Life on the Mountain Farms

Today, we consider the mountain farms as romantic places, where life was exciting, but at the same time the daily life was full of challenges. The approach to the farms was characterised with steep and uneven paths, and the daily chores that needed completing, either on the farm or on the higher summer farms, required the whole family to work hard seven days a week. It was only the smallest children who didn’t work, and they had to be secured with strong ropes to ensure that they did not fall off the precipitous cliffs. However, in the village book there are nevertheless accounts of people who fell off the cliff edge onto the shore below. But the worst must have been trying to leave the farm in the winter months when parts of the path were impassable. Should someone die during the winter months, then they would have to wait until the Priest was able to make the journey in the springtime. But on the other hand, if it were the Sheriff or tax collector who were rowing across the fjord, then some farmers would put extra obstacles in the way. At the beginning of the 20th century, some of the farms began to construct zip lines which they could use to transport both goods and food up and down. It was demanding work, but after it was finished, they saved a lot of energy on the transportation of goods. Whether the zip line of the time transported tourists is questionable, but some people did take a trip down the steep mountainside.