Mountain Skills Course

Pick-up starts at 7:30. Everyone needs to be ready by then. First stop will be at the IMG office to sort out boots and rental gear and take care of any last minute equipment issues. We leave town, stopping for lunch on the way, arriving in Skaftafell around 14:00.

When we have settled down it´s time for action. We start slowly, the first topic is avalanche safety. We go through few slides and discussions. After that we introduce and practice the use of avalanche beacons and go through the search process. No snow at this point but it´s still possible to go through some practical exercises. Dinner is at 19:00 and after that we go through the plan for day 2 and take a look at the gear we will be using.

Breakfast at 8:00. We go to Hnappavellir, Iceland's biggest sport climbing area. There we practice rope work, rock protection and making of belay anchors, rappelling (abseiling) and we also want to get some rock climbing done. So bring the rock shoes with you. In the evening, after dinner, we start planning the glacier trip that starts on day 4. We try out the stoves, put up the tents and think about what we take with us, gear and food.

Breakfast at 8:00. We go to Svínafellsjökull outlet glacier for hard-ice training. We go through crampon techniques, step-cutting, route finding and crevasse rescue. We also go through different ways of setting up protections on ice. In the evening after dinner we pack our back packs and prepare the food for the next day.

Breakfast at 4:00. Departure from Sandfell (where the hike up to Iceland‘s highest summit starts) no later than 5:30. We practice self-arrest with an ice axe, step-cutting and how to travel in snow and steep terrain. Also we go through beacon search in snow. On the glacier we rope up (glacier-mode). We practice crevasse rescue in snow. At the end of the day it´s time to find a good spot for camping, prepare dinner, melt water and do what has to be done before a night on the glacier.

We wake up at 5:00. We melt snow to use for breakfast and for the day. We leave the tents, sleeping bags and other such gear and head higher up on the glacier. The aim is Iceland´s highest peak, Hvannadalshnúkur (2110 m/6000 ft). We travel over crevassed terrain, introduction to snow anchors. After summiting Hvannadalshnúkur we head back down to camp and pack. Then we head all the way down.

Breakfast at 8:00. After that we prepare for our return to Reykjavík, get everything done for check-out. Before hitting the road we go again to Svínafellsjökull outlet glacier for some ice climbing. We train until around five in the afternoon. After that we drive back to Reykjavík, stopping for dinner on the way. We should be in town between 10 and 11.