Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
JOSTEDALSBREEN
For years mighty Jostedalsbreen, mainland Europe's largest icecap, crept countercurrent,
slowly advancing while most glaciers elsewhere in the world were retreating as a result,
most scientists agree, of global warming. Now Jostedalsbreen herself has succumbed and is
also withdrawing.
She's still a powerful player, though, eroding an estimated 400,000 tonnes of rock each
year. With an area of 487 sq km and in places 600m thick, Jostedalsbreen rules over the
highlandsofSognogFjordanecounty.Themainicecap andseveral outliers areprotected as
the Jostedalsbreen National Park.
The best hiking map for the region is Statens Kartverk's
Jostedalsbreen Turkart
at
1:100,000. The free
Jostedalsbreen Glacier Walks
brochure, available at tourist offices and
many other venues, gives a comprehensive list of glacier walks, their levels and guiding
companies.
For more details on the gateway towns of Stryn, Olden and Loen,
Click here
.
