The life cycle of slate is long, but uncomplicated. It has been formed and hardened over millions of years, until it is suddenly blasted out of the mountain. And when this happens, you’ll likely as not find Otto Ørstad a little further up the hillside, with gunpowder on his fingers and an over 80-year-old detonator in his hands.

– I work at the rock face. In the quarry itself. That’s where I drill the holes to blast out the slate for production, he says, when asked what his job entails.

He works as a blaster at Minera’s quarry in Oppdal. He’s been doing the job for ten years and this experience is vital, as handling explosives isn’t child’s play, particularly when precious natural materials are at stake.

– My job is both easy and difficult. I do pretty much the same thing every day, but I also have to assess every new situation. How deep the hole should be drilled, and how much gunpowder to use? says the slate blaster.

Gunpowder is necessary to blast out slate of a high enough quality to be used. Dynamite is too powerful and just destroys the stone.

– All you have to rely on is your experience, and even with ten years behind you, it’s always exciting to see the results of a blast. Even an experienced blaster gets a little nervous when a charge is detonated, but it usually ends well, he assures us.

Otto is a cog in the machine that works hard to extract and produce Oppdal slate in the best possible way. Before drilling the holes to plant the gunpowder, someone will have carefully assessed the area to be blasted, removing trees, moss and undergrowth from the hillside.

– It’s a really exciting process, with a long and rich tradition. And it hasn’t changed much in the last hundred years. We still use gunpowder and the stonemasons still work by hand, he says.

Processing of Scandinavian slate: A craft – formed by hand.

Even the actual firing device – the detonator that Otto uses – dates back to before the war and would have been used when Otto was growing up in the nearby village.

– The equipment is reliable and slate production is very much based on tradition and experience. Why replace something when it still works so well? he explains.

If you grew up in Oppdal, it’s impossible not to know anything about slate.

– Slate has always been used widely here in Oppdal. It’s always been part of my life. There was slate on every roof when I was growing up. Slate walls and paving stones too, he reminisces.

Yet it took some time for him to end up in the industry, too. He only returned to the quarry in Oppdal around ten years ago.

Do you feel at home now, then?

– Well, I enjoy the job I do, he says, before adding:

… and I am actually home.