Icelandic Explorer
Come exploring…
Fly North with me to explore the mountains and myths, in this land of volcanoes, fjords and hot springs. Iceland is a land shaped by the elements, positioned just South of the Arctic Circle, with a strong chance of catching a glimpse of Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights.. It’s home to wide open landscapes, with consistent slopes flowing all the way to the sea and some dramatic couloirs shooting up from the Fjords. This is a country where the harsh environment is balanced by incredibly friendly locals.
During our trip we will aim to explore a couple of Icelands coastal mountain ranges, staying as flexible as possible with weather and snow conditions. Mountains generally rise 900 - 1500m from the water in the Northern peninsulas with countless mountains to ski. This forms the most famous ski area, including the Troll Peninsula.
The East Fjords are rarely visited and extremely mountainous, with some of the most interesting couloirs and dramatic slopes for skiing. We will aim to spend several days exploring this wild area.
Sample Itinerary
Day 0 - Fly to Keflavik International Airport, Reykjavik. Flight bus in to town to reach our hotel.
Day 1 - Early morning internal flight to Akureyri in the North of the country, lasting just 40 minutes and arriving at 9am. Pick up the hire car and drive about an hour to our accommodation on the Troll Peninsula. There are plenty of touring possibilities en route and depending on weather and how we feel we can either take one of these options or wait until we’ve checked in, before going for an explore and warm up ski locally.
Day 2 - 4 - We can spend 4 days total exploring the fantastic skiing on the Troll Peninsula. There is a wide range of terrain and mountain possibilities here, with many slopes dropping right to the sea and the highest mountains coming from inland Fjords. All touring will be within an hour of our accommodation.
The stable Spring snowpack, which should be present at this time is great for getting lots of skiing done and increasing our possibilities of skiable terrain options.
There are geothermal pools in most villages and lots around Lake Myrath to soak our aching muscles and perfect for a potential rest day or if there’s bad weather.
Day 4 will be a shorter tour, to allow us to drive the 5 hours or so to reach our wild base in the East Fjords.
Day 5 - 8 - The terrain here has the potential to be more interesting than in the North, with some great looking couloirs. Plenty of mountains rise to 1500m, with the highest and largest glaciers in the country here too. Best of all we are almost guaranteed to have the skiing to ourselves and high levels of adventure are guaranteed.
Day 8 will have to be a short day before making the drive back to Akureyri Airport in time to catch the evening flight back to Reykjavik and a final meal together here.
Day 9 - Fly back home, unless you wish to stay to soak up the culture some more.