A Tour of Elemental Iceland - Hvannadalshnjúkur (Hvannadalshnúkur) - Highpoint Climb - July 2012

Return to alavigne.net home

NOTE: You have javascript disabled in your browser. This presentation will continue to function, but with only basic capabilities. In order to view this presentation will full capabilities, please enable javascript in your browser, then refresh this page.

[< Previous Page]

[page 1] [page 2] [page 3] [page 4] [page 5]

[Next Page >]

A few final, easy steps, and we were on the roof of Iceland. A broad panorama of icefields and clouds stretched out around us. It had been just over nine hours since we started out.

It will come as no surprise to you that the next fifteen minutes or so were filled with smiles, hugs, congratulations, and lots of summit portraits. The weather was pretty much as good as could be expected - sunny, clear, and only mildly breezy. My only wish would have been for a few less clouds below us in the direction of Skaftafell - we should have, theoretically, been able to see our tents down in the campground!

courtesy CDoucet

courtesy Jinnes

Team Two summit arrival

Caro and Roland on Summit

Southern edge of Vatnajökull

courtesy CHatko

Öræfajökull crater

Lavigne on summit

Ewart on Hvannadalshnjúkur

courtesy CHatko

Team one summit photo

Hatko and Lavigne on summit

Brian on Hvannadalshnjúkur

Since this would be the only time we would have a view to the north, I took a few minutes to examine the view in that direction. As far as the eye could see stretched the white of the Vatnajökull Icecap, Europe's largest. Off to my immediate left were the tops of the large valley glaciers we had seen from below at Skaftafell, along with jagged mountains at their margins. A beautiful scene, to be sure.

courtesy BConnell

Wide-angle summit shot

Poking out of the Icefield

Roland on Hvannadalshnjúkur

Chris on Hvannadalshnjúkur

After taking many pictures, and after having a good look at the landscapes leading off towards Vatnajökull, we prepared to head down. Most of the coastal plain below us was hidden beneath a cottony layer of cloud, giving us that always-neat sensation of floating above a white, fluffy sea.

Summit dome

Top of Svinafellsjökull

Beginning descent

The first part of the descent off of the summit to the crater floor below was quite slow. Again, Ewart was being a grade-A student when it came to securely planting his ice axe. He was not coming unstuck from that slope, even if a simultaneous volcanic eruption and magnitude eight earthquake occurred that very instant.

Crossing saggy snowbridge

Hatko gives the A-OK

Slopes of Hvannadalshnjúkur

The Icy depths

Dyrhamar and cloud

Protected bridge

Hvannadalshnjúkur crevasse

Narrow snow bridge

Someone had some fun

After re-crossing the sketchy snowbridges, arriving back at the crater floor, removing our crampons and regaining our hiking poles, we started off on the long trudge across the crater. Everything so far had been a perfect success, and all we needed to do now was trudge the long ten kilometres or so back down to the parking lot.

Back across the crater

Hvannadalshnjúkur

Stopping at the rim

[< Previous Page]

[page 1] [page 2] [page 3] [page 4] [page 5]

[Next Page >]

Send feedback or leave comments (note: comments in message board below are separate from those in above message board)

send feedback |

homemade custom message board

(There are no messages in the homemade custom message board)