First ste(e)p WI 3

Walked around the first 4m. The main pitch is about 30m with a flat part after the first section and a big flat top out. Good nice pitch to practice your first steeper section.

Location: about 5km east of Fosshotel Núpar. Between Kálfafell and Núpstaður/Lómagnúpur (63.9510632, -17.6201653)

Florent Irion and Mery González, 16th January 2023

 

Crag Öræfi, Vestur
Sector Lómagnúpur
Type Ice Climbing

Fallandi tár WI 6

A big, beautiful and hard route with wild ice formations on the south facing cliffs which overlook Huldujökull.

The two crux pitches climb detached pillars and curtains, and were climbed on the right side during the first ascent.

Approach via Kötlujökull. The base of the route is approximately 5km from the glacier terminus, though navigating the terminal moraine of Kötlujökull and the lateral moraine which guards entry to Huldujökull can be time consuming.

P1: WI4 50m
P2: WI6 40m
P3: WI6 30m
P4: WI4 30m

FA: Rory Harrison and Jay Philip Borchard 09/02/24

Crag Vík í Mýrdal
Sector Huldujökull
Type Ice Climbing

Skírlífsbelti M 5

This route is west of Svellgjá in the gully on the most western part of this cliff. Climb the chimney and then make some delicate moves to gain the easy ice. There are a handful of gear places available. Continue up the short gully. Climbed on the ísalp ice climbing festival 2024.

~40 meters in length

F.A Jay Borchard and Kjartan Tindur Gunnarsson 21.01.24

 

Crag Haukadalur
Sector Svellgjá
Type Mixed Climbing

(Icelandic) Bara forleikur WI 4

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Leið nr. 1 á yfirlitsmynd.

85m WI4

Fyrri spönn hefst á 10-15 metrum af WI4, en verður svo WI3. Það er nóg um góða stansa eftir að fyrsta haftinu sleppir.  Það má því skipta leiðinni upp eins og klifrurum sýnist en við tókum hana í 50m og svo 35m spönn af WI3. Leiðin er sérstaklega heppileg þegar klifrarar eru á sitthvoru getustiginu, þannig getur annað fengið góða skemmtun af því að leiða upphafið, síðan getur hin(n) reynsluminni tekið restina.

Síga þarf niður úr leiðinni á V-þræðingum.

Þessi leið hefur ekki verið skráð áður þannig að við gefum henni nafn og gráðu. Nafnið er talið lýsa leiðinni vel þar sem hún hefst á mjög spennandi hreyfingum en svo gerist ekkert frásagnarvert eftir það. Farin af Ágústi Kristjáni Steinarrssyni og Halldóri Fannari 21. janúar 2024.

 

Crag Hvalfjörður
Sector Litlasandsdalur
Type Ice Climbing

(Icelandic) Í ljósi sögunnar WI 5

Route B10c

This route is left of Gjörgæsla. It started with a short step leading to a corner with very little ice in it. From there the crux of the route was to step out of the corner and onto a free hanging curtain. Few tricky moves take you to a little rest before you finish to the top.

The route gets logged here with the disclaimer that someone might have climbed it back in the day. There can’t be that many unclimbed routes in Múlafjall anymore.

F.A. Bjartur Týr Ólafsson and Bergur Sigurðarson 10. December 2023

 

Crag Múlafjall
Sector Kötlugróf
Type Ice Climbing

Sigurjón

Sector A on the map. You can read about the approach on the overview page for Hvalfjörður

“Sigurjón” is below a number of ponds and should therefore provide early season fun and stay that way for most of winter. Due to the proximity to the ocean it should rarely be too cold and the surf creates a cozy ambiance. Please keep in mind that the approach via the shoreline gets flooded so plan accordingly. There seems to be an easy line (WI2) that can be topped out.

In this sector there are opportunities for multiple first ascents, some of them over 20 meters long. Grades are probably from WI2 up to WI4+.  We recommend using lines from the song about “Sigurjón digri” for route names, for example: “Komnir til að sjá og sigra”, “Með krafta í kögglum” og “Takið af ykkur skóna!”

  1. Unclimbed
  2. Unclimbed
  3. Bóna, bóna, bóna (WI3-)
  4. Og bóna (WI3)
  5. Unclimbed (best for rappelling into the sector)
  6. Með ballskó í bögglum (WI3+)
  7. Unclimbed
  8. Unclimbed
  9. Unclimbed
  10. Unclimbed

As you can see in the pictures there is a healthy amount of ice at the top so it should be possible to rappel into the sector as well.

Digri WI 3

Sector B on the map. This is a continous 100m wide wall of ice that was therefore named “Digri” (Husky). You can read about the approach on the overview page for Hvalfjörður.

“Digri” is below a number of ponds and should therefore provide early season fun and stay that way for most of winter. Due to the proximity to the ocean it should rarely be too cold and the surf creates a cozy ambiance.

Routes are about 20 meters high and range from 3 to 4 depending on line chosen. A great place to practice and have fun.

FF. Ágúst Kristján Steinarrsson og Halldór Fannar  10th of December, 2023

Crag Hvalfjörður
Sector Hvalfjarðareyri
Type Ice Climbing

Jaws of Glymur WI 5

Winter 2023 was unusually cold; it was the coldest winter in southwest Iceland for a hundred years. This created unique conditions in the canyon below Glymur and for the waterfall itself. On January 17th that year, an Icelander living in Italy and an Italian living in Iceland ventured into the canyon with a mission to climb any of the established sought-after routes in this magnificent setting. However, due to the unique conditions and the old pencil-drawn topos on isalp.is being extremely confusing, they ended up climbing a new route. During the climb they thought they might be on Sacrifice (WI5+) or a variation of Draumaleiðin (WI5+) but it turned out to be neither. 

It became apparent that this section of Glymur hadn’t been climbed before. Watching  old videos and pictures the reason was also apparent – that section was never frozen. Instead, it was a booming waterfall with ice on both sides. Sacrifice is to the left of this flow while Draumaleiðin is on the right side, and even further right – since it goes up the canyon wall on the right and climbers will top out on the south side of the canyon.

For the first half the new route goes up towards the jaws of Glymur – where the flow is strongest. This part contained a full pitch of overhanging cauliflower ice formations with tricky protection. It was full commitment climbing requiring ice climbing in all three dimensions. In keeping with the mouth analogy the ice formations resembled the crooked teeth of an enormous giant. For the second half the waterfall was still partially open so the route veers to the right of the main flow to avoid the spray. In Icelandic the name is “Gin Glyms”, since gin means open mouth in Icelandic and alliteration is cherished by the natives. Gin & tonic may also have played a part in the naming.

Continue reading

Crag Glymsgil
Type Ice Climbing

Video

(Icelandic) Smérgeirastrípur 5.1/5.2

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5.1/5.2

40 m

Auðveldasta leiðin upp á lítinn tind sem kúrir í norðurenda Bolakletts.  Ekki er víst hvort tindurinn beri nafn, en nafn fannst hins vegar ekki í fljótu bragði við leit á veraldarvefnum. Þ.a.l. gefum við tindinum tímabundið nafnið Smérgeirastrípur, í samræmi við all undarleg staðarnöfn í kring, og borgfirskar örnefnahefðir. Ef einhver þekkir til nafns tindsins má endilega koma því áfram til okkar og við skiftum nafninu hér út.

Um 0.5-1 tíma gangur er upp að tindinum upp skriðuna norðan fjallsins, þar til komið er að skorningi sem leiðir upp í söðulinn. Klöngrast er upp mjög auðveldan skorninginn upp í söðul, og þaðan er klifruð suð-austur hlið tindsins. Mjög auðvelt klifur, um 15-20 metrar frá söðli og upp á topp, en tryggingar nokkuð vandasamar og berg mjög laust á köflum. Engu að síður ágætasta ævintýri.

Sigið niður sömu leið, tvær 60 metra línur ná vel niður að skriðu aftur.

FF (?, engin ummerki um aðrar mannaferðir á toppnum): Sigurður Ý. Richter & Atli Már Hilmarsson, febrúar 2023

Crag Bolaklettur
Sector Bolaklettur
Type Ice Climbing

Icebath WI 4+

This is the first route you will notice once down on the seashore (see pictures). It is also the first route climbed in this new area.

It’s difficult to get further than the first sector, due to crashing waves. Tides will of course play a part but when we visited the cliffs some waves were breaking on the ice and we consider ourselves lucky to have made it up on the ice ledge before the largest waves broke. The ledge was like a balcony of ice, where the ocean would sometimes slosh underneath.

The route was named “Icebath” due to the ice cold water spray that forms the fat icicle on the second pitch. This ice water spray was still going strong when we climbed and made the pitch more challenging.

Pitch 1: About 30 meters WI3+, various options for building an anchor but be mindful of overhead ice. We chose a location with this in mind but it will never qualify as a perfectly safe location.

Pitch 2: About 12 meters WI4+/5, starts with a traversal to the right but then goes straight up, where the icicle is steepest but also has the best ice. Due to the ice bath it’s best to climb this section fast and deliberately.

FA Halldór Fannar and Ágúst Kristján Steinarrsson 17. march 2023

Crag Tröllaskagi
Sector Klif - Svali sektor
Type Ice Climbing

Vondagil Hægri WI 3+

There are a number of interesting gullies or ‘gils’ on the North side of Hvammsheiði accessed from Laxárdalur. The route climbs through the ravine forming the climbers right branch of Vondagil and up the face at it’s head, finishing on the high plateau of Hvammsheiði. The first section which is not visible in the photo consisted of soloing around 350m of WI1+ to WI2+ terrain. The pitched climbing starts a short distance above the obvious junction with the shorter line to the right.

WI3+ 275m.
P1: WI3 30m,
P2: WI3+ 55m,
P3 WI2 60m,
P4: WI3+ 55m,
P5: WI3+ 55m,
P6: M3? 20m.

Rich Bell and Przemek Pakulniewicz, 14/03/2023.

Crag Öræfi, Austur og Suðursveit
Sector Lón
Type Ice Climbing

Saie biezta WI 3

Climbers: Przemek Jezierski, Helgi Ragnar Jennson

AI2, WI3, M4 400m (?)

First 150-200m is an easy climb up a snowy couloir which is topped with an easy WI3 pitch of ice. After that continue scrambling up snow and omit ice fields and maybe more evident snowy line to go directly into a rocky section (pic 1) with a corner going right (easier when icy, couple of good cracks for both ice tools and protection). Disregard evident snowy couloir and continue up and right towards rock formations pointing up towards the sky (pic 2). Around the first column to your left follow a chimney (big crack for yellow cam – pic 3) and up towards a rib (watch out for dragging rope). Follow up a rib (pic 4) towards a connection with the snowy couloir – on your right a steep wall needing downclimbing – instead go up an easy rock/moss climb to arrive on top of the ridge. Follow the ridge towards the summit.

 

Crag Tröllaskagi
Sector Búrfellshyrna
Type Ice Climbing

Cascade de l’EMHM WI 4+

Team : Cédric Rabinand, Valentin Palardy et Jacques olivier Marie.
Date : 06/03/2023
Name : Cascade de l’EMHM (École militaire de haute montagne)
Grade : WI4+
Length : 70m
Description : you saw the icefall from the road just a the left of “exciting trousers” in Hraundrangi sector. The icefall is pretty big and large and climbable with 2 pitch. First one of 30 as 40m with a belay on the right. Second one of 15-25m with a belay on the edge of the icefall (better ice) or with a third pitch by joining the rock (Need to build it).
Abseil with one rappel of 60m from the edge.
The icefall can be more difficult if you take steep ice.
Crag Hörgárdalur
Sector Hraundrangi
Type Ice Climbing