Walking routes with panoramic views
Imagine something warm in your mug, a piece of chocolate, and a well-deserved break after finally reaching the hiking destination
Then only one thing is missing – an armchair to enjoy the view from! The thought and idea that Sten Frøitland in Lister Outdoor Recreation Council had was to be able to offer «that little extra» to those who struggle their way up to a viewpoint. In addition, we thought that perhaps the chairs will «trigger» more people to get out on a hike.
– Our plan was to build our own hiking chairs to be placed at strategic and scenic viewpoints in all Lister municipalities, says Frøitland. At the same time and unbeknownst to when the idea was presented internally within the outdoor recreation council, a hiking chair – a so-called «moon chair» with the same purpose – was placed out on Månen in Lyngdal. The initiator behind this chair is a friend of Frøitland. He runs a small carpentry business and naturally wanted orders for more «moon chairs». This thus opened up the opportunity for a collaboration. The general manager of Lister Friluftsråd, Christian Landmark, applied for funds from a local bank, and in the autumn of 2017 the outdoor recreation council was awarded funds for the purchase of a total of 13 such chairs. In the spring of 2018, the first ones were placed out, and chairs now stand at Skjolnesveten and St. Olavsvarden in Farsund, Neseknipen, Skuldra and Skrelia in Lyngdal, Stakksteinsliknuten and Blomliknuten in Hægebostad, by Geiteknuten at Feda, on Knaben in Kvinesdal, and on Høgåsen and Pederåsen in Flekkefjord municipality.
In Sirdal, the chairs were placed out on Røseknuten in the north and by the path heading towards Klovsteinen above Tonstad. It must also be mentioned that there are three such chairs at Varbak in Farsund – these can be said to be the origin and the inspiration for the local carpentry firm starting the production and sale of the chairs. Through private initiative, some chairs have also been sold and placed out in certain municipalities. The job of getting the chairs in place is a chapter in itself – they are produced as flat-packs and assembled on-site. With a total weight of sixty to seventy kilos, a bit of logistics is required to transport them out.
– In the municipalities where winter offers enough snow and the possibility of snowmobile transport, we try to make use of this. When spring arrives, we can just fill our backpacks with tools and make the trip up for the assembly work, says Frøitland. Otherwise, we have previously received great help from many volunteer workers to transport them out. Now in 2022, two new chairs have been placed in each of the six Lister municipalities, in strategic locations that provide a view over the village or municipal centre. Flekkefjord Sparebank granted funds, and production was thus underway.
As for Sirdal, there will be one chair on Vardefjell in the south and one on Hadvardshei in the north. Otherwise, the other municipalities in Lister have been allocated the following locations: Nonskarknuten and Hamrevarden in Kvinesdal, Storestøa north of Vanse and Knygen in Farsund, Faret and Lundefjellet in Lyngdal, Storestøa and Høgfjellet in Flekkefjord, and Hekkfjell and Buksetjødnknuten in Hægebostad. – We naturally hope that the initiative will be appreciated and that the new chairs will be frequently visited. Perhaps in due course we can also launch a competition on the turLister app to visit as many trail chairs as possible in Lister, Frøitland concludes.