Me Åkerneset

You may not be able to see the tiny farmstead on the west bank, but Me-Åkerneset lies about 100 metres above fjord level. The risk of an avalanche in this location is so high that the farmhouse, the barn and the cowshed were built as a single elongated structure tucked tightly in beneath the crag. This was to make sure that any avalanche would pass over the buildings rather than crush them. For there would definitely be avalanches. Sometimes, people would be swept away – other times, only buildings. Solveig was the last farmer at Me-Åkerneset. This is how she described the event that made them decide to leave: ‘It was in early February 1952. I was about to bake a cake for mothers day, when suddenly it felt as if I couldn’t breathe. It went pitch dark. The snowpack came crashing down. The air pressure down the chimney was so strong that the stove was pushed out to the middle of the floor! Daylight returned. No words can describe the destruction. The avalanche had taken half the barn and half the hay. So, we started thinking about moving.’ Six years later the family abandoned their farm.