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

Hægra þilið af augljósu þiljunum tveim fyrir botni Garðshvilftar, leið 1.5.

Tvær spannir af skemmtilegu, jöfnu klifri í góðum ís. Nokkuð í fangið í fyrri hluta, slær af halla í seinni hluta og getur verið auðvelt að komast upp fyrir hengju yfir vinstri hluta þilsins. Annars er lítið mál að setja upp þræðingu undir hengjunni og síga niður í tveim sigum.

WI 4+, 80 m

Febrúar 2020,  Magnús Ólafur Magnússon & Sigurður Ý. Richter

WI 3 10m Laugarvatnfjall.  Stóra gilið beint fyrir ofan menntaskólann.

Ff. Smári Stefánsson og Magnús Bjarki Snæbjörnsson.

WI 2. Laugarvatnsfjall. Suðurland

180m í hækkun. Hlaupandi tryggingar.

Ff Smári Stefánsson og Magnús Bjarki Snæbjörnsson 6.12.20

One of the first line in the canyon. (Blue in photo)

Nothing for build an anchor on top, we wrapped cordelette around a clump of ground.

Suggested approach is following the river bed.

FF Andrea Fiocca, Marco Porta and Matteo Meucci 30/11/2020  35m  WI2

Short but steep pillar in a bowl . (Red in the picture)

From the farm of Hækingsdalur keep the left (going up stream ) of the canyon and cross the 2 main river then lower to the main river and raise to the bowl.

Is it possible to walk along the main river but need to be frozen

FF Matteo Meucci 30/11/2020  WI4+ 30m

Route number 3

West side of Rauðsgil, above Laxsfoss.

25 m, WI 3.

FA. Ragnar Heiðar Þrastarson, Þórdís Árnadóttir & Bergur Einarsson 22.11.2020

Route number 2

East side of Rauðsgil about 1 km above the farm Rauðsgil, in a cirque below Laxfoss.

~40m 3. gráða.

The route is named after the dog at the farm Rauðsgil, he followed us up the canyon when the route was first climbed. We thought he would go back to the farm when we rappelled into the  canyon but he waited patiently until we  came back up.

FA. Bergur Einarsson, Matteo Meucci, Guðmundur Ísak Markússon & Andri Rafn Helgason 07.12.2013

Route number 1

East side of Rauðsgil about 1 km above the farm Rauðsgil, in a cirque below Laxfoss.

~40 m, WI 3.

FA. Matteo Meucci, Bergur Einarsson, Andri Rafn Helgason & Guðmundur Ísak Markússon 07.12.2013

Route number 13

The route is exactly in the corner between the 2 sides of the crag. Goes through an overhanging section at the beginning and then a more technical one on the second part. Late in the season the second part can get easier if there is ice.

Fully bolted, has an independent anchor that can be reached with a short rappel from the main one on top of the crag. Better to extend the last 2 bolts with some long sling 90-120 to protect a boulder problem and a tricky slab.

FF: Matteo Meucci 25/11/2020

Leið númer 2a.

WI 2/3 10-15m Þræðið bröttustu kaflana í tveim stuttum höftum til að finna lífsmark.

FF: Örn Árnason og Björn Gabríel Björnsson, 22. nóv 2020

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 →

AD+, AI3, 60-75°, 160m

Leiðin liggur upp neðsta hluta vestur veggs Rótarfjallshnjúks, við hliðina á suðurhryggnum.

Aðkoma: Hnappaleið liggur beint við. Hægt er að keyra upp í 8-900m hæð upp jeppaslóða sem byrjar rétt austan við Foss Hótel Hnappavelli. Þaðan er gengið upp vestan við Stigárjökul upp í um 1200m hæð þar sem komið er á jökul. Jökullinn er heldur sprunginn og geta erfiðleikar í aðkomu farið eftir árstíma og snjóalögum. Sandfellsleið væri einnig möguleiki, efri hluti Kotárjökuls er þó mjög sprunginn svo líklega þyrfti að fikra sig austur eftir öskjubrúninni niður með Rótarfjallshnjúk austan megin.

Leiðin byrjar rétt innan við syðsta horn Rótarfellshnjúks og var klifin í þremur spönnum. Fyrsta spönn er um 75m af 60° snjóbrekkum sem þræða milli kletta í ís. Önnur spönn var 55m. Heldur brattari snjór og upp stutta rennu snís rennu milli kletta, endar á stuttri hliðrun til vinstri. Þriðja spönn byrjar á þriðju gráðu snís klifri í um 20m en léttist seinustu 10m upp á brún.

Það var ekki mikill tryggjanlegur ís, en við notuðum ísskrúfur, spectrur, fleyga og hnetur og snjóhæla. Continue reading →

Route number 4

The route climbs the obvious Z or lightning bolt cracks to the right of ‘Originalin’ (3), well-protected.

Begin tentatively up the wall to the base of the crack (multiple starts possible). Good hand jamming moves (protected with gold #3 cams) leads to a short, thin diagonal crack. Move slightly left to the wide fist/off-fist crack (#3, blue cam), here use good side-pulls to the right leading to a good rest at the big flake. Take a deep breath and fire leftwards along the jug rail using pure brute strength or heel-hooks to climb onto the small ledge above. Alternatively, go straight up the off-width crack (4b, protected by #4 (DMM #5), grey cam or larger – not yet climbed). Possible to belay at this ledge or finish up the corner above to belay as for ‘Originalin’ and ‘Mundi’.

Grade: 5.10a (?)

FF: 5/Sept/2020, Robert Askew and Brook Woodman

The route Googooplex (WI4, AD+, 340m) was climbed during ÍSALP´s annual ice climbing festival in February 2020, that took place in the Ísafjörður area, Westfjords of Iceland, just before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

To reach the route you go to Hnífsdalur village. From there there is a gravel road that leads well into the valley. If that´s clear the approach is quite a lot shorter. If it´s impassable, the best option is to park at the end of Bakkavegur street, the one that reaches furthers into the valley. The route is in the first corrie on the left, called Bakkahvilft. It´s just over 2km from the end of Bakkavegur street to the base of the route.

In total the route is around 340m and was climbed in 5 long pitches. It´s a mix of ice walls and snow slopes of various steepness.

1. 70m. Short section of ice, snow slope, main section of ice (steep WI4), snow slope and then a short section of ice in the end.
2. 70m. Short section of ice, a long snow slope and then short section of ice again.
3. 60. Snow slope, sort section of ice, snow slope again up to a very short section of ice. Stance made in ice that could be found under a bunch of snow.
4. 70m. Long snow slope.
5. 70m. Long snow slope to the top.

FA: Björgvin Hilmarsson og Bjartur Týr Ólafsson, 8th of February 2020.

The name of the route comes from an album by the legendary Icelandic punk band Purrkur Pillnikk. Three of four members later were members of The Sugarcubes along with Björk and others. This area/sector has another shorter route that is simply called Purrkur. More can definitely be done and I kindly ask others who will (hopefully) set up more routes there, to stick with the Purrkur Pillnikk name theme. Thank you.