Questions & answers

This is a slightly more complicated question than it might first sound. Should you count every trail-improvement project sherpas have worked on? Only continuous staircases? How many steps does there need to be before it counts as a staircase? What about stone staircases built by others than sherpas? What about staircase projects split into several sections — should the whole project count as one, or should each section count as its own independent staircase?

So how many are there? Hard to say, it depends. We currently have around 110+ sherpa staircases in our overview, but we're most likely missing several more. We're still a long way from some media reports of 400+ sherpa staircases.

A sherpa staircase is a stone staircase built up a steep mountainside or hiking trail, built by Nepalese sherpas — which is how it got the name "sherpa staircase". Over time the name has stuck and become a synonym for trail-improvement projects built in stone by sherpas here in Norway.

The staircases can make demanding climbs safer and more accessible for hikers. They can also help reduce erosion on high-traffic trails, since they effectively channel foot traffic to one spot.

We've chosen to include some staircases that aren't "classic sherpa staircases", since wood and metal staircases can obviously serve the same purpose — making it easier for people to get up into the mountains. Vegatrappa and Midnattsoltrappa are good examples of staircases that do the same job as a "classic sherpa staircase", just in wood.

This site is meant as an overview of all the longer hiking staircases in Norway, not just stone staircases built by sherpas from Nepal.

Norway is a fantastic country with many great hiking destinations. Naturally, people want to experience these up close, and traffic on some trails can be far beyond what nature can tolerate — in several places the trails have been seen to spread out over an ever-larger area, especially in wet sections. Perhaps the most important function of sherpa staircases is to channel traffic to reduce further erosion, as well as make trails safer in steep, exposed sections where a lot of people pass through and "just have to get up", such as Reinebringen, which could be a life-threatening mudslide with loose rolling stones at its worst before the staircase was built.

Some would probably argue that in some places sherpa staircases are built as an attraction rather than out of pure necessity for nature, since it's clear this can drastically increase the number of visitors to a place. A small paradox is perhaps that we humans seem to be extra drawn to hiking destinations with something man-made when we set out to experience nature.

At the same time, easier accessibility can increase the likelihood that people who don't normally go uphill get out and moving more often while getting their heart rate up, which can also be positive as a local public-health measure.

The answer is possibly a mix of humanity's urge to improve, tourist destinations' wish for higher traffic, and local public health.

The information is gathered from public sources, hiking associations, and user suggestions. Some staircase projects are especially hard to find information about, and certain facts, such as "number of steps", can be inaccurate or completely missing. The actual mapping of the staircase sections on the map can also be somewhat inaccurate. Some staircases have also been closed for periods due to safety/rockslides, and it can be difficult to keep the site updated at all times. If you see something that's wrong or outdated, you can suggest a change on the individual staircase's page.

Yes, use the "Suggest a staircase" button on the front page to submit info about a staircase that isn't registered yet.