Spent the weekend hanging out with pilots from EVE Online and presenting the work I've been doing to them, good fun but not skiing. Weather is currently keeping the avi danger on high up North and it looks to be seriously breezy this weekend. Hohum.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
So finally got the time to put together a bit of a look at the little ski area Blafjoll that is my home mountain and where I log the hours night skiing:
Yeah it was one of the better days this year. The day before was really cloudy and we had the place to ourselves lapping untouched fresh snow under the main chairlift for a few hours which is a touch steeper than the section I was jumping into there.
Tomorrow I'm heading up Snæfellsjökull as it's the Icelandic Labour Day aka International Workers' Day and forecast to blazing sunshine. Hopefully we get awesome views from the summit rather than the cloud we were in last year!
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Today we headed up Snæfellsjökull (1446m) made famous by Jules Verne in A Journey to the Center of the Earth. Great views, lots of sun but nightmare ascent and descent. Looots of ice and everything was complete wind knackered.
Snæfellsjökull
We were joined by a few others enjoying the national holiday
It was very lumpy thanks to the wind and covered in a layer of ice
The views on the other hand were fantastic, click through for biggerer
We changed to crampons early on
The plod sucked but we took the chance to practice our best technique
After what felt like forever we approached the summit
Which is really cool and is a short, steep ski when its not made of ice.
The guy I was skiing with forgot his poles so not only did we get vibrated to death on the way down skiing wind constructed, death moguls but we had to do it with one pole each. We did find some good snow after we'd been knackered by the awful conditions up top. Half-heartedly made some nice turns and rejoiced when we got back to my jeep.
Great day but my legs are going to fall off.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Wed 1-05-13 19:54; edited 1 time in total
Oh yeah also just before we changed to crampons a couple of sleds tried to come up the icy slope which result in two people falling off one right above us. Luckily they bailed well, didn't get clipped and managed to stop the sled rolling off downhill. We were right in the firing line so were busy skinning like crazy out of the way.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
A lesser spotted picture of me wandering up with a rather awesome view behind:
After all it is free
After all it is free
meh, Very Nice. I've put Iceland on my list of 'must ski' places !
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Skiing last night was awesome. The ski areas are owned and run by local authorities and tend to operate at a loss so when their budget is done they close regardless of the huge amounts of snow still on the mountains. Normally they open for a few days and weekends after the fact though. Last night they were open for a snowboarding jam session organised by a couple of local companies. It ended up being the perfect setup, a mountain that has seen reasonably regular snowfall whilst shut, not opening until we had finished work, almost the entire population in the park and under bluebird skies with no wind. We ended up basically spending four hours lapping the main face under the chairlift the top of which had a perfect cornice giving options for 0-15 feet drops so by ten in the evening lots of people were up jumping off it. The snow itself was perfect corn with some cornice debris to avoid so it was just a case of launching into the void and then arcing big turns through it down to the lift. Then back up again. Great end to lift served evening skiing and evening touring on the nearby slopes is where it's at now for the after work skiing.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Sweet.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
My friend Bára made a video of the other evening, such awesome light:
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