The only way is up – and up Simon Heptinstall
Feels his spirits soar as he takes a stunning 3,300ft cable car ride during a hike in Norway’s fjords
FROM the sunny shore of the beautiful fjord, the sheer rock face of Mount Hoven rose more than 3,300ft into the clouds above me. Yet just five minutes later, I was at the summit, peering down at the blue water far below. I was one of the first journalists to try the spectacular new Skylift attraction at the village of Leon (pronounced ‘learn’) in the heart of Norway’s famous fjord district.
The £25million new project is billed as the world’s steepest cable car – but is actually more like a giant lift rising up the daunting vertical mountainside.
Powerful electric motors pull the mini-bus size cabin up cables dangling from the mountain. Some people gasped and children looked alarmed as we soared upwards through the clouds to emerge into clear skies at the snowy top of the mountain.
First I walked on to a smart glass and steel balcony protruding above the eye-watering drop over Nordfjord. Then I relaxed in the swanky mountaintop restaurant staring at the peaks of the Jostedal Glacier National Park. I guarantee the panorama will distract you from your creamy hot chocolate.
The Skylift also deposits passengers at the start of a series of newly built hiking trails around the high points above the fjord. Like most things in Norway, however, it’s expensive: £33 for a one-way ticket. The good side of this is that it encourages you to walk back down rather than pay for a return.
Hiking around the fjords is certainly a great way to see them. The old image of a fjord holiday was sipping cocktails on a cruise ship as the chocolate-box landscapes drifted past – but like many of today’s visitors, I wanted a more active way to enjoy the scenery.
And if you are looking for an active holiday, you’ve come to the right place. Norwegians are known for their love of the outdoors. More than two-thirds of them regularly go hiking. I bumped into families, teens, kids and old folk out hiking in the fjord-side mountains.
Hiking is so popular that when I bought a Kvikk bar, Norway’s equivalent of a Kit Kat, I found that every wrapper has a walking map and directions printed inside.
My visit to Leon was part of a new hiking tour of the fjord region from Headwater Holidays, a Cheshirebased activity holiday specialist. The nine-day trip involves touring the area with a local guide who also drives you between a well chosen sequence of hotels and walks.
The hotels included the charming old Victorian Union Hotel in the waterside village of Oye, with creaking wooden walls and staff who take turns to play the grand piano during breakfast. I stayed in the Kaiser Wilhelm room, which still features the ancient iron bath encrusted with his coat of arms that the fussy Kaiser brought with him when he came to stay. It was perfect for soaking my tired legs after another walking adventure.
Daunting mountains rise on both sides of the Union Hotel and my guide, a New Zealander called Gordon Smith, took me on an amazing walk into the foothills here.
It was like climbing a steep staircase through the woods for a couple of hours, but the work was rewarded by a mesmerising panorama from the top. Sparkling fjords branched off in all directions with white-- topped mountains between them. The view was all around me and I didn’t know which way to look.
On another day Gordon drove up a winding helter-skelter track high into the mountains before leading a trek alongside a furious white river.
IT CUT through a deep valley full of birch trees to the ‘snout’ of a giant glacier, carving its way down into the valley amid fields of boulders and scree. It was like walking through a fabulous geography lesson. Norwegians are used to walking in mountains – after all, 90 per cent of the country is mountainous. I discovered that many villages place a ‘visitors’ book’ in a weatherproof box at the top of the nearest mountain. Most award prizes to the villagers who have signed this ‘turboka’ the most times in a year. I won’t be getting a prize, but I did manage to walk through lingering snowfields to the summit of Mount Haugsvarden at 2,828ft and sign the turboka. Gordon handed round chocolate bars as we slumped on rocks taking selfies.
Usually we made picnic lunches from the hotel breakfast buffet. In the past, I confess I’ve done that surreptitiously. In Norway, however, it seems to be the norm. Hotels even supply bags for you to put your picnic lunches in.
I’d never tire of the fjord scenery but there was plenty of variety on this tour. Highlights included a boat trip down the steep-sided Geirangerfjord, a World Heritage Site. Lonely wooden farmhouses dot the precipitous slopes here. It’s so steep that farmers traditionally tethered children with ropes so they wouldn’t fall into the fjord while playing.
In contrast we enjoyed a taste of modern Scandinavian style too. We strolled the elegant Art Nouveau streets of the island city of Alesund at the mouth of the fjords and ate fine seafood among the hefty exposed beams of a boutique restaurant in a converted warehouse.
As you wander around Alesund, don’t be surprised to see people slumped on public benches with broad smiles. Yes, the views are good – but what really makes them grin is discovering that the tubular metal benches have hot water constantly piped through them.