They are called “Kvitskriuprestan” and have been there for hundreds of years. They got their name because people imagined that they looked like tall, thin priests who stood there on the steep edge of the mountain. The special landscape formation in Uldalen in Sel municipality is a very rare sight in Northern Europe. Apart from a few places around Gudbrandsdalen, you have to go to the Alps to find your mate. But in the last ten to fifteen years, something has happened. Almost all the “performances” have fallen apart. – Now there is a small paw left down here, says Espen Rusten in the State Nature Inspectorate. POPULAR: The Norwegian Nature Conservancy looks after the nature reserve in Uldalen in the municipality of Sel in Innlandet. Espen Rusten says that the town is well visited, and that it seems to be particularly popular among foreign tourists. Photo: Alexander Nordby / news Getting worn out by “weather and wind” The soil columns come from long-term erosion in the moraine masses. Inside the masses are stones that have acted as “hats” or “umbrellas”. They have protection from the rain and thus formed the pillars. While the water washes the soil away from the slope, the clay under the stone continues to be hard – and able to support the stone. – You can see inside the ridge here that there are several stones. The potential for new ones to be established is present. But perhaps not as big as those who have been here, says Rusten. SIX METERS: The Kvitskriup performance as they looked in 2005. At most there have been eight to ten earthen pillars in the area, and the tallest was up to six meters high. Photo: Finn Bjormyr / Statens naturoppsyn Lars Erikstad, senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Natural Research (NINA), believes that the development in Uldalen is expected. What is special in this case is that the soil columns stand in loose masses. – There is a process that has created the “achievers” and that process will gradually destroy them too. Similar formations are found in solid rock, and then they are more permanent, explains Erikstad. He says that normally new pillars will form on a slope like the one we are talking about here, but in this case the slope has more or less eroded away. Thus, one cannot expect any new, large pillars. NATURAL PROCESS: The fact that the natural memory is critically endangered does not mean that it is our fault or that there is anything to do with it. – It is simply an acknowledgment that this is the case, says senior researcher Lars Erikstad at the Norwegian Institute for Natural Research. Photo: Press photo / Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Critical trough natural type Kvitskriuprestan is listed on the “Norwegian Red List for Nature Types” as a critical trough. The town was protected in 1977. – It is not the earth columns themselves that are protected as a natural monument, but the ongoing erosion process, says Espen Rusten, who oversees the area. There is a traffic ban around the edge of the race and the soil pillars themselves. But there is a marked path up to the town. When you arrive, there are stairs and platforms where you can see the area well. FOLLOWING: Espen Rusten in the State Nature Inspectorate is sure that the last “weasel paw” will also be on the loose. Photo: Alexander Nordby / Alexander Nordby Encourages to take the chance Rusten cannot tell when the last pillar of the earth will disappear. Or how it should go when it concerns new earth pillars. But perhaps you should plan a visit already during the holidays. – Here, I would recommend taking the trip now this summer to see the last, tiny pillar of earth left down here, says Rusten. The nature supervisor is supported by Lars Erikstad – the last pillar is so thin. – So the encouragement from you, too, is to get up there before the last fell? – Yes, I will do that anyway. I haven’t been there for a couple of years and then there was more than one left. 2023: This is how the last, thin “priest” stands in Uldalen. The experts agree that those interested should take the chance to see him in the near future. Photo: Alexander Nordby / Alexander Nordby
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The soil pillars in Uldalen in Sel municipality in Gudbrandsdalen are about to disappear – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
