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'Øystre Slidre' is a municipality in the county of Oppland, Norway.
The old municipality of Slidre was divided into Øystre Slidre and Vestre Slidre in 1849.
The majority of residents live at Heggenes, Rogne, Skammestein, Beito and at Beitostølen.

Contents

The name

Coat-of-arms

Geography

Economy

History

References

The name

The meaning of the name ''Øystre Slidre'' is '(the) eastern (part of) Slidre'. (The parish and municipality of Slidre was divided in 1849.)
See > Vestre Slidre

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1989). It shows tiles made of slate (an old export article of the municipality).

Geography

Øystre Slidre stretches from Nord-Aurdal and Vestre Slidre in the south, Vang in the west, Gausdal. Sør-Fron & Nord-Fron to the east, and up to Valdresflya, at the border of Vågå in the north.
Øystre Slidre is part of the traditional district of Valdres in central, southern Norway, situated between the valleys of Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal.
Øystre Slidre is 45.1 km on a north-south axis and 39.8 km on an east-west axis.
The highest point is Øystre Rasletind at a height of 2010 meters above sea-level. About 73% of the land is over 900 meters in elevation. The lowest points lie at 410 meters above sea-level.
Water covers 60 km² of the area. The largest lakes are Vinstri, Yddin, Vangsjøen, Javnin and Olevatn.

Economy

Because of the rugged landscape, farming is only possible on a small scale, but this is still one of the main sources of income.
The winter sports resort of 'Beitostølen', host to World Cup events in biathlon and cross-country skiing, is located here. It is the biggest tourist area in the municipality, and provides a large fraction of the municipality's income.

History

Båtskaret - ''The boat pass'' is a narrow pass along Bitihorn where in medieval times people from Øystre Slidre dragged their boats through, therefore the name. A bit further into the mountain there is a big lake called Vinstravatnet with a lot of fine trout. As a result of a dispute between people from Valdres and people from Gudbrandsdal they could not leave their boats behind. Therefore they had to resort to dragging their boats through Båtskaret. According to local folklore, the dispute began in medieval times with a young bride being married to an old man and a knight stealing his way over the mountains to rescue her.
Hegge stave church, at Hegge, was originally constructed in 1216 or slightly later. It has been extensively rebuilt and is mostly post-reformation. It contains a fine altarpiece (reredos) carved by Kjørn from Heidal between 1781-1782.
The Øystre Slidre coat of arms depicts slate roofing and recognizes the slate industry as a formerly important industry there. Slate roofing was common in Valdres.

References

''East Norway and its Frontier'' by Frank Noel Stagg, George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. 1956