely along the path, preventing visitors from falling more than a hundred metres into a deep crevasse. Alin and René do not hesitate. With tiny Lilly in the baby carrier on her dad’s back safely behind the chain barrier, they enter. No legs tremble as the waterfall gushes and thunders. The tiny family are one big smile towards the camera as the water splashes over their faces.

“This is even more beautiful than we could have imagined,” Alin sighs as the air buzzes with summer.

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The path to the Storsæter waterfall

Under the Storsæter waterfall

HUNTING AND CAMARADERIE AC R O S S G E N E R AT I O N S It is a Sunday in November and Geiranger is quiet. Sindre Maraak is off to hunt deer. He rushes past the bridge where thousands of tourists set up their cameras on tripods during the summer, just past his family home.

The waterfall thunders and the visitors want to freeze-frame the drops of water so that they splash sharply on screens when they come home.

Now autumn hangs its rusty brown hue around the edge of the waterfall.

Few are taking pictures. Sindre’s father is waiting in the car. Father and son are going hunting together with four others.

“We have to hope we’ll strike lucky today,” explains the 22-yearold who has grown up at his childhood home, the nearest neighbour to a waterfall whose image is taken by millions before they return to their homes. He is going up to the valley across from Ørjasetra. This hunting party consists of six men. Three of them will chase the stag, if he is found, sending the animal towards the hunters lying in wait, their sights polished.

Geiranger will always be home, even if Sindre has moved away to continue his education.

“There weren’t many people here when I was growing up. Those of us living here have always stuck together, no matter what age we are, and we still do,” Sindre explains. He can find advice here whenever necessary.

Sindre thinks that no matter how far away he might move in the future, he will always call Geiranger home.

You can follow the steps along the waterfall from Hotel Union down to Maråk, the village center

The mountains are mirrored in Eidsvatnet

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All photos by Ingeborg Refsnes, except: p. 29: Steve Michael Røyset p. 56: Aida Urkedal English translation: Angela Shury-Smith Design template: Noko Lab Graphic design: Jouni Kuuva Font: Lyon Text and Texta Narrow Paper: Galerie Art Silk 130g Print: United Press © SKALD AS 2019 Tel. +47 57 65 41 55 email: forlag@skald.no www.skald.no ISBN: 978-82-7959-295-2 ISBN: 978-82-7959-292-1 (norwegian edition)

HAS LURED PEOPLE IN TO ITS SPLENDOR. C A S C A D I N G WAT E R FA L L S A N D A S T O U N D I N G N AT U R E H AV E L E D T R AV E L E R S I N F R O M T H E S E A , A C R O S S T H E M O U N TA I N PAT H S A N D P L A C E D T H E FJ O R D O N U N E S C O ’ S W O R L D H E R I TA G E L I S T. C O M E A L O N G T O T H E D E E P B L U E FJ O R D

GEIRANGER

T H R O U G H T H E C E N T U R I E S G E I R A N G E FJ O R D

GEIR ANGER

A N D T H E S T E E P M O U N TA I N S .

INGEBORG REFSNES

978-82-7959-295-2

9 788279 592952