Hallingskarvet

Hallingskarvet National Park was established in 2006 in southern Norway, between the counties of Buskerud and Vestland, and protects some 450 km² around the mountain formation of the same name.

Hallingskarvet is an elongated plateau some thirty-five kilometres long that rises abruptly above the surrounding ground, with almost vertical walls on its southern flank and a relatively flat summit surface above one thousand seven hundred metres. That wall-like morphology sets it apart from the alpine mountains of the neighbouring massifs and makes it visible from a great distance. To the south it borders the Hardangervidda plateau, the largest high plateau in northern Europe.

The park holds part of the region's wild reindeer population and a notable alpine flora, favoured by the calcareous soils of some sectors. It also has a particular intellectual resonance: at Tvergastein, a cabin at about 1,500 metres on the slope of Hallingskarvet, the philosopher Arne Næss spent long periods over decades and developed much of his thinking on deep ecology, the current that proposed a radical change in the relationship between people and nature and that has influenced contemporary conservation.