Norangsdalen is considered the narrowest valley in Norway that is accessible by road. The road through here, county road 655, closes every winter because of avalanches. That should give you some idea of the forces at work in this landscape.
The valley connects Hellesylt in the south with Øye and the Hjørundfjord in the north. Mountains rise steeply on both sides, and the valley floor is scarred by rockslides going back centuries. At Jelskredvatnet, the ground is nothing but scree. At the old summer farms Urasætra and Stavbergsætra, the buildings were dug into the hillside as protection against landslides. People lived with this danger every summer for generations.
Along the road you will pass a large boulder known as Gange-Rolv. It is named after Rollo of Normandy, the Viking chieftain who according to local tradition came from this part of Sunnmøre. Whether the boulder has any actual connection to him is another matter entirely, but the name has stuck.
This was once an important travel route. From the 1890s, tourist ships anchored at Øye and passengers were transported by horse and cart through the valley to Hellesylt, where they continued to Geirangerfjorden. Kaiser Wilhelm, Karen Blixen, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Henrik Ibsen all came through here. When King Harald and Queen Sonja celebrated their silver wedding in 1993, they travelled this same road. It is still sometimes called "the Queen's route".
Further along, the road passes Lygnstøylsvatnet, a lake that did not exist before 1908. More about that when you get there.
The valley connects Hellesylt in the south with Øye and the Hjørundfjord in the north. Mountains rise steeply on both sides, and the valley floor is scarred by rockslides going back centuries. At Jelskredvatnet, the ground is nothing but scree. At the old summer farms Urasætra and Stavbergsætra, the buildings were dug into the hillside as protection against landslides. People lived with this danger every summer for generations.
Along the road you will pass a large boulder known as Gange-Rolv. It is named after Rollo of Normandy, the Viking chieftain who according to local tradition came from this part of Sunnmøre. Whether the boulder has any actual connection to him is another matter entirely, but the name has stuck.
This was once an important travel route. From the 1890s, tourist ships anchored at Øye and passengers were transported by horse and cart through the valley to Hellesylt, where they continued to Geirangerfjorden. Kaiser Wilhelm, Karen Blixen, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Henrik Ibsen all came through here. When King Harald and Queen Sonja celebrated their silver wedding in 1993, they travelled this same road. It is still sometimes called "the Queen's route".
Further along, the road passes Lygnstøylsvatnet, a lake that did not exist before 1908. More about that when you get there.