Finse is a place located in Ulvik municipality in Western Norway.
Here is also Finse station, which is the highest station on the
Bergen line (1222.2 masl). The hiking trail from Finse to
Geiterygghytta starts here.
The first house on Finse was
built in 1901 in connection with the construction of the Bergen line
which started operations in 1909. The first hotel opened in 1903,
and Finse became a popular place for Europe's richest due to its
good communications and special location. Norway's first indoor ice
rink opened at Finse in 1914, Sonja Henie and Oscar Mathisen used
this hall as a fitness hall.
Finse had its real golden ages
before World War I, in the 1920s and 1930s and after World War II
until around 1960. In the 1960s and 1970s, the flow of tourists
declined, at the same time as NSB reduced its staff. With the
electrification in 1964, all guard houses east and west of Finse
were closed down, but Finse was the center for snow removal until
1996. Most of the permanent residents were employees of NSB and
their families. At most, there were over 200 permanent residents on
Finse, the local community had its own school and shop until the end
of the 1980s.
The Rallar Museum is also located at Finse.
Today, there are only a few permanent residents left, most of
them connected to the hotel business. Finse also has the Finse
Alpine Research Station, which is run in collaboration between the
University of Oslo and the University of Bergen. The station is
frequently visited throughout the year, mainly by biology and
geology students at the universities, but also by others who are not
directly connected. The station houses specialist rooms such as a
laboratory, library, workroom, aquarium facilities, as well as
living facilities such as bedrooms, bathrooms and saunas.
Star Wars
In 1979, when George Lucas made the second film and
fifth episode of Star Wars, Finse was used as the site of a battle
scene where the rebel alliance is attacked in its secret haunt on
the planet Hoth, and Finse was chosen for the place's appropriate
snow landscape ideal for the scene. . Originally, the manufacturer
had looked like Swedish Lapland, but with efforts from the Norwegian
tourism authorities, Finse was chosen. About 15% of the film's
playing time takes place on the snow planet Hoth, recorded on Finse.
The Scott Monument
In 1914, a memorial was erected to Robert
F. Scott, who had died in Antarctica two years earlier. According to
Finn Jørstad, Scott did not travel to Finse. Scott was in Norway as
part of the preparations for the expedition to the South Pole.
Nansen recommended Scott to visit one of the large Norwegian
glaciers to experience the conditions he would encounter in
Antarctica. Scott traveled instead to Fefor in Gudbrandsdalen.