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corn in the land of fire and ice--iceland!!

5/15/14
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Posted by bs. on 5/9/14 7:03am
it's been awhile since i've been on a trip.  sure, i've done a few long drives and slept in my van at plenty of trailheads, but otherwise it's been 3 years since my last trip turned into a 2 year mini-retirement.  i'd been thinking all winter about a spring road trip pilgrimage to AK, but the sketchy snowpack up there (and the dubious engine in my van) had me open to alternatives.

it was a rainy night in camp, somewhere on the north side of rainier (on a scouting mission for

and next thing i knew i was stumbling groggily off an airplane in keflavik.  the process of early morning foreign car rental was aided immensely by the presence of this perplexingly complex coffee machine in the lobby.  while jason listened the the sales pitch on "ash storm insurance" we managed to try out pretty much every button.  smiles were abound by the time we stepped outside to begin cramming gear into our truck.


first stop was the city of reykjavik to purchase supplies and snap some obligatory photos.


um, were we supposed to pay to come up here?


turned out it wasn't a dispensary after all.


we quickly left behind the city where grocery stores are still closed at 10am on a weekday and headed north towards the snow.  we were soon the only vehicle on the road, which made stopping for photos rather simple.






we made up our plan as we drove towards the westfjords.  i wanted to set up tents and camp, but through the magic of the internet, gabe knew of a woman who had just bought some icelandic property and was staying with the locals in a sleepy little fishing town on the north coast.  turns out i had climbed some mountains with her in new zealand a few years back.  so the tents stayed in the truck, and by nightfall we were setting up "camp" in a small guest house in Þingeyri (thingeyri).


good weather greeted us the next morning, and with this view out the kitchen window, it was not hard to choose a first line.


a couple of our new friends joined us for the morning's climb, which proved helpful in communicating with the folks at the farm where we parked.  however, no commands in english, icelandic, or polish could convince the farm dog to stay at his home.


topping out with Þingeyri in the background.


"try to look more like a viking"


first line of the trip! (credit for first descent goes to the farm dog)


now where'd we park?


we parted ways with our friends and set out to explore the area, take some photos, and find something else to ride.


the northern landscape seems bleak and monochromatic at first.  my eyes scan everywhere in a futile search for a tree to break up the skyline or contrast the color of the snow and rocks.  but the detail here is more subtle--the shifting colors of the sky, changing textures in the intensely wind affected snow, and the juxtaposition of modern construction with pragmatic, time-weathered farm buildings.




the challenge was not in _finding_ a line to ride but in choosing among the many roadside options.  eventually, we chose a ridge with a scenic backdrop over the many rocky chutes.


we gained the summit with a bit of daylight left and decided to wait for sunset before making our descent.  yes, this was jason's idea!


nothing helps pass the time on a mountain top like some "delicious" icelandic beer.


eventually, our patience paid off, and the sun began to peek below the cloud deck.


we inched out to the ridge as jason moved into position below, waiting for the moment when the sun was completely visible between the clouds and the sea.


totally worth the wait!!

(photo of me credit:

what better way to end an amazing first day of riding than swapping stories with local adventurers over a massive feast?


the sky was pretty cloudy the next morning, so we decided to visit the folks we'd met the previous night while we waited for the snow to corn up.  our hosts ran a small

dropping by the local sailboat-ski guide's winter residence for breakfast.


pot bellied wood stove in a yurt... what more do you need??




no visit to iceland is complete without some time spent with the friendly, hardy, icelandic horses.


i thought this dog looked familiar, and yep, he turned out to be a close relative of the farm dog that led us down the mountain yesterday.  it's a small island!


the snow was softening up, and it was time to go find something to ride.  fortunately in the westfjords, this consists of driving around while looking up, and then parking right at the base your line.  surely a far cry from the "bushwhacking through the dark" routine that starts so many ski days in the cascades.


this looks promising...


this small town, flateyri, was decimated by an avalanche about 20 years ago and has since constructed large earthen walls to deflect avi debris.  so the slopes above seemed a logical place to find some good riding.


the climb was a little sketchy in places, but we soon found ourselves traversing into a couloir that pretty much ran to the ocean.



(photo of me credit: kyle miller)



we had to ollie over a bit of road, but were quite happy about achieving our goal of riding to the "beach"!

(photo credit:

the clouds were too dense to see much sky, but jason still had fun getting some long exposure photos.
kyle packs a mean lunch!


iceland's westfjord tunnel system is impressive in its length (over 9km), intimidating in its width (mostly one shared for bidirectional traffic), and unique in its complexity (don't let the flash from the speed camera distract you from the signs for the subterranean intersection, lest you end up in the wrong valley with a speeding ticket!).  we felt obligated to explore the other fork and so found ourselves climbing above the tiny fishing villiage of sudereyri near the western entrance to the tunnels.


it was a great corn run on some pretty featureless snow... but i'll show the picture anyway because jumping over that glide crack was pretty fun.


our plan was to drive back through the tunnels to the town of isafjordur in search of some steep couloirs... but by the time we emerged from the bowels of the mountain, rain had started, rendering the already soggy snowpack a little unstable for our tastes.  so we amused ourselves with a walk about town, shooting some photos and vowing to come back...











we had heard from our new friends in Þingeyri that there was a fourth (and final) member of the westfjords ski touring community, and without ever having met him found ourselves invited to spend the night at his place here in isafjorður.  through the internet grapevine, we'd also heard that some american skiers and photographers (including some representatives of the northwest) were sailing into town on the ski sailboat that evening.  so what started as a disappointing rainy afternoon turned into a fun little dinner party.  here jason starts things off with a soon-to-be-finished bottle of duty free vodka.


the rest of the night was a bit of a blur, but i got to sleep in this super cool attic while listening to the rain attacking the sheet metal roof just above my head.  after many stormy nights in my van, this has become one of my favorite sounds to sleep to.  only a little bit of water got through...


soon we were back on the road, using the stormy day to travel east towards the troll peninsula.  the hundreds of roadside couloirs will have to wait for another trip.  isafjorður, i'll be back!


i'd hoped to spend the day searching for (and soaking in) some sort of rustic, undeveloped hot spring, but the rest of the group was much more motivated to cover some ground and find somewhere to stay that night.  so i made due with a quick stop at an old, deserted-looking hotel with this oceanside hot pool.


the rest of the day was alternately spent lounging in the front seat or crushing in to the 1.5 seats worth of space that 2 of us shared in the back and alternating every time we parked in the middle of the deserted road to take pictures.  it was one of the few road trips where everyone wants to drive.






we passed through the north's biggest city (town) of akureyri and headed north along the fjord before stopping in the town of dalvik.  it was our first night of the trip paying for accommodations, but the hostel owner made it worth our while by opening up his cafe to pour us some beer.  kaldi--the first decent brew of the trip.


the night was cold and clear, and as always, i went for a late night walk, staring at the sky.... and this time it paid off! (if only i had a tripod... or had succeeded in getting jason out of bed.)


"then let's get tons of fuel and go here!"


the north tip of the troll peninsula features two more modern (ie 2 lane! and extra speed cameras!) tunnels that opened in 2010, connecting the towns of Ólafsfjörður and siglufjörður.  for our last day of riding together, i had requested that we climb a peak by each town so that i could scope out the regions and decide where i wanted to be left when kyle and jason took off with the truck.  our first run of the day climbed a southeast facing line near the east entrance to the tunnels.




in the westfjords, we had practically doubled the ski touring population just by showing up with 4 people.  every line we climbed left us wondering if we were the first feet on those rocks.  things are a little different here.  this is where tourists come to ride helis and ski lines.  we knew right away that ours would not be the first tracks on this peak.




looking down at Ólafsfjörður.  the snow covered road was replaced with the múlagöng tunnel (visible where the 2nd road appears underneath the snowy one) in 1982. 


this trip was the first time i'd met gabe, but he proved to be a fun travel companion and a great snowboarder.


as with most of our runs, the corn snow ranged from fun and firm at the top to fun and sloppy at the bottom.  kyle ripped up all of it!


jason shows us snowboarders how to do a proper hand drag.


we had amassed a small group of village spectators by the time we made it to the bottom.


that afternoon, we drove through the tunnels to siglufjörður and stopped in at a bar where gabe met the heli crew with whom he'd be spending the next couple weeks.  as we sipped beer, we looked up and saw this peak.


there's something pretty rad about a place where you can spot a line from the bar at 5pm and get to the top with daylight to spare.




as was our custom for this trip, we decided to hang out on the peak and wait for some good sunset light for jason to photograph our descent.


we whiled away the minutes by jumping off this little cornice.  thanks for the photo, gabe, and thanks for the mighty push, kyle!

(yep, that's jason under the cornice... maybe we'll see his photo one of these days.)

this is where i'll be staying tonight...


finally, we got our light and decided it was time to rip some corn... the last run for our group.


...and that was that.  the sun was going down, and kyle and jason had a 7am flight to norway from reykjavik on the other side of the country.  we quickly separated our gear; gabe was off to the heli crew's guesthouse and i was off to wake up a hostel owner.  i did not envy kyle and jason's drive through the night, although apparently they saw some awesome aurora...


it had been great fun travelling with friends new and old, but i was looking forward to doing some exploring on my own.  the loss of the truck presented a bit of a challenge, though.  i'm certainly a car-oriented person, and ski touring is usually a pretty car-reliant sport.  but fortunately i'd positioned myself well and had several fun-looking options within road-hiking or hitchhiking range.


i opted to hike down the highway towards the local ski hill (opens at 4pm on weekdays, thanks to the late sunset).


as i skinned above the tiny ski field, i saw this gully across the valley and knew right away it would be my second run.


i found a cool solar powered repeater tower at the summit, and settled in for lunch.  the town that i'd hiked from is barely visible at the end of the fjord on the right.  i'd thought about dropping down to the left and hiking the road back to town, but the snow on that westerly side had received little sun and was still rather icy.


i had stopped by a bakery on my hike out of town, and ended up carrying a loaf of bread to the summit.  i'm not sure exactly what type of cured meat "spægipylsa" is, but i sure ate a lot of it.

(the lecherous-looking "bonus pig" is your friend in iceland)

an imposing storm begin to approach from the west as i enjoyed my sandwich.  i decided it was time to get out of there while i could still see.


looking back up from the "ski resort" at my run from the repeater tower.  the rain had already started, but i decided to go ride the cool-looking gully anyway.


it was still storming the next day, so i spent a little while hanging out with gabe's heli crew at their posh guesthouse, but soon my feet began to itch.


i loaded up my heavy bags of gear and caught a bus to akureyri.  i figured if it was going to be cloudy and rainy, i might as well hang out in a "city".


well, the "city" didn't hold my interest for long, so i rented a little econo-car, and set out to do some "sightseeing" in a gathering storm.


it turned out to be quite an adventure of a day.  my goal was to check out some of the geothermal attractions of the area, and hopefully find a hot spring in a cave.  the wind increased, the snow began to fall (by which i mean "blow sideways") and the road turned to a 100km skating rink.  but i found the cave (and some good company!), saw some boiling mud pots and silica-colored water, rescued a local teenager who'd driven off the road, and still made the drive back to town before dark.  i've spent a lifetime chasing winter storms (and grew up in the bitter north east), but i've never done any storm driving like this.  negligible visibility, sheer ice on the road, and wind that will tear your car door right off!

the road was still in "pretty good shape" at this point.


goðafoss -- "waterfall of the gods"


a steaming fissure in the earth... there's gotta be something cool around here...


there is bushwhacking in iceland after all.


i found the cave!

(my camera couldn't do this place justice, so i borrowed this picture from will wisman's facebook wall--he and gabe were there earlier that day, apparently.)

perfect temperature water, a rock ceiling to keep the howling wind and snow out... i didn't expect to have the place to myself!








i made it back to the city in time to spend a little money at the expensive akureyri bars.


how do the roads and sidewalks stay clear during the vicious icelandic snowstorms?  geothermal heating!


the weather was supposed to clear "a little" the next day, and it was my last chance to get out on my board, so i hitch hiked to hlíðarfjall--the local ski resort.  it seemed like the easiest route to the snow...


after consulting with a ski patroller who confirmed my fears of slabby snow, i decided to check out the lower-angled slopes directly above the resort.  as i climbed, the cloud level began to drop...


until by the time i stopped for lunch "to see if the vis gets better" i could see nothing in any direction.  i literally could not see my own skin track in the snow, so i used my gps to follow it through the white out back toward the resort.


so complete was the lack of sensory perception, and so slow was my progress, that i began to entertain delusions that the entirety of civilization had disappeared into the all consuming fog.  i must say i was a little relieved when the first resort structures appeared through the mist... and a little amazed to see people still out skiing.




i hitched back to town in time to catch the cross-country bus back to reykjavik.  it was saturday, and i wanted to see if they really do party all night in the capital city.


suffice it to say... they do!  those too young to enter the bars pack the streets into a party-sized traffic jam.  there are huge lines to enter any place with music (and this was still the case when i retired at 4am), but there are no cover charges.  i checked out several spots and found that the djs universally play dated, crappy american dance-pop, but i found a dark little venue with an icelandic metal band and had fun head-banging with some tough looking locals.  a couple cell phone pics to prove it happened:




with one last day to kill, i had one mission to accomplish.  the girls i'd met in the hot spring cave had told me of a "hot creek" in the hills about an hour east of reykjavik.  i figured with a whole day i could find my way there and back, so i rose after a couple hours' sleep to start my mission.  my hopes of utilizing public transit to get out of the city were soon dashed when i realized that i was quite literally the only person awake in the entire city on this fine morning.


with no busses running, and almost no one driving the roads, i hiked through the city for a couple hours looking for a good hitch hiking spot. 


after another hour of waiting, and a couple short rides, i made it out of the city.  it was easier than i'd feared catching a ride to my destination town, though my automotive benefactor declined to drive me to the trailhead, adding another hour of urban hiking to my mission.  but by mid afternoon i found myself climbing through a beautiful valley, with promising tufts of steam rising in every direction.


this town, hveragerði, is a "hotbed" of icelandic horticulture, which consists of growing tomatoes and peppers in geothermally heated greenhouses.  every time there is an earthquake, the hot wells change, and the greenhouses must change location with them, leaving many abandoned and disused.


the weather was pleasant, the hiking was enjoyable, and the geothermal activity increased as i climbed.  eventually the trail was obscured by sulfur-smelling steam, and when i emerged from the other side, there it was!







i spent an incredibly pleasant hour relaxing in the perfectly heated stream, where i eventually met a canadian family and their icelandic friends who generously offered me a ride back to the city. 


i was amused to find that after a week and a half of hiking, ski touring, and walking roadsides in ski boots, my feet had only, finally, developed blisters after this long afternoon of unladen walking.  i gratefully accepted the ride, and joined them for the hike back down the valley.

what's left of the trip at this point?  well, i had an evening and a morning to kill before my flight home, so i limped about the city, finding a small jazz club, and a few things to photograph.







i had no burning desire to eat whale meat, i'd already tried the famous (or infamous?) fermented shark, but there where a few things left that i wanted to eat that had not yet made their way into my grocery store lunchmeat diet.

(yes, there are horse steaks on that menu if you read the fine print)

smoked trout, sheep head cheese, potatoes mashed with fish, turnips, and rye flatbread.  my last meal in iceland was a good one.


one last tourist photo, from inside the harpa--reykjavik's famous and beautiful concert hall.


this trip was an amazing experience in so many ways... seeing a new part of the world that is so full of contrasts with my home... meeting some amazing people... riding corn snow to the sea side... finding my new favorite hot springs.... but in the end, when i looked out the airplane window as the cascades came in to view, my heart filled with a sense of happy homecoming.  how lucky am i to call this place home, where so much adventure and exploration waits just outside my doorstep!


Nice report,  like the HOT springs  ;)

Too bad we missed you Saturday, but consider we woke up to catch our flight around the time you went to sleep I wouldn't have lasted long.  Whale was great.

Awesome write up! Ice and fire in the land of the Vikings, and roadside couloirs! Bucket list must do, thanks!

We had a great time there in late June 2 years ago. 26 hours plane to plane of almost continuous hiking. Found a 130 year bakery with awesome sandwiches. Saw some old ski tracks up high on some snow fields. And it isn't that far of a flight. And at least it usually snows, rather than Norway's rain.

Awesome TR Ben. Really, really enjoyed your write up. What a spectacular trip. Kind of with ND and I had just sucked it up to ski while we were there for 24 hours!

Thanks for fun narrative and rad photos! looks like the trip of a lifetime. I especially dig this photo
way to send it!

Such an amazing trip.

Will never forget this classic quote from a certain professional skier

Q: Hi....so where in Iceland are you from?

A: Hi....My name is Kyle Miller and I am from Seattle, Washington.

author=bs. link=topic=31669.msg132961#msg132961 date=1399673009]
"then let's get tons of fuel and go here!"

HAHAHAHA!

Awesome trip!  Fun fact: Seattle City Light's Steam Plant has enough steam lines running under the streets that a few blocks of the downtown core stay snow free, which was most evident in the 2008 storm.

How do you say rad in viking?

This is one of the best TR's I've ever seen....it motivated me to buy my plane ticket!

Awesome!  Where is that cave at?

Excellent adventure and great write up.

I think you guys win the prize for the most interesting post this year!! I did not read every word but I will, hope JH's spirits are high, and the world looks a brighter place, what a great adventure! thanks for the words, and the pictures. 

thanks everyone!  i feel a little better about the time spent in front of my computer editing photos now that some people have actually looked at them.

nick & kristina: well if you only had a day, i think the decision not to ski was pretty reasonable.  maybe our paths will cross on some other mountain...

rowan: yeah, that's probably my favorite photo as well, captured with none other than an iphone.  that little drop was pretty fun... the landing was a little steep but the approach was flat.  fortunately kyle obliged and pushed me off it a few times!

jonn-e: i'm glad someone got that reference... it's actually what kyle said when i was taking the photo, and i almost spit out my coffee laughing.  "what planet the fuck are you from?"

leyland: i don't know, but i'm sure it has no less than 8 syllables and a bunch of consonants you don't know how to pronounce.

stefan: the cave is called grjótagjá and is near the well known mývatn nature baths (which cost money).  you can drive right up to it.  there is a sign declaring that "bathing is prohibited" but if you are lucky there will be two beautiful italian girls to tell you that the water is safe.


and now for a small addendum:
a word about icelandic trucks

as with most places in the world, inhabitants of iceland tend to equip their vehicles to deal with the unique conditions found in their driving environment.  as i have an interest in modified and off-road vehicles, i spent a little bit of time examining the peculiarities of these snow-specific rigs that i have not seen elsewhere.

the first thing one may notice on the winter streets of iceland is that almost every vehicle everywhere runs studded tires.  i did not understand this entirely until the day that i spent driving over the gentle passes near lake mývatn.  the fierce wind and temperature fluctuations during storms cause the roads to become sheets of ice.  literally.  i've never seen anything like it, and i've driven in a lot of mountains in a lot of places.  studded tires excel in these conditions, and i was able to easily and safely navigate the roads in a little 2wd econo rental.

icelanders typically refer to any modified truck as a "super jeep".  while a bit undignified, this name seems to be centered around the tourist industry of driving rich people around off-road, but the locals use the term regularly to refer to their own vehicles (at least to americans).  what struck me most about these rigs was not the huge diameter tires (on generally tiny wheels), but that the modifications performed to suspension and body components to permit the use of such massive tires generally do not seem to include much (if any) consideration for increased suspension travel or articulation.  this leads me to believe that these vehicles are very purpose specific, built for high speed travel on snow or sand rather than the "rock crawling" use that is more common in america.  check out the tiny clearance between the fenders and tires on this massively lifted land cruiser.



presumably, the wide fenders are employed to prevent snow (or volcanic ash?) from being thrown onto the side of the vehicle.  the presence of model-specific plastic or composite fenders on almost every truck lead me to believe that custom aftermarket fenders must be available for almost every truck and SUV sold in the iceland market.  look at the way the fender line continues onto the rear door and bumper of this nissan, obviously these are not a generic part.



it seemed odd to me that, while most trucks included bleed valves on the wheels for lowering air pressure, i did not see a single set of bead locked rims.  perhaps they are illegal for road use?  or the snow conditions do not require such low tire pressures?



i certainly enjoyed the aesthetic of the tall, wide-tired trucks, but in the end i still prefer my syncro.  and nope, i didn't see a single one in iceland.  but i did see this rad little subaru van!





Great report Ben! Finally got the chance to read it all. Was super excited that you were able to join. Enjoyed your company and shredding with you. Those few days in Iceland were the best part of the adventure.

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2014-05-09 14:03:29