Exhibitions
Cultural history
Years ago, traders
purchased calves west of the mountains and drove their herds across the glacier
onward to the cities and marketplaces of Eastern Norway. The glacier was used as
a passageway and shortcut. Near the end of the 19th century, the first foreign
tourists discovered the beauty of Western Norway Locals who used to help the
drovers crossing the glacier also took up guiding the tourists who wanted to see
the ice fields up close. In 1890 The Norwegian Mountain Touring Association
granted authorization to 18 men as certified guides.
Animal life
The mountain range of
Strynefjellet is home to one of the largest reindeer stocks of Norway, the
Ottadalen stock. Wild reindeer live in the alpine mountain ranges and in the
birch belts below.
Red deer is very common
in the area of Jostedalsbreen
The lemming occurs
everywhere in the mountains of Norway. The population oscillates greatly,
peaking every 3 or 4 years, the so-called lemming-year.
Previously, wolves and
brown bears roamed the area. Nowadays, stray single male wolves and bears show
up once in a while in the mountains. Wolverines are common and lynx live in the
valleys.
Avalanches
Each year many snow and
rock avalanches occur in different areas. In 1905 and 1936 enormous masses of
rock broke loose from the mountain and plunged into Lake Lovanet, causing a
giant wave that washed away a whole village.
Nearly every spring snow
slides break loose and slam into Sunndalen. At times, the mass of snow is large
enough to dam the river. Eventually the dam will burst, and then a flood wave up
to 12 meters in height could gush towards the farmhouses at Folven (May 1995).
Geology
The bedrock in the
national park consists of Gneiss, Granite and Gabbro. The surrounding landscape
has been formed by glaciers through 40 successive ice ages. Huge glaciers gouged
through the bedrock and created scenic settings of towering mountains, U-shaped
valleys and deep fjords.
The “national stone” of
Norway is the Thulite with its pink colour.
The “regional stone” of
Sogn og Fjordane County is called Eklogite. It is green-hued and the heaviest
stone in the world. Weight approx. 3,3 kg per liter.
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