Við vonum að vel fari um fólk og að allir séu við góða heilsu þessa dagana. Þar sem við erum vonandi sem flest að fylgja ráðleggingum og höldum okkur heima viljum við opna aftur fyrir vefútgáfu ársrits 2019 þar sem ekki hefur þótt ráðlegt af gefnu tilefni að póstleggja riti til hundruða einstaklinga, auk þess að ekki er hægt að nálgast ritin í Klifurhúsinu vegna lokana. Við bindum vonir við að geta póstlagt ársritin þegar fer að kyrrast, en fram að því verður hægt að glugga í ritið hér að neðan
The route was climbed on a second attempt in March 2020 by Bjartur Týr Ólafsson and Rory Harrison
Approach
From the parking lot at Harfafell the approach up Skaftafellsjökull took between 2-3 hours on skis. From the glacier and to the face there is about 300-400 meter long slope before actual climbing starts.
Route
The route starts with a 170 meter long ice fall climbed in three pitches. First pitch starts off steep but eases further up and heads up to the main ice line in a couloir. Next pitch gets progressively steeper all the way to the belay off to the right after 60 meters of climbing. The last pitch of the ice fall is the steepest or around AI4+ for 50 meters.
Next the route goes up the first snow field of the face for about 200 meters protected on running belays. After the snow field a brake is made by iced up cliffs.
Next pitch climbs up 40 meters of rimed up cliffs with decent protections. After the belay the next pitch traverses a thin snowy ledge with bad screws. This pitch is impossible to grade but should be climbed with caution. On the first attempt we climbed another pitch of rimed rock instead of the ledge traverse. We found out later on that both variations would have worked and gotten us onto the second snow field.
Again we went for running belays and looked for weaknesses in the steep cliffs above. We found a route after about 120 meters with what looked like enough ice to climb into a couloir between two big rock towers.
The sixth pitch goes up more rimed rock and is probably the last one any decent gear. Seventh pitch is the first one that simply gets a mixed grade because of its lack of protection. It climbs up a short cliff onto a ramp and then around a corner into the final couloir. Last pitch is short but steep. Climbs up the couloir to the base of short but near-overhanging cliff with windblown rime. From the top we protected with a snow picket.
Route down
Head north to a big snow gully that takes you down to the base of Skaftafellsjökull. Walk by the side of the glacier until you find your skis. Enjoy the run down. Round trip 18.5 hours.
Pitches
Pitch 1. AI4, 60 m
Pitch 2. AI4, 60 m
Pitch 3. AI4+, 50 m
200 meter first snow field
Pitch 4. AI3+/4, 40 m
Pitch 5. Stór hliðrun, 50 m
120 second snow field
Pitch 6. AI4, 40 m
Pitch 7. M4, 40 m
Pitch 8. M5, 20 m
End of the Line, TD+, AI4+, M5. First Ascent; Bjartur Týr Ólafsson og Rory Harrison, 9. mars 2020
Brattur pillar sem leit út fyrir að vera svona WI 4+ en var svo alveg óheyrilega pumpandi þegar á reyndi. Það var smá tjald sem þurfti að klifra uppundir og utanum sem var allt vel í fangið. Klifrað þegar Múlafjall var í mjög bunkuðum aðstæðum, veit ekki hvort að þetta geti myndast eitthvað léttara.
FF: Jónas G. Sigurðsson og Bergur Ingi Geirsson, 19. mars 2020
The Icelandic Alpine Club (ISALP) will celebrate the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival on March 17th and 19th at Bíó Paradís, Hverfisgata at 20:00. The Banff in Iceland is made possible with the support of GG sport and Icelandic Mountain Guides. The festival includes films focusing on rock climbing, alpine climbing, skiing, mountain biking, running and more.
See more info about the shows and tickets at the Banff Website
Park the car at Kirkjubol on Gemlufallsheidi on the south side of Onundafjordur. Cross the river on Galtardalur following the fence on the south side, pointing the north face of Kaldbakur. About 1h approach.
The slope get steeper and we roped up about 120m before the ice line at the bottom of a small cliff of rock.
P1-120m slope with some ice steps. Possible to split in 2 real pitches.
P2-40m WI5+ sustained wall of ice with a small ledge half way. Better to stop before the end of the ice because is followed by a long slope with snow.
P3-70m WI4 Some step of ice with one steep.
P4- 70m WI3 Some step of ice but the gully become easier the higher. we took the left branch but there is a right one as well. We stopped at this point because of timing
Possible to reach the summit, crossing the cornice, in about 150-200m. At that point better walk down by the valley of Galtadalur
Some easy steps and then a steeper wall at the end. Possible a similar line just few m to the right ending in the same place.
Approach: park a Seljaland and go back on the road, cross the bridge and along the field and then start to walk up valley. The regular approach from the Valagil path can lead to an unpassable river if not fully frozen.
Í klettahömrum Vatnshlíðar í Seljalandsdal í Álftafirði er fjöldinn allur af leiðum til klifurs.
Leiðirnar Cast Away og Wilson voru klifraðar á ísklifurfestivali Ísalp febrúar 2020 og eru að finna í hömrunum innst í dalnum.
Áætlunin var að klifra í hömrunum utar eða þar sem Stigið og Hryggspenna eru en það fór ekki betur en svo að klifurfélaginn lenti í vandræðum með að komast yfir ánna. Með blauta fætur skakklappaðist undirritaður yfir ánna og endaði sem strandaglópur, félagalaus og skrúfulaus.
Þegar komið var að Wilson var Heiða komin yfir ánna veitti líflínu í stað einmannaleikans.
FF. Bjartur Týr Ólafsson & Heiða Aðalbjargar, febrúar 2020
Í klettahömrum Vatnshlíðar í Seljalandsdal í Álftafirði er fjöldinn allur af leiðum til klifurs.
Leiðirnar Cast Away og Wilson voru klifraðar á ísklifurfestivali Ísalp febrúar 2020 og eru að finna í hömrunum innst í dalnum.
Áætlunin var að klifra í hömrunum utar eða þar sem Stigið og Hryggspenna en það fór ekki betur en svo að klifurfélaginn lenti í vandræðum með að komast yfir ánna. Með blauta fætur skakklappaðist undirritaður yfir ánna og endaði sem strandaglópur, félagalaus og skrúfulaus.
Það var ekki margt annað í stöðunni en að finna einfara auðveldan ís þar sem hamrarnir voru hvað lægstir.