Iceland in April

[HHTELE]

Heading to the Troll Penninsula for 10 days in April. Very psyched. One of the group was there last year. Easily accessible terrain, plenty of options for aspect and pitch.

I have been doing my research- We have an Air BNB west of the Karlsardalur valley. Looks like we might get cool terrain from the house.

Marc Chauvin was kind enough to post routes which I have on a caltopo map

Anybody have any other beta to share?

Marc's video.

[Andyski]

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[Alkares]

I was there last March for 3 weeks til beg of April. Had about 3 good weather days to ski in that 3 week period, the rest of the time there was a fierce gale blowing (50-80 kmh) and everything was wind scoured and icy. Would love to do it again with a good weather window though. Wish you luck!

[Skier of the Hood]

Most everything seems to be visible on google maps. Just go somewhere and observe the next valley and go there the next day. Only thing to keep in mind I suppose is that anything facing the sea regardless of aspect is generally wind scoured.

Mostly ran into guided groups when I was there two years ago and those were few and far between.

Posting from FB so these will disappear in a few days (lazy).

Dranagfjall


Top of Kirkjufjall looking east. Easy ascent with chutes on valley walls or off the north side of the east shoulder


Karlsardalur Valley






Mulakolla toured out the door in Ólafsfjörður but this area is a cat ski op, wasnt operating in March when we were there.


Nice objective out of Ólafsfjörður, Kistufjall I think


Pferjvall I think out of the town of Kleifar (near Ólafsfjörður)


Fjardara area (tunnel)


My friends


Hornstrandir is cool too I guess

[HHTELE]

Most everything seems to be visible on google maps. Just go somewhere and observe the next valley and go there the next day. Only thing to keep in mind I suppose is that anything facing the sea regardless of aspect is generally wind scoured.

Mostly ran into guided groups when I was there two years ago and those were few and far between.

Posting from FB so these will disappear in a few days (lazy).

Dranagfjall


Top of Kirkjufjall looking east. Easy ascent with chutes on valley walls or off the north side of the east shoulder


Karlsardalur Valley






Mulakolla toured out the door in Ólafsfjörður but this area is a cat ski op, wasnt operating in March when we were there.


Nice objective out of Ólafsfjörður, Kistufjall I think


Pferjvall I think out of the town of Kleifar (near Ólafsfjörður)


Fjardara area (tunnel)


My friends


Hornstrandir is cool too I guess

Awesome pics- thanks for the stoke. Pretty much the plan is to look for parking, then ski.
What is that little fox looking guy?

[HHTELE]

I was there last March for 3 weeks til beg of April. Had about 3 good weather days to ski in that 3 week period, the rest of the time there was a fierce gale blowing (50-80 kmh) and everything was wind scoured and icy. Would love to do it again with a good weather window though. Wish you luck!

Most of the guided trips wait till April- maybe that's better odds.
Also, I put good weather in on my calendar, so that might help.

[sklar]

I went in early May a few years ago, we did a combo of Westfjords and Troll. Article and video here.

Your best bet is just to drive around, see it, ski it. There's great skiing everywhere.
Don't forget to max out your duty free allowance for booze at the airport.

[0oMtnRidero0]

Went for 10 days in early April in 2016. Rented a van/camper and toured around the Troll and West Fjords. Everything will be so condition dependent and agree with Skiar above...just drive around, see it and ski it. We had amazing conditions. Dry pow (16") with minimal wind on first night that setup the trip nicely. A couple things that come to mind:

1. Be mindful of Easter and get groceries and shit in Reykjavik if you can. I remember lots of stores closed over that 10 day holiday.
2. Cool little ski area with fun side country outside of Akureyri that offers skiing by the hour. Grab an hour lift, ski a few laps then go tour. A good first day/intro to the snowpack.
3. The "Aquatic Center" or whatever the fuck in Dalvik is dope. We were dirt bagging it so the showers and pools were a treat.
4. New snow always seems to have a perfect bed surface. Deep slab avalanches didn't seem to be a concern as much as storm slabs and windloaded slopes. That said, it seemed like the wind blew from every fucking direction loading lots of different slopes.
5. You CalTopo map had lots of the same zones we skied...the skiing is endless. Is you can see it.
6. Cheap SIM cards ($70 for 20GB) at the airport provide you with good cell service throughout the county. I'd strongly recommend this if you're travelling as road conditions during storms are no joke and their transportation webpage has excellent, real-time road conditions/closures. Not to mention excellent SAR.

Have Fun!

[scblurlt]

we went in late may 2019 , based in cabin at olafsfjord , was a low tide snow year but still had the most amazing trip , skiing from the road with very short transfers from the accommodation , exception was the day of hitching a lift on a whale watching boat over to a beach and touring on some amazing remote terrain

[BFD]

[HHTELE]

All great- thanks you guys.

[babybear]

I enjoy this thread. you've given us a good new trip idea too

What is that little fox looking guy?

I would like to know this too.
looks like some stranger things evil raccoon

[406]

Looks like it could be a good trip if you get good weather. I had been thinking about one of the sailboat based trip in Iceland, but could see getting stuck on the boat in bad weather for a week. I'm going to download your gpx files, might be useful someday :-)

Make sure to buy beer and sim cards in the airport at duty free when you land. Prices are like half.

Look forward to seeing your trip report, have fun!

[bjorn240]

The animal in the picture is a blue morph Arctic Fox.

[HHTELE]

Got it.

• Look for good skiing, then ski it.
• Buy duty free.
• Eat hot dogs
• Be on the lookout for the Blue Morph Arctic Fox.

This all sounds manageable.