Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.07.2007, Blaðsíða 10

18_REYKJAVÍK_GRAPEVINE_ISSUE 10_007_INTERVIEW/TRAVEL
When I first scheduled an interview with Ice-
landic Mountain Guides (IMG), my intention
was simply to direct the spotlight on one of
the most active and innovative operators in the
local travel and outdoor industries. Little did I
expect that the conversation would insistently
turn to dams, power plants, sustainable de-
velopment and industrialisation, which could
easily have resulted in another piece about
environmental issues in Iceland.
And yet, in retrospective, this was perhaps
an inevitable development, since pairing keen
ecologic sensibility with the economic fruition
of the country’s natural resources has been one
of the cornerstones of IMG’s operation since
the beginning. “It is pretty fulfilling when we
can use our interest and concern for the sur-
roundings as a way to promote our activities:
quite surprisingly, a rigorous environmental
policy and marketing go very well together,”
says Hjörleifur Finnsson, one of the founders
and current owners of the company, with a
smile on his weathered face.
To my surprise, the history of IMG is a fairly
long one, dating as far back as the 1990s: “We
began our adventure fourteen years ago” he
tells me as I hide my curiosity (and ignorance)
behind a cup of coffee. “At first, we were
just four guides. We already had ten years of
experience in the field behind us. We thought
that it would be interesting to offer more chal-
lenging activities than what was available on
the market. We introduced new destinations,
and put more focus on pure mountaineering.”
Through the years, this has led to a highly di-
versified range of options, including multi-day
backpacking tours, training courses (both for
guides and ordinary clients), and mountaineer-
ing operations.
“The day-tours and our glacier walks are
the fields where we expect to grow most in
the near future. They are already becom-
ing increasingly popular, not least thanks to
mouth-to-mouth reputation” says Elín Sig-
urðardóttir, General Manager of IMG who is
equally enthusiastic when it comes to talking
of outdoors and guiding. Last April IMG hit
the news for winning the first ever Pioneer
Award, a recognition conferred by Icelandair
on companies particularly deserving for their
accomplishments in the tourism industry.
When I ask for further details on such a
prestigious achievement, Hjörleifur explains
that the praise was assigned precisely in vir-
tue of their efforts to take people onto the
country’s glaciers: “You see, there are already
plenty of operators offering snowmobile tours
on snow-covered glaciers. We have done some-
thing different, and started taking our guests
to walk on glacial tongues, among caves and
crevasses, making them touch and feel the
ice not where it is clad in snow, but blue and
hard – quite a unique experience. In the long
term, our choice for innovation is paying off.
And considering all the glaciers and the end-
less opportunities we have here in Iceland, this
is something that should be done more and
more in the coming times.”
Tourists as an Industry
As a well-established and award-winning en-
terprise, the future might appear bright for a
company like IMG. Iceland is still going through
an unprecedented tourist boom, figures indi-
cate a steady increase. This summer alone, I
am told, IMG expect to offer services to nearly
10.000 people, with around 70 guides located
in various places. And yet, the atmosphere
becomes heavier and tenser as we touch on
the subject of the times ahead. It is Elín who
finally breaks the silence.
“What we are facing now is a generalized
environmental issue, forcing us to daily con-
front ourselves with the world of politics. A
number of new dams and geothermal power
plants are scheduled to be erected within the
next years. One, for example, will be in the
Laki region, in the south of the country: an
area that has historically been vital for us, as
we have employed it for some of our best
tours, as well as for educational purposes.
Now we don’t know what will become of it.
It is quite a serious situation.” Hjörleifur puts
it down even more dramatically: “Yes, these
are life-threatening policies for a company like
ours, not to mention for tourism in Iceland as
a whole, as the country’s image abroad will
come out heavily spoilt because of all this.”
The conversation has suddenly become
passionate and grave – much more so than I
had anticipated, anyways. I cannot help feeling
sympathetic, although some scepticism keeps
bothering me underneath. The thought of see-
ing economic development in Iceland relying
mostly on “green” and environmental-friendly
tourism is clearly appealing. I wonder, however,
whether in the long run the overcrowding of
the island and an excessive commoditisation
of its wildernesses would not equally lead
to some kind of ecological havoc – the very
outcome it was intended to avert.
Hjörleifur promptly stands to counter my
doubts. “It is true that the tourist population
has risen exponentially, up to 300.000 per year,
which is more than the permanent inhabitants
of the country, but we are still extremely far
from saturation. Other resorts, such as the ones
in Nepal or New Zealand, have been grow-
ing much more quickly than us… or take the
mountainous region of Chamonix in France,
which is hosting 700.000 visitors at any time
of the year. What we need to do is actually
to make Iceland a bit larger, to establish more
names. We have so many pearls around us, so
many magnificent areas still undiscovered by
the main tourist flow. We should try to bring
more and more people there, rather than to
keep concentrating them in Landmannalaugar
or the Golden Circle. If we do that, then we
can still have sustainable growth in the tourism
industry for many years to come.
Hjörleifur may well be right, but a political
majority in the country still does not seem to
agree, and remains inclined to rely on har-
nessing projects and forced industrialisation
in order to maintain the high consumption
standards that characterise Icelandic society.
The debate is left open, the future uncertain.
For the meantime, the guiding principle for
the adventure- and outdoor-minded should be
precaution: go out there and enjoy the wild
and unscathed landscapes of Iceland, as long
as they are as such.
For further information, visit www.mountain-
guide.is
Mountain Pioneers
Text by Fabrizio Frascaroli
“We have done something
different, and started ta-
king our guests to walk
on glacial tongues, among
caves and crevasses, ma-
king them touch and
feel the ice not where it
is clad in snow, but blue
and hard – quite a uni-
que experience.”
If the recent reprinting of Alda
Sigmunsdóttir’s Icelandic Folk Le-
gends is anything to go by, Jarvis
Cocker has started something.
Much like the Pulp frontman’s re-
cordings of Icelandic stories on his
‘Jarvspace’ page last year, this short
collection of folk tales is a fascina-
ting introduction to Icelandic myth
for the uninitiated anglophone. Fa-
scinating and confounding in equal
measure.
The most common response to
Jarvis’ readings was disbelief (that
he should be reading Icelandic
stories at all) and then confusion
(at the lack of coherent ‘lesson’ or
‘moral’ in the stories he chose). As
a non-Icelander, reading Icelandic
Folk Legends for the first time – of
trolls kidnapping humans, of pastors
haunting their wives-to-be, of wit-
ches flying to Satanic gatherings, of
sheep-rustling and flying bulls – is
a sometimes mystifying experience
and raises many questions, as much because of form as content. Beyond
the unfamiliarity of humans living inside hills or witches flying on jaw-
bones instead of broomsticks, rare are the happy endings, frequent are
the shifts in focus, and it often feels as though vital story elements are
missing, or unexplained. These are essentially accounts of strange hap-
penings, in specific (usually real) places – fantastical anecdotes, rather
than structured parables or fairytales. And the feel is very much of tales
plucked straight from the oral folkloric tradition that have been passed
on, embellished, revised and developed through many generations.
Icelandic Folk Legends is a vivid portrait of pre-20th century Iceland
– as much in terms of living conditions and landscape as of imagination,
values and belief. Part of its appeal is that the tales spring from the ma-
gical imagination that Iceland’s varied and unforgiving landscape inspires.
Beyond that, however, the questions they raise offer a fascinating window
onto the values espoused by close-knit, rural communities as they struggle
with the natural and supernatural forces that threaten their everyday lives.
Each tale speaks to deep psychological issues – whether it be the lust for
power (in Þorgeir’s Bull), loss and humiliation (The Vanished Bride), betrayal
(Hagridden), the trickeries of the Devil (Satan Takes a Wife), fear of ghosts
(The Deacon of Myrká Church), or the benevolence of the supernatural
(The Outlaw on Kiduvallafjall Mountain) – but at the heart of each of
these adventures lie the human choices that dictate outcomes.
Among the many functions of myth/legend/folk tale is the impulse to
educate: Whether this be factual, ethical or both. Of course, the desire
to entertain is paramount too but if we are to assume that legend finds
its principal audience in children, then story is often the sugar-coating
that surrounds the trickier moral imperative. Stories teach us (children
and adults alike) about choice. From Aesop through La Fontaine to Zen
koans and the Brothers Grimm, we find fantastical tales that suggest
modes of behaviour in response to particular situations/circumstances.
We are called upon, as children and later as adults, to puzzle out their
ethical scope, their meaning, and in so doing to make these stories our
own. The stories collected here offer information – how places came to
be formed or named – as well as a rich trove of human experience in the
face of often astonishing adversity. There is much to be enchanted by
here and there is much to be learned. Perhaps Jarvis’s fans should look a
little closer.
Icelandic Folk Legends
RVK_GV_10_007_REVIEW_19
Text by Tobias Munthe
Icelandic Folk Legends: Tales of Apparitions,
Outlaws and Things Unseen
Translated by Alda Sigmundsdóttir,
(Bjartur – Reykjavik, 2007)
Further information on www.or.is www.or.is
The area surrounding the geothermal power
plant at Nesjavellir is a region of spectacular
nature within easy reach of Reykjavik, acces-
sible to hikers and other nature lovers. A visit to the power plant
itself is also a revealing experience.
Reykjavík Energy has put much effort into making the area
accessible to visitors by providing marked paths, information signs, cabins, and
maps. The visitor centre is open this summar on Mondays through Saturdays from
9:00 to 17:00 and on Sundays from 13:00 to 18:00.
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Nesjavellir:
Experience Nature
at Reykjavik’s
Doorstep
Take part in an adventure at sea with an unforgettable 3-hour
trip into the world of whales and sea birds.
Located in Reykjavik's old harbour, only a 5 minute walk from
the city centre.
A spacious double-deck and a special viewing area on the
third deck ensures a spectacular view into the deep blue sea.
Whales&Puffin Island
www.elding.is
or visitCall us on
555 3565
Elding Whale Watching, Reykjavík harbour
Tel: (+354) 555 3565, Fax: (+354) 554 7420
info@elding.is, www.elding.is
Puffin season
Oct
13:00
9:00
Sept
13:00
9:00
July
13:00
17:00
9:00
June
13:00
17:00
9:00
May
13:00
9:00
Aug
13:00
17:00
9:00
April
13:00
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