The case in summary:
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- There is a great risk of landslides at Skutshorn in Valdres, and a landslide can trigger a tidal wave several tens of meters high.
- Eirik Øye’s farm is directly opposite the mountain and could be submerged in the event of a landslide.
- -Skutshorn in Valdres is now one of ten mountain areas that are continuously monitored by the Norwegian Directorate of Waterways and Energy (NVE) and the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU).
- A tidal wave model has looked at what can happen if a landslide occurs from Skutshorn, and it shows that a tidal wave can be tens of meters high.
- There will be restrictions on development in the area due to the mountain part, and the municipality and state administrator are working on a contingency plan for Skutshorn.
- In the past year, NVE has received a lot of technology that helps them with monitoring, including the ability to measure movements from satellites.
The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by NRK’s journalists before publication.
There is a great risk of landslides at Skutshorn in Valdres.
The geologists say that a landslide can trigger a tidal wave several tens of meters high.
Eirik Øye can see straight across to the mountain party and knows that his farm will be submerged if that happens.
– In the worst case scenario, the farm is gone. It could happen in an hour, or in a thousand years, no one knows. But they say they should have a good margin to notify then, says Øye.
Eirik Øye looks over to the dangerous mountain section from his farm and knows that a possible tidal wave will reach them.
Photo: Stine Bækkelien / NRK
Captures movement
Skutshorn in Valdres is now one of ten mountain areas that are continuously monitored.
– As we have started monitoring now, we will in a very early phase pick up increasing movements, so that we can warn the population well in advance of a landslide.
That’s according to geologist Kjetil Indrevær in the Norwegian Directorate of Waterways and Energy (NVE).
Since the early 2000s, NVE and the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) have mapped the country for unstable mountain areas.
It is this area that can erupt. A landslide could have major consequences for the center of Vang, which is located on the opposite side of Vangsmjøse, which can be seen at the bottom of the picture.
Photo: Reginald Hermanns / NGU
In recent years, the focus has been Skutshorn in Valdres.
– The mapping shows that Skutshorn could be a candidate for causing a large tidal wave as a result of a major landslide from the mountain range, says Indrevær.
But he does not want to frighten the residents, since there will now be good surveillance.
Can be several tens of meters high
A tidal wave model has looked at what could happen if there is a landslide from Skutshorn.
– It shows that such a tidal wave can be several tens of meters high.
He says that the municipal center Grindaheim in Vang and another town, Øye, in the west end may be particularly affected.
Here, NVE monitors whether there should be any movement in the mountain.
Photo: NVE
Eirik Øye’s farm is precisely in Øye.
It has been in the family since the 19th century. But he says that there hasn’t been much talk about the danger of landslides and tidal waves over the years.
– I’m not really that terribly worried. Don’t lose sleep at night. But it’s good that they have control over it now, he says.
90 animals in the barn
If the alarm goes off and it becomes necessary to evacuate, there are approximately 90 animals in the barn to take into account.
– It is not just about evacuating for a few days. Animals need supervision, says Øye.
Eirik Øye has around 90 animals on the farm and hopes that the monitoring does not lead to them having to evacuate several times for safety’s sake, as was the case at the mountain “Mannen”.
Photo: Stine Bækkelien / NRK
He thinks of the same situation with the mountain party “Mannen”. There, people were evacuated a number of times due to movement in the mountain without it collapsing.
He is a little afraid that it could happen here too, when the mountain is constantly monitored.
– Yes, the fact that there may be an evacuation in time and out of time is probably what one can fear the most, with regard to farm operations. But as I said, it’s good that they take care.
He also fears having to leave the animal if it rages.
– It would be tragic if something were to happen. Then we will most likely have to travel away from them, and that really bothers me the most, says Eirik.
Will happen again
There will now be restrictions on development in the area due to the mountain section.
– In addition to the fact that NVE is now responsible for the technical operation of monitoring, the municipality and state administrator are working on a plan, a contingency plan for Skutshorn.
The measurement data from Skutshorn is checked daily by the geologist on duty at NVE.
Kjetil Indrevær in NVE at Skutshorn.
Photo: Tore Bergeng / NRK
Indrevær says that NVE historically sees that there are on average two to three large landslides every century.
– Our job is to try to find candidates for the next avalanches. It has happened before and it will happen again.
Skutshorn seen from the top of the mountainside in 2022. Vangsmjøse below. There are also some buildings on the same side of the water as the mountain, but not directly below the mountain.
Photo: Gustav Pless / NVE
Ten mountain areas are continuously monitored to ensure the safety of the population.
These ten mountain sections are continuously monitored by NVE
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Møre and Romsdal
- Åknes in Stranda municipality
- The man in Rauma municipality
- Hegguraksla in Fjord municipality
Troms and Finnmark
- Jettan in Kåfjord municipality
- Indre Nordnes in Kåfjord municipality
- Gámanjunni 3 in Kåfjord municipality
Westland
- Joasetbergi (Stampa) in Aurland municipality
- Stiksmoen in Aurland municipality
- Tussafoten in Eidfjord municipality
The hinterland
Source: NVE
The best known of these are Åkneset in Stranda municipality and the mountain party Mannen.
The film “Bølgen” is a disaster film that imagines the mountain party Åkneset raging out, again. Because it has happened before.
With the mountain party Mannen, one party collapsed in 2019, but the risk of landslides is still considered high.
This is what it will look like if Åkneset in Stranda municipality rages.
Watching movements from space
Indrevær says NVE has received a lot of technology to help them in the past year.
– Among other things, you have the opportunity to measure movements from satellites. So that has meant that we have been able to identify a great many parts of the mountain that are in motion, he says.
He points out that even if a part of the mountain is moving, it does not necessarily mean that there will be a landslide there, or that it will lead to major consequences.
– Our job is to identify those who can do the most damage.
This is what it looked like when large parts of Weslemannen collapsed in 2019.