Route 5

Fifth route in the left cliffs of Gleiðarhjalli. First ascent not known.

Grade WI3

Route 4

Fourth route in the left cliffs of Gleiðarhjalli. First ascent not known.

Grade WI3

Route 3

Third route in the left cliffs of Gleiðarhjalli. First ascent not known.

Grade WI3

Route 1

First route in the left cliffs of Gleiðarhjalli. First ascent not known.

Grade WI3

Route 1

First route in the left cliffs of Gleiðarhjalli. First ascent not known.

Grade WI3

Blue line

Hnjúkaþeyr was first climbed 13th of October 2020. The idea was to follow the most direct line on the face as possible.

The approach was done on skis from Hnappavallaleið and took around five hours. Similar to the Italian Job the climbers traversed onto the face to avoid dropping too much height and safe some time. If the approach is done from Svínafellsjökull it’s well possible to follow Beina Brautin onto the face.

The climbers simul-climbed the lower section of the face and climbed one third grade pitch on a running belay leading them to the junction of Beina Brautin and Vinamissir. A waterfall around 100 meter long had formed there leading all the way to the top in two pitches.

Hnjúkaþeyr is the Icelandic word for Föhn winds which are particularly common in the area. Continue reading →

Route 5 í Skálin

Short and easy climb to the lookers of Pilar Pillar. From there climb a snow slope up to few short steps of ice to the top. It’s best to get down a gully to the lookers right of the route.

WI3, 160 m

FA. Bjartur Týr Ólafsson and Matteo Meucci, 16th April 2020

Route 4 in Skálin

Steep pillar to the right of the main gully in Skálin sector in Eilífsdalur. Main pillar is around 30 meters long. From there climb one pitch of snow and finish with short steps of ice to the top.

WI5, 160 m

FA. Matteo Meucci and Bjartur Týr Ólafsson, 16th April 2020

Leið B10a

Starts with a steep and thin ice for about 15 m. At the end there are few tricky moves to get past a little cave below an umbrella on very thin ice. Easy snow slope leads to ice again at the top.

WI4+/5-

FF. Matteo Meucci og Bjartur Týr Ólafsson, 25. mars 2020

Route B10b

Located in a narrow crack to the right of Gjörgæsla. Very little ice low down but got better higher up. WI4

FF. Bjartur Týr Ólafsson og Matteo Meucci, 25. mars 2020

Route B6a

Single route to the right of Scottish Leader. Fun route that starts off steep with few delicate moves to get past some umbrellas at the top. After that there is an easy snow slope up a short ice section.

WI4/+

FF. Bjartur Týr Ólafsson og Matteo Meucci, 25. mars 2020.

Route B9a

Left of Járntjaldið but in the same area. Steepest in the beginning, easier higher up. WI3+

FA. Matteo Meucci og Bjartur Týr Ólafsson, 25. mars 2020

Skarðatindar East Face

The route was climbed on a second attempt in March 2020 by Bjartur Týr Ólafsson and Rory Harrison

Approach 

From the parking lot at Harfafell the approach up Skaftafellsjökull took between 2-3 hours on skis. From the glacier and to the face there is about 300-400 meter long slope before actual climbing starts.

Route

The route starts with a 170 meter long ice fall climbed in three pitches.  First pitch starts off steep but eases further up and heads up to the main ice line in a couloir. Next pitch gets progressively steeper all the way to the belay off to the right after 60 meters of climbing. The last pitch of the ice fall is the steepest or around AI4+ for 50 meters.

Next the route goes up the first snow field of the face for about 200 meters protected on running belays. After the snow field a brake is made by iced up cliffs.

Next pitch climbs up 40 meters of rimed up cliffs with decent protections. After the belay the next pitch traverses a thin snowy ledge with bad screws. This pitch is impossible to grade but  should be climbed with caution. On the first attempt we climbed another pitch of rimed rock instead of the ledge traverse. We found out later on that both variations would have worked and gotten us onto the second snow field.

Again we went for running belays and looked for weaknesses in the steep cliffs above. We found a route after about 120 meters with what looked like enough ice to climb into a couloir between two big rock towers.

The sixth pitch goes up more rimed rock and is probably the last one any decent gear. Seventh pitch is the first one that simply gets a mixed grade because of its lack of protection. It climbs up a short cliff onto a ramp and then around a corner into the final couloir. Last pitch is short but steep. Climbs up the couloir to the base of short but near-overhanging cliff with windblown rime. From the top we protected with a snow picket.

Route down

Head north to a big snow gully that takes you down to the base of Skaftafellsjökull. Walk by the side of the glacier until you find your skis. Enjoy the run down. Round trip 18.5 hours.

Pitches

• Pitch 1. AI4, 60 m
• Pitch 2. AI4, 60 m
• Pitch 3. AI4+, 50 m
• 200 meter first snow field
• Pitch 4. AI3+/4, 40 m
• Pitch 5. Stór hliðrun, 50 m
• 120 second snow field
• Pitch 6. AI4, 40 m
• Pitch 7. M4, 40 m
• Pitch 8. M5, 20 m

End of the Line, TD+, AI4+, M5. First Ascent; Bjartur Týr Ólafsson og Rory Harrison, 9. mars 2020

Route B8a

Steep pillar above Drjúpandi. Between Sótanautur on the left and Guy to the right.

After the pillar the climb goes through few ice-umbrellas.

FF. Bjartur Týr Ólafsson & Pete Hodge, March 2020, WI5

Leið númer 2

Í klettahömrum Vatnshlíðar í Seljalandsdal í Álftafirði er fjöldinn allur af leiðum til klifurs.

Leiðirnar Cast Away og Wilson voru klifraðar á ísklifurfestivali Ísalp febrúar 2020 og eru að finna í hömrunum innst í dalnum.

Áætlunin var að klifra í hömrunum utar eða þar sem Stigið og Hryggspenna eru en það fór ekki betur en svo að klifurfélaginn lenti í vandræðum með að komast yfir ánna. Með blauta fætur skakklappaðist undirritaður yfir ánna og endaði sem strandaglópur, félagalaus og skrúfulaus.

Þegar komið var að Wilson var Heiða komin yfir ánna veitti líflínu í stað einmannaleikans.

FF. Bjartur Týr Ólafsson & Heiða Aðalbjargar, febrúar 2020

Leið númer 1

Í klettahömrum Vatnshlíðar í Seljalandsdal í Álftafirði er fjöldinn allur af leiðum til klifurs.

Leiðirnar Cast Away og Wilson voru klifraðar á ísklifurfestivali Ísalp febrúar 2020 og eru að finna í hömrunum innst í dalnum.

Áætlunin var að klifra í hömrunum utar eða þar sem Stigið og Hryggspenna en það fór ekki betur en svo að klifurfélaginn lenti í vandræðum með að komast yfir ánna. Með blauta fætur skakklappaðist undirritaður yfir ánna og endaði sem strandaglópur, félagalaus og skrúfulaus.

Það var ekki margt annað í stöðunni en að finna einfara auðveldan ís þar sem hamrarnir voru hvað lægstir.

FF. Bjartur Týr Ólafsson, febrúar 2020

Fyrir ofan bæinn Svarthamar í Álftafirði má finna klettabelti skammt frá veginum.

Klettabeltið er aðeins skráð sem ein leið hér en hefur fjöldan allan af afbrigðum frá WI2-WI4. Klettarnir eru um 15 metra háir þar sem þeir standa hæstir og henta vel fyrir byrjendur í sportinu.

FF. Nemendur Lýðskólans á Flateyri, janúar 2020.

Leið innarlega í Breiðdal. Nálægt Pálsklettum

FF. Ásgeir Guðmundsson og Gísli Matthías Sigmarsson, 3.2.2018.

WI4, 90 metrar.

Þvörusleikir (WI4) var fyrst farin 15. desember 2017 af Bjarti Tý Ólafssyni.

Leiðin er stutt en brött. Eftir því sem ofar dregur þynnist ísinn. Þegar ísinn klárast kemst maður inn á syllu með litlum helli. Til að klára upp þarf að brölta eftir syllunni út til vinstri.

Cancel Boogy (WI4) var klifruð af Matteo Meucci og Kamil Kluczynski í 17. janúar 2015.

Leiðin er í fjallinu Jökulhaus á hægri hönd þeirra sem fylgja göngustígnum upp á Sólheimajökul.