Trollveggen is Europe's tallest vertical rock face, about 1,100 metres from base to summit. The last section overhangs by 50 metres, meaning the top of the wall actually leans out over the valley floor. It is part of the Trolltindene massif in the Romsdalen valley, and you can see it clearly from the E136.
The wall was first climbed in July 1965, and it turned into a race. A Norwegian team of four, Ole Daniel Enersen, Leif Norman Patterson, Odd Eliassen, and Jon Teigland, started from the bottom and spent days on the face. A British team of three, Tony Howard, John Amatt, and Bill Tweedale, was climbing a different route at the same time. The Norwegians reached the top one day before the British. Both teams made history, but the Norwegians got there first, and that mattered in 1965.
Then came the BASE jumpers. In 1980, Carl Boenish, the American who essentially invented modern BASE jumping, jumped from Trollveggen and set a world record for the highest BASE jump in history. He came back in 1984 and was killed. His wife Jean had jumped the same day, successfully. Over the following years, more jumpers died. On 25 July 1986, Norway banned BASE jumping from Trollveggen. The ban still stands.
The visitor centre at the foot of the wall is worth a stop. It has large panoramic windows facing the rock face and an auditorium where they show a film about the climbing and BASE jumping history. There is also a café and a souvenir shop. The viewpoint from the road gives you the full perspective of how enormous this wall is, but photographs rarely do it justice. You need to stand there and look up.
The wall was first climbed in July 1965, and it turned into a race. A Norwegian team of four, Ole Daniel Enersen, Leif Norman Patterson, Odd Eliassen, and Jon Teigland, started from the bottom and spent days on the face. A British team of three, Tony Howard, John Amatt, and Bill Tweedale, was climbing a different route at the same time. The Norwegians reached the top one day before the British. Both teams made history, but the Norwegians got there first, and that mattered in 1965.
Then came the BASE jumpers. In 1980, Carl Boenish, the American who essentially invented modern BASE jumping, jumped from Trollveggen and set a world record for the highest BASE jump in history. He came back in 1984 and was killed. His wife Jean had jumped the same day, successfully. Over the following years, more jumpers died. On 25 July 1986, Norway banned BASE jumping from Trollveggen. The ban still stands.
The visitor centre at the foot of the wall is worth a stop. It has large panoramic windows facing the rock face and an auditorium where they show a film about the climbing and BASE jumping history. There is also a café and a souvenir shop. The viewpoint from the road gives you the full perspective of how enormous this wall is, but photographs rarely do it justice. You need to stand there and look up.