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At the end of April Andy, David, John, Doug and I arrive in Rekyavik, Iceland when the rest of the world are avoiding the volcanic ash. We are here to spend 4 days ski touring in the Troll Peninsula, just south of the Arctic Circle and one of the more remote ski destinations around.
We transfer to the local airport and enjoy a nostalgic welcome with no security, baggage tags and just walk onto our plane for the 40 min flight to Akureri. Great views of mountains as we come in to land and ten minutes later are leaving with our bags and our guide, Friđon, who drives us north along the fjord and inland up a valley to Klaengsholl, our host JB's farm where we will stay the next 5 days. After meeting the crew and enjoying a great meal we turn in although it is still light outside at 11.30pm.
Next morning we refresh our bleeper and probing skills before heading up the coast with Friđon in the 'megavan'. We park north of Dalvig and head up the slopes, shedding layers as the day warms until we reach a shoulder at 890m. From here we have a great ski down and then lunch stop before climbing back to the summit at around 1300m this time. The views are fabulous but bitter winds stop us hanging around for too long and we have another great ski back to the van. A couple of beers in the Dalvig community centre and we are hooked on Icelandic skiing.
The next 3 days are equally great - weather closes in on day 3 but we have sunshine on the last day to accompany a great climb to the Horse South Summit. The snow is a bit soft for the last two days. I would love to go back and ski that 900m face in perfect corn snow.
JB offers heli skiing, heli assisted ski touring, and sail and ski trips to the Western Fjords so there are loads of good reasons for going back which we certainly will. Icelandic hospitality, Sonia's cooking, and the excellent local Kaldi beer also support a return visit.
