Landslide blocks major road in southern Norway

A landslide covering up to 300 meters of Gaustaveien in Telemark’s Hjartdal municipality has severed a key transport route, Norwegian police reported Sunday morning.

The slide—comprising earth, rock, and ice—struck near Stavsro at 9:17 AM, according to a police log entry by operations leader Tom Richard Skuggedal. A search-and-rescue operation is now underway, with Norway’s main rescue coordination center deploying air assets to assess the area. Authorities have imposed a no-fly zone over the site, restricting access to emergency services only.

The Gaustabanen cable car to Gaustatoppen mountain has been closed, with police urging the public to avoid the area due to observed unstable fracture edges that heighten the risk of further slides. No vehicles or individuals have been reported caught in the initial collapse.

Jostein Hvamb, a local backcountry skier en route to clear winter trail markers, told Dagbladet the slide buried the start of the summer hiking trail to Gaustatoppen and part of its adjacent parking lot. “That lot was packed with cars yesterday,” he said. “We’re lucky this happened at night.”