Tromsdalstinden

Tromsdalstinden seen in August of Fløya from

Pd5

Tromsdalstinden ( North Sami Sálašoaivi or Sálaščohkka, German " Tromstalszinne " ) is a mountain southeast of the city of Tromsø in the Norwegian county of Troms. The mountain is located at the southern end of the Tromsdalen ( Tromstal ). The summit rises 1238 meters above sea level. The snowfall varies from year to year, but the peak is usually only during a few summer months free of snow. The mountain is easy to discover from the Tromsø city center from. The summit ascent is a popular hike, which only requires good shoes, normal physical condition and plenty to drink.

Etymology

The Norwegian name Tromsdalstinden means "the hill above the Troms Valley ", while the Sami name is composed of the parts of words Salas and Oaivi. The first word means a good hunting area, the second translates literally to " head ", but means for landscapes a round cut without sharp mountain peaks.

Skiing and Hiking

Hikers climb from the summit either the suburb Tromsdalen or from Ramfjord. The mountain slopes are not demanding, with fog and rain make it difficult to climb, if you are not familiar with the terrain. When the mountain from the southeast, commits from Ramfjord ago, Hikers and skiers but have to go to a location on the south-western or north-western (city facing ) side, since the slope will be too strong. The best season for hiking is from May to September. Skiers usually travel with the Fjellheisen ( a pendulum cable car ) to Storsteinen and rise from there. There are two main routes that winter on the summer route ( normal route ).

Winter Route

Is a ski that ( on the right in the pictures) begins on the southeast side of the mountain, the Salen ( the saddle) is called. Skiers descend from the summit in a zigzag pattern from to the small lake called Tromsdalsvannet (Norwegian) or Moskojávri ( Sami ) in the innermost part of the Tromsdalen.

Summer route

Is a hike that starts on the zig- zag path, descending on the skier. On the way back to the south-east ridge of the mountain hikers follow (on the left in the pictures ). The descent route is fairly close to a point on the steep slope behind the mountain and could therefore not be suitable for hikers, which is slightly dizzy. For those hikers, it is perhaps more advisable to go back the same way.

Direct ascent

It is also possible to ascend from the north-west, ie from the valley straight up. Hikers start doing the Nerloftet (a small paragraph about the Tromsdalen ), go to the Loftet ( a protruding, the city -facing part of the mountain ) and then straight up. ER mountain is too steep, one turns to the right until (the right edge) one encounters the winter route. The names of the intermediate targets are each "lower attic " and " attic ". This trail is very steep and are demanding but surely - with some stones could be slippery or loose and therefore you should be careful.

The summit sign

View of the mountain

View from Prestvannet in the city of Tromsø

View the Arctic Cathedral with the Tromsdalstinden in the background

Controversy about the meaning in the Sámi culture

2003 Tromsø applied to host the Winter Olympic Games 2014. The submissions made to the International Olympic Committee 's proposal included plans for the construction of a plant for alpine skiing on the slopes. This immediately sparked protests by Sami activists, who claimed that the Tromsdalstinden from ancient times was a sacred mountain of the seeds. There was a heated argument about whether the Tromsdalstinden should be considered as holy or not.

The Norwegian seeds Parliament passed a resolution in 2004, which declared the holy mountain, and the plans were abandoned. The seeds Parliament has no actual formal decision-making power to explain things as sacred, but the decision was still respected. As a result, lawyers discussed the possibility to define a mountain as according to the law as a cultural heritage. Professor Siv Ellen force of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø, wrote an article that advocated that the Tromsdalstind was made ​​holy in recent times as part of Sami identity politics. However, it is believed the seeds from the region, that the mountain before the Christianization had been sacred once. It should be mentioned here that the mountain has the important feature of a sacred mountain, namely that he dominates the landscape by its shape or height. Since the original Sami religion is dead and only parts have survived in local relics and Neoschamanismus, it can be said that the mountain most of the seeds in the traditional sense is no longer sacred. However, the degree of devotion shows the conservation of the mountain, the showed the seeds - up to the decision of the seeds Parliament - quite clearly the great cultural significance of the mountain for modern seeds, a meaning that is actually rooted in the religious traditions of ancestors.