Great image and it must have been a simply amazing experience for the photographer who took it. I just love the steaming from the snow sticking to the cooled down magma.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Yeah there's a steady stream of these images going up on Twitter. It's pretty awesome. A few friends of mine are scientists flying in and out of the eruption site.
The colouirs in the beginning feature in my trip report from last spring briefly but with much less snow.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Superb.
Amazing 1st Descent.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Wow. Just wow. Need to ski in Iceland one day.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
We took 4 days' heliskiing for my 50th this May. It was absolutely fantastic. Snow is extremely unusual "corn" due to limited difference between day and night temperatures. Would recommend to anyone - and although it is not cheap(!) - I would say it is good value
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Nice!
We just had the first big snowstorm across the country. Ended up with a few cm in Reykjavik but lots more elsewhere.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
meh, hope you guys up there have a great winter and not to affected by all the SO2 etc from the eruption, I have been watching it carefully via a few feeds etc, it sounds mad ! +90km squared of lava and more SO2 per day than the whole of Europe put together? coming from a fissure in Iceland !!
If you get a heads up from your scientist friends on the main volcano (bardarbunga) let us know will you.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
So far it's been a bit grotty when the SO2 cloud has been in our direction but the towns in the North and East have had it much worse.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
meh, Yep can not be nice at all, if the main volcano does go! it sounds like it may cause some problems up there, keeping my fingers crossed for you guys, there is nothing in the media here any more as its not affecting the UK, but I am sure if it hots up they will be all over it!
Do most people in Iceland think the volcano will erupt? or are you just used to this sort of thing now?
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Hi all just booked a late trip to Iceland on 10/11 we are staying in Reykjavik. Does anyone know how close the nearest resort is? We weren't planning on hiring a car and we would need ski hire.
Any help would be appreciated
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Great programme on Radio 4 called Wireless Nights with Jarvis Cocker. This week he visited the elves of Iceland:
@meh, Just noticed this thread. Dramatic shot of the eruption above. How frequently do you get the smaller eruptions or tremors? We only hear of the larger ones in the UK.
You're not alone in being glad to see the back of the warm weather, fingers crossed for a cold Tignes for the next 2 weeks.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
There are quite a lot of small earthquakes all the time. I've been living here four years and we've had 2 actual volcanic eruptions in that time.
After all it is free
After all it is free
It begins:
Should be skiing very soon.
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.
Resort is opening this weekend but I'm going out for a morning tour on Saturday regardless. Loads of snow in Reykjavik and its still dumping.
Nice and unphased. Looking forward to pics from your tour.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Touring didn't happen thanks to the weather but I finally got up under floodlights again. Conditions are still really boney thanks to the wind but otherwise coming along nicely. Was good to be back out sliding.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Boot deep fresh this morning. Sadly on top of sheet ice and rocks which makes for some interesting moments. Got in early and skied the lot out pretty quickly then abandoned ship when the hordes descended. Excellent sunrise that I'll have to post pictures of later.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
So I've been slack in updating the thread. Christmas has kept me super busy with lots of family visiting so I only really managed to sneak out for a few hours here and there are the local ski area Bláfjöll. Here are some pictures of those adventures:
22/12 - Opening Day IIRC, spent just warming up the legs, off-piste was super icy and involved rock dodging so only bothered with one run that was unpisted.
27/12 - Lovely morning with boot deep fresh which I pillaged to exhaustion through the morning. Later on the hordes descended conveniently just in time for me to go home.
03/01 - First ski of the new year, there was fresh snow the day before which had been tracked out but refilled thanks to strong winds during the afternoon. Ridge tops were scoured so I spent the morning ducking in past some inconveniently setup GS training. Pretty variable going but good fun.
I even remembered my GoPro so you can experience the full "excitement" of gloom based skiing (this was taken around 11am):
Weather this week is hovering just below 0 both in town and on the mountain but a lot of precipitation is forecast so hopefully we get some good skiing in at the weekend if not before.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I'm seeing familiar views in your pictures from ones you've posted in previous seasons now. Blafjoll is clearly a favourite destination when you're using ski lifts. What does Blafjoll translate as, and when do you start getting some daylight again ?
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Bláfjöll means The Blue Mountains which is the range in that area the actual peak the lifts are on is called Bláfjallahorn. It's the closest area to Reykjavik so is the easiest to pop out to for some night skiing or if I only have a couple of hours to go skiing (and yes I'm lazy and should take pictures from different places!). There's a pretty nice ridge a short skin away which is calling to me but needs a bit more snow and for me to be there in the afternoon to get some reasonable light on it. I put up a video spring skiing on it last year. In general though I just head up there and pound out laps under the chair lift as it's reasonably steep at the top and makes for good training, particularly with the short days just now. There are umpteen other bowls and what not as well but most are reasonably short and would involve a slog to get to and from.
There is another ski area called Skálafell which opens up in February which has some better touring options, it's a little further away though.
The other main ski area that features a lot is Hlíðarfjall which is the ski area for the town of Akureyri in the North. That has some stellar terrain just a short skin off the lifts. Obviously a bit harder to get to plus I tend to tour up there to make the trip worthwhile.
Light wise and weather wise February is where things start to become more pleasant for day touring but it's definitely possible now I just haven't had the spare time!
The nice ridge is between the marked mountain and the ski area just to the south. There is actually a defunct tow that runs up the easiest part of it but the rest is a series of steepish rocky gullies which should be excellent in the right conditions. It's prone to avalanche though. The descent North from Bláfjallahryggur also looks quite nice.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
First ski tour of 2015 done. Just a quick jaunt from the car park to the summit of Skálafell which is the location of the other ski area near Reykjavik currently closed until the beginning of February.
Getting ready at the car, the 38" tyres were a pre-requisite to getting up the access road and had to be deflated down to 8psi to get across the car park!
We started touring up in a cloud but the visibility slowly improved as we reached the summit and the communication towers on top.
The summit isn't directly accessible from the ski area but its a short hike which opens up the other flanks of the mountain which hold some awesome skiing towards the North. We met another party on top who were dropping off to ski back to their cars on the other side. It looked pretty wind on that side of the mountain though.
The comms tower base station has a little vestibule that is heated that they let people use so long as they treat it with respect. A pretty luxurious stop for a snack and some water.
The sun came out as we hit the summit giving awesome views all around. You can really see how low the sun is in the sky. This is looking west towards Móskarðahnúkar, Hátindur and Esja.
Looking North-West towards Trana and the boney flanks dropping into Svínadalur.
The prevailing wind direction was pretty obvious!
Gratuitous rimed tower shot.
Snow was pretty good! This is lower down in the ski area dabbling between snow-mobile tracks and rocks.
Skálafell's flank from the main road. Some interesting looking terrain including a rather nice diagonal colouir.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Nice reward for your effort ... looks like you hit the jackpot. And what an absolutely stunning landscape.
Yeah it was very much a last minute decision to go up as well. Not the most exciting skiing but awesome views and a great stretch of the legs. There's a bit of a requirement for more snow though as we both clipped a bunch of rocks on the way down.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Beautiful. Great pics.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Looks great!
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.
Something a little different. We were all struck down by illness for the last week. Today was the first time we felt well enough to venture out as a family. Downtown Reykjavik where we live has been pretty much snow covered since early December. This is the longest continuous period of cover in the city since I moved here.
Arnarhóll should be a familiar sight to anyone who has visited before. It makes for an awesome sledging hill.
So that's what we did.
Urður is 13 months old and loves sliding already. She's just started walking so might be doing some very tentative skiing in the spring.
Tjörnin was pretty frozen over with parts cleared for skating. There were some dubious cracking sounds when we crossed it though!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Two people were caught in an avalanche whilst touring today in the West Fjords. One got away with no injuries and the other had head injuries and a broken arm.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
on that side of the mountain though.
