There’s a plethora of breathtaking fjords on Norway’s west coast. But Geirangerfjord may well be the most famous and most visited. Let’s see if we can find out why!
A difficult road ahead
First, there was the matter of getting there. As I wrote in yesterday’s post, our car decided to stop cooperating with us as we began the 1000-meter descent from the mountain pass to the Geiranger valley.
We crept down the switchback road past Dalsnibba, fearing that the brakes were about to give out. Mom was being brave, despite her fear of windy mountain roads even when the car behaves normally.
There was still one more switchback to go before we were safely on flat ground in the Geiranger town, where perhaps we could even find a mechanic to take a look at it.
First, we welcomed a break at Flydalsjuvet viewpoint before attempting the remainder of the descent.
Our first glimpse of the fjord, and beautiful it was indeed:
You couldn't hardly draw up a more beautiful sight with your wildest imagination, could you?
There were three things we could tell already from this viewpoint:
We had quite a bit more descending and braking to do to get all the way down.
Geiranger is a very small town (only 230 permanent residents at last count).
There's a ton of tourists here, based on those giant boats sitting there.
I was afraid this would be a tourist trap, but more pressing was the getting there part.
We slowly made our way down the next set of switchback curves, but the car suddenly didn't feel right again.
Whyyyy is this only happening on the crazy stretches of road??
I thought it might be getting even worse than last time, so we pulled off again to investigate. Still couldn't see any major issues with my untrained eyes, so eventually the only option was to press on.
A few minutes later, we crept into the town, stressed but relieved that we reached the destination:
Geiranger on a map - note the town is towards the bottom right, not at the arrow, which is something else I will mention...
We strolled around the small town to see the sights, including the boats in the harbor and the waterfall coming down the valley into the fjord (which can be seen in the Flydalsjuvet picture above):
There's also Ørnevegen (the Eagle Road), a sharp back-and-forth switchback providing the only way out from Geiranger on land in the winter. Prior to it's completion in 1955, the only way to escape in the winter was by boat.
Geiranger by boat
Next up, we had to go for a boat ride. There's not really a better way to experience the fjord, unless maybe you do an adventure trip like ATVs or something. For us with limited time, this was the best option.
I don't remember the exact price, but I think it was around $30 a person. The info center where we bought the tickets also gave me a chance to ask about having a mechanic take a look at the car.
No dice. In such a small town, the closest mechanic lies in the next valley over, over Ørnevegen that is. We were actually scheduled to stay there, but even then, small town mechanics aren't open late.
We'd just have to enjoy the boat ride and hope for the best.
Now, one reason Geiranger is so noted amongst the fjords is its waterfalls. There are quite a few of them, including the famous "7 Sisters", where there are 7 falls right next to each other, at least when there is enough water flowing. See if you can spot them in the film I made from the trip:
Another interesting sight along the way are a handful of small farms dotting the coast line. It's clear there are no roads to these farms - water access only.
One is even located a hundred meters or more over the water, so the only way to get there is take a boat and then climb up the steep trail leading to it.
These farms are not new. They've been there for centuries in some cases. Life must have been hard in the old days. Still is, I'm sure, if any of them are still inhabited.
Can you imagine growing up in a place like this? Beautiful, but so isolated!
Under constant threat
One thing many visitors may not know is that there is an immense threat looming over the fjord and town of Geiranger.
It is a large mass of rock near the end of Geirangerfjord (nearby the green marker on the map above), that is shifting as much as 10-15 cm per year. Someday, it is expected to break loose and come crashing down into the fjord. It could be tomorrow, it could be 1000 years from now.
If it happens all as one giant mass, there could be a worst case scenario tsunami wave up to 80m high sent rushing through the fjord. 80m!
Within minutes, this would strike Geiranger and wipe out the entire town.
Sounds crazy? It's not without precedent. It's happened several times in recent centuries in fact, including a 1936 landslide in Lodalen that took 74 lives from the resulting tsunami.
Norway's first ever disaster film, Bølgen (The Wave) was even made about it a couple years ago.
So don't let it stop you from visiting Geiranger, but be aware when you do!
This may not look like much, but one day a huge piece of this mountainside will someday come crashing into the fjord
Trivia!
I've omitted the name of the rock mass that threatens Geiranger. Anyone know what it is called, for 2 SBD?
Ever visited Geirangerfjord? I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments!
Adventure Every Day is a travel & exploration channel started in 2016. In addition to the Steemit blog, I post short films of my adventures to the Adventure Every Day YouTube channel.