Hardangerjøkulen

The Hardangerjøkul is a plateau glacier in south-western Norway, and is the sixth largest glacier in the country. Its name derives from its location in the Hardanger region and the Norwegian word for Jokel glacier. Add maps and literature one often reads Hardangerjøkulen, which is the specific form of Norwegian and Hardangerjøkul means.

Location

The glacier is located south of Finse on the cable car at the northwest end of the Hardangervidda in the field of Eidfjord and Ulvik municipalities in the province of Hordaland. Its extension is 73 km ² and its highest elevation is, the sources differ here, 1863 moh. or 1876 moh. He is the fifth or sixth largest glacier in Norway.

Foothills of the Hardangerjøkuls are Middalen, Blåisen, Torsteinsfonna, Australian (east ) and vestra ( western) Leirbotnskåka and Rembesdalskåka. The latter extends to below 1100 moh. down. These glaciers have retreated sharply as with almost all Norwegian glaciers since 1939.

Tourism

The nearby railway station Finse is the Hardangerjøkul of the two largest cities in Norway, Oslo and Bergen, very easy to reach. From here, run by DNT maintained hiking west and east of the glacier around and further south in the Hardangervidda into it. In addition, hiking trails in northern directions Skarvheimen.

From Finse from guided glacier hikes and ice climbing lessons. In winter, a ski route marked on the glacier. On the western edge of the glacier lies on 1304 m, the achievable only by ski unstaffed DNT cabin Demmevasshytta.

History

The glacier was about 2000-3000 years ago, and is therefore not a remnant of the glaciers that shaped the Hardangervidda. On and around the glacier conditions prevail, which are comparable to those in the Arctic and Antarctic. For this reason, Roald Amundsen and his rival Robert Falcon Scott have prepared their polar expeditions here.

During the Second World War attempts were made in winter 1940/41 by the German occupation with great effort to set up an airfield on the Hardangerjøkul. This should test the idea of ​​attacking the United States by air via Iceland and Greenland. These attempts were unsuccessful set since from 1941 the U.S. already established bases on Greenland.

The glacier was used as a filming location for the film The Empire Strikes Back 1980 for scenes on the ice planet Hoth, including a memorable battle in the snow.