Nigardsbreen () is a glacier arm of the large
Jostedalsbreen
Jostedal Glacier or is the largest glacier in continental Europe. It is in Vestland county in Western Norway. Jostedalsbreen lies in the municipalities of Luster, Sogndal, Sunnfjord, and Stryn. The highest peak in the area is Lodalskåpa a ...
glacier
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
. Nigardsbreen lies about north of the village of
Gaupne
Gaupne is the administrative center of the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located along the Gaupnefjorden, an arm of the Lustrafjorden, about north of the village of Hafslo. The village of Veitastrond is lo ...
in the Jostedalen valley in
Luster Municipality
Luster is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located at the end of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative centre is the village of Gaupne. Other villages in Luster include Fortun, Hafslo, Indre ...
in
Vestland
Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...
county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. It is located just west of the
Jostedøla
Jostedøla (or ''Jostedalselva'') is a river which runs through the Jostedalen valley in Luster Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The Jostedøla river begins near the ''Fåbergstølen'' mountain farm where the runoff from the great Josted ...
river.
The
Breheimsenteret
The Breheimsenteret () is a museum and one of the three visitors centers for Jostedalsbreen National Park. Opened in 1993, it was located near the Jostedøla river in the village of Jostedal, about north of Gaupne and about east of the Josteda ...
museum is located south in the village of
Jostedal
Jostedal is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1963. It was located in the Jostedalen valley in the northern part of the present-day municipality of ...
. In front of the Nigardsbreen is the lake
Nigardsbrevatnet where there is a small boat to transport visitors to the glacier. There is also a bus to take visitors to the glacier.
History
During the first half of the 18th century, the glacier expanded due to cold weather. Then, the winters of 1741-1744 were extremely cold. Apples and pears did not ripen during the summer and the bee populations perished. Between 1700 and 1748, the glacier moved forward about completely covering and crushing nine farms (Danish: Ni gårde) (hence the name of the glacier). By 1748, the Nigardsbreen covered about . From 1930 until 1939, the glacier retracted again.
Safety
Nigardbreen has seen several severe accidents. In July 1986 two people, a Danish woman and her 8-year-old daughter, died when hit by chunks of ice that fell from the glacier. In 1994 a Polish woman was left in critical condition after being hit by falling ice. In 2014 a German couple died as a result of being crushed by ice; their children standing close by survived physically unharmed.
[– Vi kan ikke forestille oss hvordan barna må føle det]
e can not imagine how the children must feel/ref> In August 2018 an Austrian man drowned when a wave caused by a huge block of ice swept him into the glacial river.''38 år gammel turist fra Østerrike omkom ved Nigardsbreen søndag.''
bt.no, Aug 6th 2018
Media gallery
File:Nigardsbreen-Norway-close-up.jpg, Detail Nigardsbreen
File:Nigardsbrevatnet.jpg, View on Nigardsbrevassnet from the glacier
File:Nigardbreen 082012.jpg, Nigardsbreen in July 2012
File:Nigardsbreen from afar.jpg, Overall view of the glacier (2017)
File:Nigardsbreen in 1962.jpg, Nigardsbreen summer 1962
See also
*
References
External links
Official siteFylkesmannen Sogn og Fjordane
{{authority control
Luster, Norway
Glaciers of Vestland