Hvannadalshnukur (2110 m)

Hvannadalshnúkur (2110m), the highest mountain in Iceland.

For this hike we leave the car at Sandfell car park, a small parking area off the ring road where we will start our adventure.
The hike can be divided into four well distinctive parts:

1- The first part takes us from the car park up to the beginning of the glacier at about 1100m of elevation. It's about 5km long on rocky terrain and here we'll be following, for a big part of it, a well-marked path.
(Distance 5Km - Elevation gain 1000m)

2- The second part will take us up to the caldera rim of the Öræfajökull volcano at about 1800m of elevation. In this part we will be walking inside the glacier, crossing over crevasse after crevasse. The number of crevasses and the difficulty of them will highly depend on the time of the year. We need to be roped up and get our crampons and ice axe out of the backpack from this point onwards.
(Distance 4km - elevation gain 700m)

3- The third part is mainly flat and will end at the base of the summit. It's about 2.5 Km and the snow conditions will greatly affect how long it takes us.
(Distance 2.5Km - Elevation gain 0m)

4- The last part takes us to the summit. It's the shortest of the four parts with only about 1 Km distance but it's the most technical one. The conditions of the snow/ice will greatly affect the difficulty. Here we will be crossing a few more crevasses.
(Distance 1 Km - Elevation gain 200 m)

Although this mountain is not that high it is very difficult due to the amount of the crevasses on the glacier. For this reason I recommend this hike only for very experienced people. If you are not, like me, I highly recommend you to hire a local mountain guide. Not only do they have the technical skills but also they have knowledge about this particular glacier.
I hired a guide through the company Glacier Adventure. Our guide, Reynir, was very good and we manage to reach the summit thanks to his great ability to always find a way to cross each crevasse.

Last but not least mention that the weather conditions can get quite tough so you better have enough warm clothes with you, including gloves. Sunglasses and sunscreen are also a must.

Overall it was a great effort and a fantastic experience.



Full description and more pictures at Back from Summit: Hvannadalshnúkur