Reykjavík Grapevine - 29.06.2007, Side 25

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This summer, The Grapevine will send the
famous mountaineer (well, he may not be
famous yet, but he surely will be at the end
of this journey) Fabrizio Frascaroli, a long time
contributor to the magazine, on a dangerous
and desolate journey through the Icelandic
Highlands. His goal is simple – to walk from one
end of the country to the other. The walk is ex-
pected to take around 40 days. The Grapevine
asked Frascaroli to write a little about his trip
and found out that he may already have gone
delusional from the lonesome times ahead, as
he sat down to interview himself.
“Well, of course it’ll be difficult!” Fabrizio
stretches his hand out to the cigarette pack
and appears nervous, as the conversation hits
the subject of the hardships he will face on the
way ahead. Quite curiously, I feel I am getting
quite stressed and in a vein for smoking too.
Comfortably sitting on a sofa at home, wearing
a fleece that has clearly known too many win-
ters, and looking like someone who definitely is
not on his way out, Fabrizio is telling me about
his imminent summer adventure: a forty-day
solo expedition across the Icelandic Highlands,
organised in cooperation with Cintamani and
the Reykjavik Grapevine. Yes, he surely has
some reasons to be stressed and, given the
high degree of confidence between us – after
all, we have known each other for almost thirty
years – he does not bother to hide it.
So, how did this plan come about?
Well, the thought of crossing the whole coun-
try’s interior on foot, from one corner to the
opposite one, has been with me for several
years… I finally seem about to realise it.
Precisely, where will you be walking from?
And where to? And how will the journey
develop?
I’ll start in Ásbyrgi, the hoof-shaped canyon
in the North-East, and end in Þingvellir in the
South-West, just one hour (driving) away from
Reykjavík. The tour will include such locations
as Mývatn, Askja, Sprengisandur, Þjórsárver,
Kerlingarfjöll, Kjölur, and a three-day traverse
of the Langjökull icecap. It should roughly be
a total of 550 km of off-trail walking, which I
expect to cover in thirty-five to forty days circa,
including a few rests in between.
Have the locations on the route been se-
lected according to some particular cri-
teria, or merely following your personal
inclinations?
This is a good question, thanks for asking me
that. I meant to put together an itinerary that
touched at the same time on the remote and
on the well-known, and especially one that
could give a sample of all of the diversity and
variety of Icelandic landscapes – I think I man-
aged. On the way I’ll encounter green valleys,
barren glacial and lava deserts, geothermal
areas and volcanoes, wetlands pullulating with
life, and plenty of glaciers – all the best Iceland
has to offer, except for the sight of the Ocean,
maybe. I think, in this sense, the route to be
highly representative of the whole country.
At a different level, also the starting and
ending points of the trek have some special
significance: Ásbyrgi is place of mythologi-
cal memory, while Þingvellir represents the
breeding ground for Icelandic institutions and
political life. As such, the journey can be seen
as symbolising the progress of mankind from
mythos to logos. Or, in a more personal way,
as a sort of initiating quest bringing me back
from the mists of an outlaw and ghost-infested
wilderness, to the world of the living and of
civilisation. A Freudian reading could also be
possible.
Yes… Just a curiosity regarding your trip
and your symbolic views around it: has
anyone yet stood to question your mental
health?
Some did, and I actually think you were among
them.
Ok, perhaps I was a bit harsh, but I still
am not sure I grasp the point about your
endeavour. I mean, is there anything more
to it than you proving something to your-
self (and to me)?
Interesting remark. And yes, in my intentions
there definitely is more. I am just convinced that
first-hand contact with and thorough knowl-
edge of one’s surroundings is fundamental in
shaping a more motivated and better-informed
ecologic awareness. In this sense, I think that
trying to promote an interest for the outdoors
and their fruition can represent a concrete
contribution to a sound environmental cause.
And for this purpose, it is of course very im-
portant that this enterprise will have a secure
media outlet.
Do you refer to the Reykjavik Grapevine?
Yes, precisely, as an extensive report of the
journey will be published as a series of articles,
starting this August. It is something similar to
what we already did last year with the Lone-
some Traveller series, only on a bigger scale.
Yes, but do not forget that last year you
did only the walking, while I wrote the
articles, and it’s likely going to be the
same now… But why solitude?
Well, being among people is quite a job, and
summer should be a moment for vacations,
shouldn’t it?
Will you bring any pastime?
For the first time, I think I’ll bring a book on a
backpacking tour, but I haven’t decided which
one yet. No music, as that would alter too
radically my approach to the Highlands.
What sort of difficulties do you expect to
encounter on the way?
Well, at a more general level, some of the
areas I’ll cross are among the most forbid-
ding in the country: rough terrain, shortage
of water, and surely no human beings for
many days in a row. More specifically, some
glacial rivers could turn out difficult to wade,
and the traverse of the Langjökull icecap is,
of course, a source of major concern. It is the
weather, however, that worries me the most:
if it becomes unforgiving, things might actually
become really hard. But I should not think of
all of this, if I still want to live!
And how are you preparing for it?
Overall, I’m feeling quite ready, both at the
physical and mental levels. So I am mainly
working on some technical details now: proof-
testing the gear, studying maps and the ge-
ography of the areas I’ll cross, and trying to
gather as much information about them as
possible. Knowing at every moment what to
expect from the territory is what I personally
deem to be most important. Also, I am go-
ing to finally clean-shave, so I won’t have to
carry a razor.
The Lonesome Traveller: Delusional at Last
Text and photo by Fabrizio Frascaroli
“It should roughly be a
total of 550 km of off-trail
walking, which I expect to
cover in thirty-five to for-
ty days circa, including a
few rests in between.“
The people at Arctic Rafting could tell just by
looking at me that I had never been rafting
in my life. I assumed that by showing up in a
hipster windbreaker, a flannel button-up and a
pair of hiking boots I might appear ‘outdoorsy.’
I hadn’t realised that this trip I was taking was
called ‘River Fun’ not ‘River Nightmare.’
After a 2-hour ride into the scenic south-
lands, our van pulled up to a large shack in
the middle of nowhere. Once inside, we were
surprised to find a humungous suiting room
with hundreds of wetsuits, helmets, jackets,
and one-size-fits-all booties. The shack was filled
with other rafters and the atmosphere inside
was alarmingly serious – we were all going to
get wet.
A white bus picked up our group (30 people)
and drove us out to a clearing on a hill just above
the Hvítá (White River). We grabbed our oars
and gathered round Águsta, a compact and
tough Icelander who instructed us on rowing,
turning and, most conveniently, on holding on.
We were then ordered to carry the huge rafts
down a series of steep, grassy slopes.
Once we got into Hvítá, the current carried
us down green canyons and a few spots of
quickly moving water. Águsta, like some golden
blonde Valkyrie, shouted orders and commands
while our flummoxed group awkwardly skidded
into the rapids. I wasn’t exactly holding on for
dear life, but there were definitely times when
the level 2 waves had my adrenaline going.
As we came out of the first set of rapids,
we entered a narrow canyon made of the kind
of rocks you only read about in grade school
geology classes. We nestled the boats into an
enclave and our guides lead us to the top of a
30-foot high cliff. They pointed down to the
milky Hvítá and told us to jump. I was particularly
sceptical when Águsta said that jumpers some-
times feel the shelf of the river with their feet
but, as I saw heavier guys surviving, I leapt.
We eventually entered a wide and calm
section of the river that Águsta called “the play-
ground.” Boats began attacking one another
with rafters splashing like 6 year-olds in a pool.
We even played a balancing game where one
person would stand at the front, another at the
back, and the rest would put the boat into a
spin. The goal? Don’t fall into that cold river.
Arctic Rafting’s ‘River Fun’ kills two birds with
one stone – the drive out to the gorgeous Hvítá
offers some breathtaking southern Icelandic
panoramas, and the river itself is as exciting in
summer as the amateur rafter could hope.
Trip provided by Arctic Rafting.
Tel.: 562-7000, www.arcticrafting.is.
The Playground
Hvítá River
Text by Chandler Fredrick
Photo by Leó Stefánsson
Icelandic Mountain Guides
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