Kjerag or Kiragg is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

in the

Sandnes Sandnes () is a city and municipality in Rogaland, Norway. It lies immediately south of Stavanger, the 4th largest city in Norway and together, the Stavanger/Sandnes area is the third-largest urban area in Norway. The urban city of Sandnes lies ...

municipality in

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The tall mountain sits on the southern shore of

Lysefjorden Lysefjord or Lysefjorden is a fjord located in the Ryfylke area in Rogaland county in southwestern Norway. The long fjord lies in the municipalities of Strand, Norway, Strand and Sandnes, about east of the Stavanger (city), city of Stavanger. T ...

, just southwest of the village of

Lysebotn Lysebotn is a village in Sandnes municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located at the eastern end of the Lysefjorden in a very isolated valley that is only accessible by one road or by boat. The name itself means the "bottom nd ...

. Its northern side is a massive cliff, plunging almost straight down to the fjord; a sight which attracts many visitors each year. Another tourist attraction, the

Kjeragbolten Kjeragbolten (English: ''Kjerag Bolt'') is a boulder on the mountain Kjerag in Sandnes municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The rock itself is a glacial deposit wedged in a large crevice in the mountain. It is a popular tourist destination ...

, is a stone wedged between two rocks is located on the mountain. The

Kjeragfossen Kjeragfossen is a waterfall in the municipality of Sandnes in Rogaland county, Norway. The waterfall cascades down from the Kjerag plateau on the south shore of the Lysefjorden. It is one of the highest waterfalls in Norway and one of the hig ...

waterfall plunges off the mountain down to the fjord. It is one of the tallest waterfalls in the world. Kjerag is a popular

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

destination. Some go there because

Preikestolen Preikestolen or Prekestolen ( en, 'The Pulpit Rock', 'Pulpit', or 'Preacher's Chair') is a tourist attraction in the municipality of Strand in Rogaland county, Norway. Preikestolen is a steep cliff which rises above Lysefjorden. Atop the cliff, ...

has become too crowded, some to jump onto

and some

BASE jumpers ''Base Jumpers'' is a platform game developed by Shadow Software for the Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers wit ...

from all over the world go there to jump off the high

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

s. Kjerag is also a popular

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done fo ...

destination, with many difficult routes going up its steep faces. The easiest ascent starts from the visitor center Øygardsstølen, with a 2.5-3-hour walk each way. From

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

, it is roughly a 2-hour drive (closed in winter season). One can also take the tourist ferry from Lauvvik to

in summer. The best season for walking is considered late June to September depending on snow conditions.

Kjeragbolten

Kjeragbolten is a

boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

wedged in a mountain crevice by the edge of the Kjerag mountain (). It is possible to walk onto the rock without any equipment, but there is a direct drop below and then another gradient down to the

. The name means "Kjerag Boulder" or "Kjerag Bolt".

BASE jumping

Kjerag has become a popular BASE jumping destination. Since 1994, when Stein Edvartsen made the first officially registered jump, until 2016, a total number of jumps have been registered. During this time period 131 accidents have been registered, 44 of which required the use of

rescue helicopter Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...

, and 10 cases where jumpers were rescued by other professional rescue climbers. According to the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

there have been 11 fatal accidents involving BASE jumpers alone. A list of jumpers who perished at Kjerag is provided below: * Sebastian Dectot (24, from France), August 16, 1996 * Ulla-Stina Östberg (46, from Sweden), July 29, 1997 *

Thor Alex Kappfjell Thor Alex Kappfjell was a Norwegian offshore oil worker and BASE jumper. He is famous for parachuting from the observation deck of the World Trade Center's South tower in 1999. Previously, he had jumped from the 86th floor of the observation deck o ...

(32, from Norway), July 6, 1999 * Kirill Goretov (29, from Russia), August 15, 1999 * Terry Forrestal (52, from the United Kingdom), June 10, 2000 * Valentino Venturi (30, from Italy), August 5, 2000 * Lori Barr (37, from the United States), July 23, 2002 * Rob Tompkins (30, from the United States), September 12, 2002 *

Darcy Zoitsas Darcy, Darci or Darcey may refer to: Science * Darcy's law, which describes the flow of a fluid through porous material * Darcy (unit), a unit of permeability of fluids in porous material * Darcy friction factor in the field of fluid mechanics ...

(nickname: "Peter Pan") (39, from Australia), July 19, 2005 * Anton Knestyapin (25, from Russia), July 25, 2010 * Michael Leming (53, from the United States), June 25, 2016 In the Norwegian documentary film ''

Loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, an ...

'', Kristen Reagan climbs up the drop before BASE jumping off the same cliff. Rock Climbing Kjerag was first climbed in the spring of 1985 by Pat Littlejohn, Steve Jones, Dick Renshaw and Lyndsey Foulkes, who abseiled in without sighting the wall from below, and chose their route from photographs in the public domain. Pete Whittaker having performed a roped solo of Free-Rider on El Capitan in autumn 2016, free-soloed the Renshaw-Foulkes climb in summer 2020.

Name

The name is possibly a compound of ''kje'' which means 'kid' and ''ragg'' which means 'goat's hair, shag'. The rough surface of the mountainside has been compared with the shaggy hair of a kid goat.

In popular culture

*A movie song called '
Amali thumali
'' (from 01:33m to 1:35m and from 04:19m to 04:21m ) from the 2011 blockbuster

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...

movie ''

Ko (film) ''Ko'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language political action thriller film directed by K. V. Anand, and written by Anand and the duo Suresh and Balakrishnan. The film stars Jiiva, Ajmal, Karthika (in her major Tamil debut), and Piaa Bajpai in l ...

'' features the lead couples dancing on the top of the

Gallery

File:Viewkjerag.JPG, View from Kjeragbolten, Lysefjorden below File:A man standing on Kjeragbolten.jpg File:Ferret in the middle of picture, Kjerag, Norway.jpg, Stoat File:Fullmoon over Kjerag July 2014, Norway.jpg, Fullmoon over Kjerag mountain File:Langavatn, Kjerag, Norway.jpg, Langavatn cabins 8.992, 6.614File:South from Langavatn, Kjerag, Norway.jpg, Kjerag view from Langavatn File:Kjerag with rainbow.jpg, View of Lysefjorden from Kjeragbolten

References

External links

Kjeragbolten - 360* Panoramic Pictures - Virtual Norge

Flickr Kjerabolten Images

Ryfylke - Kjerag
{{in lang, no Sandnes Cliffs of Norway Mountains of Rogaland Landforms of Rogaland