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Lysebotn - Lysefjord
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Lysefjord (or Lysefjorden, the suffix "-en" is a form of the definite
article in the Norwegian language) is a fjord located in Forsand in
south-western Norway. The name means light fjord, and is said to be derived
from the lightly coloured granite rocks along its sides. |
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The fjord was carved by the
action of glaciers in the ice ages and was flooded by the sea when the later
glaciers retreated. End to end, it measures 42 km (23 miles) with rocky
walls falling nearly vertically over 1000 m (3,000 ft) into the water.
Because of the inhospitable terrain, the fjord is only lightly populated and
only has two villages on its length - Forsand and Lysebotn, located at
opposite ends of the fjord. The few people who live or lived along the fjord
are only able to leave their homes by boat, as the hills are too steep for
roads. |
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Lysebotn, at the far eastern end,
is largely populated by workers at the nearby hydroelectric plants at Lyse
and Tjodan, both built inside the mountains. At the Lyse plant, the water
falls 620 m to the turbines, producing up to 210,000 kW of electricity; at
Tjodan, the water fall 896 m to yield an output of 110,000 kW. The two power
plants provide electricity for more than 100,000 people. A spectacular road
which rises almost 900 m (2700 feet) through a series of 27 hairpin bends
links Lysebotn with the outside world. |
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Lysefjord is an extremely popular
tourist attraction and day trip from nearby Stavanger, from where cruise
ships travel the full distance of the fjord. As well as the extraordinary
scenery of the fjord itself, two points along its length are popular side
trips. The rock of Preikestolen, located above a vertical drop of 600
meters, can be seen from the fjord, but is more impressive from above. At
the end of the fjord lies the Kjerag mountain, a popular hiking destination
with even more spectacular drops.
Not only is the fjord long and narrow, it is in places as deep as the
mountains are high. Only 13 m (43 feet) deep where it meets the sea near
Stavanger, the Lysefjord drops to a depth of over 400 m (1300 feet) below
the Prekestolen.
French writer Victor Hugo poetized in Toilers of the Sea admiring the
scenery after a visit in 1866 that the Lysefjord was the most terrifying of
the ocean reefs.
BASE Jumpers are legally allowed to jump here. |
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