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Finse
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Note from the author:
Unfortunately was the road to Finse still not cleared (too much snow), so it
was not possible to get to Finse.
Finse is an area in the Ulvik municipality of Hordaland. The railway station
at Finse on the Bergensbanen at 1,222m is the highest station on the entire
Norwegian railway system. Since there are no roads to Finse, the railway
provides the sole means of transportation to and from Finse. During summer,
however, it is possible to walk or cycle to Finse. Across the railway line
from the station is housed the Rallar museum, which has exhibits on the
construction of the railway line and two decommissioned snow-clearing
engines which you are free to explore. The area also has a hotel (Finse
1222), a hostel (Finsehytta, DNT) and a number of private cabins. |
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During the winter, Finse is
popular for cross-country skiing, sail skiing (due to its location on the
edge of a frozen lake), expedition training and Red Cross training. The
ill-fated Scott expedition to the South Pole trained here, and outside the
hotel there is a monument to those that died. There is one small drag-lift
which allows you to downhill ski on one slope back into town.
During the summer the focus switches to mountain cycling, walking and
glacier walking on the adjacent 'blue ice' Hardangerjøkulen glacier.
In March 1979 Finse was the place in which George Lucas chose to shoot the
ice planet Hoth in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, because its
chilling landscape matched the fiction. |
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