Amazing Cliffs of Norway: Adrenaline Junkies’ Paradise [33 PICS]

61
June 6th, 2011 Permalink

Norway has absolutely beautiful landscapes, including crazy cliffs that call to people to climb up them and then BASE jump off the top. Here’s a look at some of those incredible cliffs as well as insanely dangerous switchback roads to get to those amazing cliffs in Norway. Thrillseekers, photographers, hikers and climbers take in these majestic views of nature. And then, there’s BASE jumpers who have a much more extreme need for adrenaline. Charles Lindbergh once said of his adrenaline rush, “It is the greatest shot of adrenaline to be doing what you have wanted to do so badly. You almost feel like you could fly without the plane.” Here in Norway, as if they’ve turned into Superman, some adrenaline junkies do fly without a plane.
[33 Photos]

Preikestolen, Norway

Preikestolen cliff goes by many names. The massive cliff is 604 meters (1982 feet) above Lysefjorden, Norway. Photo #1 by Arjan Veen

Pulpit Rock or Preikestolen (Prekestolen) in Norwegian is one of Norway’s big tourist attractions

Another name for Preikestolen is Pulpit Rock. The natural rock formation is a huge Norwegian tourist attraction. The almost flat cliff is 25 by 25 meters (82 by 82 feet) with a sheer drop of over 600 meters (1982 feet) into the fjord (Lysefjord) below. Photo #2 by Ken Douglas



Lysefjord - Preikestolen - Norway Cliffs

Rare sight to behold, an almost deserted Lysefjord – Preikestolen. It’s located in Rogaland, Norway. Photo #3 by Mercy

Preikestolen "The Preacher's Pulpit" - Norway

Yet another name for Preikestolen cliff is “The Preacher’s Pulpit.” The best season to hike the intensely trail up to Preacher’s Pulpit is from April to October. Photo #4 by Alex Berger

Top of the world - near pulpit rock - norway

This spectacular scene is like a view from the top of the world. Right outside the frame to the right is the Pulpit Rock. Photo #5 by Eivind K. Døvik

The Preacher's Pulpit - norway

Cairn near The Preacher’s Pulpit aka Preikestolen. These cairns are man-made piles of stones and are located all over the place in and around the crazy cliffs of Norway. Photo #6 by Alex Berger

Looking up at Pulpit Rock - Preikestolen - Norway cliff

Looking way, way up at Pulpit Rock. Photo #7 by Miguel Angel Barroso Lorenzo

Cliff of Norway - Preikestolen The Preacher's Pulpit

Here’s a little Preikestolen trivia. A couple who met on the Internet, formed a suicide pact, so in February 2000, this Austrian woman and Norwegian man committed a joint suicide by jumping together off the cliff. Another couple must have thought it was a good idea, but in 2004, Norwegian authorities stopped a young German couple before they could jump off the cliff to commit suicide. Photo #8 by Alex Berger

Cliff houses - cool houses right outside Jøssingfjord in Norway

Some folks adore cliffs, like the owers of these two cool houses right outside Jøssingfjord in Norway. They are located right under an overhanging cliff! Photo #9 by Eivind K. Dovik

Crazy cliff - view of Trolltunga in Odda Norway

This crazy cliff is actually of rock that juts out horizontally from the mountain above Odda, Norway. It called Trolltunga, but it too has more than one name. Photo #10 by TerjeN

Troll's Tongue - Trolltunga in Odda

The Norwegian word for this place is Trolltunga which means Troll’s Tongue. Photo #11 by TerjeN

Trolltunga Norway Cliff

It’s a long hike to Trolltunga. There’s a 350 meter drop off the Troll’s Tongue. Photo #12 by Dag Endre Opedal

Talus cones on the north shore of Ifjorden, Svalbard, Norway

Cliffs, Talus cones, along the north shore of Isfjord, Svalbard, Norway. Photo #13 by Wilson44691

Brünnich's Guillemot (Uria lomvia) Norway

Yet another intense cliff is Brünnich’s Guillemot (Uria lomvia) at bird cliff of Stappen, southern Bjørnøya (Bear Island) in the Barents Sea. The island is part of Svalbard, Norway. Those are actual birds flying off the cliff, but as you will see a bit later, birds are not the only creatures that soar off these crazy cliffs of Norway. Photo #14 by Michael Haferkamp

Hornelen in Norway is the highest sea cliff in all of Europe

Hornelen in Norway is the highest sea cliff in all of Europe. According to Wikipedia, “At 860 meters (2,820 ft), it is the highest sea cliff in Europe, and has for a long time been used as a landmark for naval navigation. The horizontal distance from the summit to the sea shore is approximately 500 meters (1,600 ft).” Photo #15 by Jesper Hauge

Troll Wall in shadow - norway BASE jumping location

This is Troll wall in Norway. It’s the tallest cliff in all of Europe and an extremely famous spot for BASE jumpers from around the world. This shot, as seen from across the Romsdal valley, features Trolltindene peaks and the north facing Troll Wall. Trollveggen is part of the Reinheimen National Park. Troll Wall is the tallest vertical rock face in Europe, measuring about 1,100 meters (3,600 ft) from its base to the summit of its highest point. At its steepest point, the summit ridge overhangs the base of the wall by nearly 50 meters (160 ft). Photo #16 by Mountain Master

Norway cliffs - BASE Jumper's paradise

The crazy cliffs of Norway are one of the paradise locations for BASE jumpers. Photo #17 by Xof711

The Troll Wall in Romsdal, Norway

Troll Mountains. According to Wikipedia, “In 1984, Carl Boenish, the ‘father’ of BASE jumping, was killed on the Troll Wall shortly after setting the world record for the highest BASE jump in history. BASE jumping from Troll Wall has been illegal since 1986.” Photo #18 by Jørgen Falck

Trollveggen wrapped with clouds as seen from the northeast by the E136 road in midday

Trollveggen wrapped with clouds as seen from the northeast by the E136 road in midday. Photo #19 by Ximonic, Simo Räsänen

Trollstigen - Troll's Path - Norway

If you aren’t a troll and you want to get around, you might consider traveling Trollstigen road – which of course has another name – the Troll’s Path. Be ready for a different sort of adrenaline rush by roads such as Trollstigen which has steep incline of 9% and eleven hairpin bends up the steep side of mountain. At the top, there’s fantastic view and the 320m Stigfossen Waterfall roaring down the mountainside. Photo #20 by wstera2

Invisible Audience at Kjeragbolten, Norway

Invisible Audience: The photographer wrote, “At the Kjeragbolten the rocks fall over 1000m straight down to the fjord. We came to this amazing place at 8 p.m. – just when the sun was disappearing behind the mountains. The chairs where from a group of Germans that hiked up there to spend the night on the edge of the precipice.” Photo #21 by monoceros84

Lysebotn Road in Lysefjord, Norway

If you want to yet another insane cliff in Norway then you’ll probably need to travel Lysebotn Road in Lysefjord. It has 27 switchbacks and a 1.1 kilometer long tunnel at the bottom that has three switchbacks inside the tunnel. Of course you want to travel it, cause you are building up the daredevil need for adrenaline. Photo #22 by Stefan Jonsson via DarkRoastedBlend

Lysebotn, Norway, Looking up at waterfall near Kjerag

Because there are so many cliffs and glaciated valleys, Norway is packed with majestic waterfalls. This one is “tiny” in Lysebotn, Norway but on the way to Kjerag. Photo #23 by Leo-setä

Lysebotn, Norway

Here’s the view of Lysebotn, Norway, after you’ve made it up the insanely crazy and dangerous Lysebotn Road. Photo #24 by Leo-setä

Kjerag boulder, west norway along the lysefjord

Here’s a man standing on Kjeragbolten – Kjerag boulder is wedged into a mountain crevasse in west Norway along the Lysefjord. Because Preikestolen is so crowded, Kjerag has become a popular hiking and climbing destination. You don’t need equipment to walk out onto the rock, but there is a direct 1000 m drop below down to Lysefjorden. Kjeragbolten means “Kjerag Boulder” or “Kjerag Bolt.” Photo #25 by Padraic Woods

view from Kjerag

One more reason to love photographers. Many will do anything to get their shot. Here is one brave soul set on capturing the view from Kjerag. At its highest point, Kjerag is 1110 m above sea level. The northern drop to Lysefjorden attracts the most visitors. There the drop is 984 m (3,228 ft). Photo #26 by Adam Blicharski

Kjerag probably don't want to fall without a wingsuit on

You wouldn’t want to fall without a wingsuit or parachute strapped on. BASE jumpers flock to Kjerag. Wikipedia does not have current numbers, but “in the period 1994 to 2008 29,000 jumps were performed.” Photo #27 by kalevkevad

Falling at Kjerag, Norway BASE jumper

Falling at Kjerag, Norway BASE jumper. Of the 29,000 BASE jumpers between 1194 – 2008, there were 10 fatal accidents. Photo #28 by André Benedix

Kjerag cliff in Norway - basejumpers

Base-jumping – diving off Kjerag cliff in Norway. Photo #29 by Christian Toennesen

Looking up at Kjerag - famous cliff in Norway

Looking up at the famous Kjerag cliff in Norway. Photo #30 by Витольд Муратов (Witold Muratov)

The fjord Lysefjorden as seen from Kjerag

The fjord Lysefjorden as seen from Kjerag. Photo #31 by Ove Hetland

Kjerag BASE jumping - Norway

Kjerag BASE jumping – Norway. Photo #32 by Håkon Thingstad

Midnight sun at Nordkapp, (North Cape) Norway

Midnight sun at Nordkapp, (North Cape) Norway – a 307 m high, steep cliff. Photo #33 by Thesevenseas

Why would you want to visit Norway? There’s probably a million reasons, but the video shows one of the more popular reasons. The sport BASE jumping continues to grow, becoming more popular as more people are bitten with need to try out such an adrenaline rush.



61 Responses to “Amazing Cliffs of Norway: Adrenaline Junkies’ Paradise [33 PICS]”

Leave a Reply