July 17 - Alta, Norway

 We're still in the county of Finnmark which covers most of Northern Norway.  The whole county has a population of around 75,000 and covers an area the size of Denmark.  There isn't a stoplight in the whole county.

Alta is a very new city, having only been declared a city in 2000, and has a population of only around 18,000.  However, it has a long history and much of that is based on the slate industry.  Our tour today was to the Paeskatun Slate Quarry and for the first time, Jan and Tom were on the same tour.  The bus ride to the quarry took about 30 minutes and went through some gorgeous countryside.

Gas is about $2 per liter, or $8 per gallon which surprises me since we're in oil country.

Another beautiful, warm day.

The quarry is in the third generation of family working it, but it ran into some hard times around the recession of 2008.  Consequently, they added tours and have survived.  They've done a nice job of showing the little huts that the workers lived in while working the quarry in the winter as well as setting up the workshop where the owner demonstrated how the slate is finished.  There was a short movie to show the blasting and collection of the slate for delivery to the quarry and then he got to work.

This big slab has to be cut into the layers. In between the slate stone are layers of mica and good workers can see them so they know where to begin hammering to break them up.  The thing hanging from the roof is a lift that is attached to the smooth slate by vacuum.  As he cuts, he lifts it just a bit each time to facilitate the separation.

Here he's starting to hammer and you can just see the beginning of the horizontal break at the top on the right.

Slightly out of focus, but you can see the break is getting bigger.  When he "feels" it begin to crack towards the left side, he lifts it up so it breaks pretty cleanly.

Next he uses some basic tools to make the slices even a bit smaller by hand.  He can "hear" and "feel" when he's doing it correctly.  Then when it's the size he wants, he marks it with a metal mold shaped for the tile he's making and begins to chip away at it by hand.  For the final bits he has a big "scissor" that cleanly chops away at the edges.  And when he's done, he has a roof tile.

And here's the finished product which looks a bit like a toilet cover.  He did this in about 30 minutes, but that included talking to us and showing us each step.  He could probably do it in under 20 minutes easily.

Here are the finished products in the various shapes which are available.

One of the roofs on a hut.

These large slabs are at the pier awaiting transport.  Apparently, a few months ago a very large shipment went to Montana.

Thinner slates ready for shipment.

The pieces of slate that aren't used for roof tiles can be used for floors and outdoor seating areas.  He said that slate is completely waterproof and will last for generations.  It really was a most interesting tour and we're glad we did it.

The afternoon was spent reading, napping and generally goofing off.  We managed to get 13/15 in Trivia for 2 points today.