The April fools’ joke that became reality
In 1939, the local paper in Rjukan published an April fools’ joke that would end up surprising a lot of people. The story was that an elevator was going to be built to the top of Mount Gaustatoppen. A Professor A. W. Brøgger was mentioned, who was supposed to have done a great deal of research in and around the mountain. He had discovered that Gaustatoppen was in fact an extinct volcano, with a six kilometre deep volcanic shaft in the middle of the mountain, in which it would be perfectly possible to build an elevator. The newspaper used the meteorologist Mr. Johnsen, who worked on the top of Gaustatoppen, as a witness; from his weather station Johnsen had apparently seen Brøgger at work, finding cracks in the rock with steam coming out of them.
According to the newspaper, a journalist had followed the professor and two German men from the Grand Hotell, where the three of them were staying. At the taxi rank he was told that a taxi had just taken three men to Dale, so he immediately laid chase. When he arrived in Dale they were already gone, but he met Mr. Nilsen, the game warden, who was able to tell him that three men had headed up Gaustatoppen. On the hillside by Svadde the journalist met the three men, busily taking readings using some mysterious instruments. He interviewed the professor, who told him about his discoveries, and also said that he had spoken to someone who immediately suggested the idea of a horizontal access shaft and an elevator to the top of the mountain.
That was all nonsense, of course, but in 1953 it was announced that there actually were plans to build a funicular up to Gaustatoppen. It was completed in 1958.
Taken from Helge Songe (2006), Gaustatoppen. Fagerstrand: Fagerstrand SP.