Iceland in Pictures

Now I’ve actually never posted my name on this blog, but I can tell you that this little farm in Iceland and I share the same name and hence is a great favorite. Also, the mountain up above has some crazy cliffs. Most of these cliffs are only held together by, well nothing. The farm is actually in constant danger of rock slides, hence its name (which I’m not telling).

A couple of years ago the family woke up to a great rumble sound which ended with a big bang. They ran out to see that the barn had been hit by a giant boulder. The boulder was about the same size as the barn. Luckily the cows were out and nobody was in the building at the time.

I also remember once driving past the farm and to a nearby farm. Once I got there they asked me how I’d made it. They said that the road I’d come along was closed because of a giant rock slide. Apparently I had just made it through before it blocked the road. Driving back later that day it was kind of eerie to see the enormous boulders and mountain of mud being bulldozed of the road I’d driven soon before. There still is a large rock sitting out in the middle of a field from that day. I generally point it out to people I travel with. That rock had come down the mountain at such great speeds that the elevated highway functioned as a ramp, making the rock airborne. You can see how the giant boulder had punched through a wall of turf and dug itself into the ground like a meteorite, yet it had left a fence unscathed while airborne.

The pillar you can see in the photo (look like bunny ears from this angle) is named Ingimundur (a male name). This pillar is what remains of a lava channel in an ancient volcano and is the only piece of rock that won’t crumble when you touch it. Therefor it is actually regularly climbed by the small Icelandic climbing community. Climbing the pillar itself is not that difficult, but getting up to it is the really hard part (and dangerous). You must scramble up the moss, mud and lower crumbling cliffs, while dodging rockfall.

Oh and the farm is not only troubled by rockfall, right behind that mountain, only a couple of kilometers from the farm, lies the famous Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

Photo by Christopher Lund • Instagram.

(via photosphotosphotos)

The peak up there in the clouds is Hraundrangi. It is one of the most interesting peaks to climb in Iceland.

(Source: )

Lómagnúpur. A few have tried to climb these cliffs but none have succeeded. The cliffs are over 600 meters high and there is not a solid hold on the entire face.

If you just want the amazing view you can walk the long way around. Legend says that the old brothers at Núpsstaðir frightened their mother when they were kids by sitting at the edge of the cliff with their feet dangling. Their farm is at the base of the cliff, just slightly to the left of this picture.

(Source: Flickr / glops, via myniceland)

Þumall in Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland. Þumall means thumb.

This is one of the greatest Icelandic rock climbs. It’s not very difficult to climb but it is rotten rock and it’s a 10 hour hike to get there. You can see some climbers in the middle of the cliff if you look closely.

Photo by Matti.

I’m happy to see that I’ve gone well past 300 followers in the week I’ve been offline. I’ve been busy ice climbing, not in Iceland this time, but Norway. However I’ll post this picture of an ice climber in Iceland. Iceland is one of the few places in the world where you can climb frozen waterfalls right by the ocean.

A picture I took of a friend of mine climbing an alpine route in Iceland. There are endless possibilities for alpine climbing in Iceland. You can see more pictures of the climb here.

Here’s a picture of my own from work with Icelandic Mountain Guides. We are here on a guide training session in South East Iceland. More pictures can be seen in the flickr gallery.