Briksdalsbreen is one of the easiest glaciers in Norway to reach: a tongue of blue ice spilling down from the Jostedalsbreen ice cap into a small green lake at the head of the Oldedalen valley. Its story is also one of the clearest records of how quickly glaciers respond to climate, advancing hundreds of metres in the 1990s and then pulling back onto dry land within a decade.
Where is Briksdalsbreen?
The glacier lies in Stryn Municipality in Vestland county, western Norway, in the small valley of Briksdalen at the far end of Oldedalen. It sits about 25 km south of the village of Olden on the Nordfjord, and it is one of the best-known and most accessible arms of Jostedalsbreen, inside Jostedalsbreen National Park.
- Area: about 10.4 km²
- Length: about 2.5 km
- Elevation: from 1,910 m at the top down to 346 m
- Lake: Briksdalsbrevatnet, at 346 m above sea level, where the glacier ends
A glacier that grew, then shrank
Records of the glacier front go back to 1900. After small advances in 1910 and 1929, Briksdalsbreen retreated about 800 m between 1934 and 1951, exposing the lake. Then it turned around: between 1967 and 1997 it pushed forward roughly 465 m, covering the whole lake and reaching its outlet. That growth drew international attention, because in the 1990s most European glaciers were shrinking. Briksdalsbreen is a reminder that a glacier’s size depends on snowfall as well as temperature.
The reversal was just as dramatic. By 2004 the front had pulled back about 230 m from the lake outlet, and by 2007 it stood on dry land behind the lake, much as in the 1960s. Glaciologists suggested it was then the smallest it had been since the 13th century. The 2009 measurement was the most retreated since records began. Because the glacier is very narrow in places, scientists have noted that it could even become temporarily cut off from the main ice cap.
Visiting Briksdalsbreen
The road from Olden runs up Oldedalen to Briksdal Fjellstove, the mountain lodge at the foot of the glacier, with parking, restaurants, a café, a souvenir shop with Norwegian crafts, cabins and rooms. From the lodge, Briksdalen leads past waterfalls to the lake and the ice, and visitors who prefer to ride can book a “Trollbil” safari to the glacier.
The official Briksdal visitor website lists current glacier-ride bookings, parking and opening times, which change with the season.
Stay behind the barriers near the front: glacier ice can collapse without warning, and the meltwater lake is ice cold.
More of western Norway
For another glacier photo story, compare Perito Moreno in Argentina. For Norwegian travel ideas beyond the ice, explore villages, coastlines and cultural places in photographs.
Related reading
- Svalbard: Arctic Seasons, Settlements and Coastal Landscapes
- Hamnøy, Lofoten: Fishing Cabins Beneath the Mountains
- Besseggen Ridge: Gjende, Bessvatnet and a Demanding Norwegian Hike
- Jotunheimen The Home of Giants In Norway
- Norway in Time-Lapse: The Landscapes of Rustad Media
- Preikestolen: Appreciating the View with Space Around You
- Tromsø in Winter: Northern Lights, Arctic History and City Days
- Northern Lights in Norway: Winter Landscapes and Realistic Expectations
- Norefjell’s Electrical Flash: The Norwegian Caption Explained
- Ice Driving in Western Norway: Tracks Across a Frozen Surface
- Split View Mountain Lodge: A Norwegian Home Shaped by Its Slope
- Trolltunga, Norway: The View and the Walk Behind It
No comments