Like all the other people who come to Norway this was one of the first things on our must do list and for us it will be our grand finale for our time in Norway.
The towering Pulpit Rock is no doubt the best-known tourist attraction in Southern Norway. Pictures of this huge cliff decorate the covers of many coffee table books, travel guides and tourist brochures.
Track to Pulpit Rock
Track to Pulpit Rock
Track to Pulpit Rock
Pulpit Rock rises a sheer 604 m above the waters of the Lysefjord. On top is a 25 x 25 metre plateau that is almost flat. The name Preikestolen (The Pulpit) was actually coined by the Stavanger Mountain Touring Association just over a hundred years ago. Today, few remember the original name – Hyvlatonnå – meaning the metal bit in old wood planes.
Trail to Pulpit Rock
Trail
There is a trail to the rock through different mountain landscapes. The walk is very steep in places and near the end by the cliff edge.
Trail to Pulpit Rock
The path takes about 5 hours for a round trip hike and starts at the Preikestolhytta lodge at a height of approximately 270 metres, and climbs to 604 metres. Even though the elevation difference is only 334 metres and the walk is not particularly long (listed as 3.8 km each way) however the actual hike distance for us was much more than we expected as the path goes up and down various ridges.
We were blessed with another fine day and a great view of the Lysefjord.
Great view of the Lysefjord
The view from the summit is magnificent! You can see all the way to Lysebotn,the innermost village of the Lysefjord.
Trish Waving
And if you dare, you can crawl to the edge and peer 600 metres straight down into the fjord.
To date no safety ledge has been constructed on the edges of the cliff despite the great danger, in order to preserve the natural beauty of the cliff.
We both walked to the edge and waved for a photo taken from the opposite cliff edge. Unlike a few people niether of us could manage to sit with our legs over the edge.
We cringed so many times at what some people would do, One mother took her three young children (4 – 10yrs) to the edge then they all sat down with there feet over the edge. One boy jumped up with legs in the air for a photo less than 8 inches from the edge.
The Pulpit rock edge is quite scary because it is exposed and windy. There is another corner where the rock joins the main cliff where we had lunch which also has a vertical drop of 500mts or so and we walk right by and step over without a second glance!!
Steven Waving from Pulpit Rock
Unbelievably, unlike the small cliff at Darwin, there is no record of anyone falling off Preikestolen cliff accidentally. There have however been several deaths due to suicide.
Trish standing on the edge taking photo of Steven waving
The trek back down was hard on the knees and Trish became disorientated a couple of times, thank goodnes on the climb down not while on the cliff edge!!
We both walked to the edge and waved for a photo taken from the opposite cliff edge. Unlike a few people niether of us could manage to sit with our legs over the edge.
The Pulpit rock edge is quite scary because it is exposed and windy. There is another corner where the rock joins the main cliff where we had lunch which also has a vertical drop of 500mts or so and we walk right by and step over without a second glance!!
