Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.02.2008, Side 39

It was already dark when I reached the top of the
mountain for one last ride. The weather was calm.
Only a gentle breeze on my face. Alone, with white
slopes in every direction, I turned off the i-pod,
my companion for the day, and took pleasure in
the quietness. It had been a fantastic day of riding
down the slopes of Mt. Hlíðarfjall and now it was
time to rest. Although it was minus nine degrees,
I was not cold. The starlit sky and the incredible
panoramic view over the Eyjafjörður fjord and
the town of Akureyri, which looked to be only
metres away, generated a warm and peaceful feel-
ing of satisfaction. I couldn’t help but lie there in
the snow for a little while longer. If not for a noisy
group of skiers ruining my alone-time, I easily
could have fallen asleep right there on the spot.
But the ski area was closing, so off I went again.
One last ride.
Snowboarding Fun!
Akureyri, Iceland’s second largest city, is a friend-
ly community nestling at the base of Eyjafjörður
fjord in the north of Iceland. To call Akureyri
a city is a stretch as it’s home to approximately
17,000 people, but Akureyrians are proud of their
hometown and sport a metropolitan attitude. The
town has all the amenities you’ll find in Reykjavík:
movie theatres and fashion shops, museums and
art galleries, first-class restaurants, nice cafés and
some lively bars.
Akureyri’s greatest gem has nothing to do
with hip clothing or beverages though. The town’s
pride and joy is the adventurous playground that
draws snow-sports enthusiasts from all across
the country each winter. For decades, adrenalin-
thirsty Reykjavíkians have envied their friends
up north for the winter paradise situated right at
their doorstep. Akureyri’s ski resort, the Hlíðarfjall
mountain, is one of the top areas on the island and
usually provides a longer season and much more
snow than Reykjavík’s home grounds Bláfjöll and
Skálafell.
The Hlíðarfjall ski area has been open for
more than 45 years. It’s less than a 10-minute drive
from the town’s centre up to the slopes, so the
tradition to go skiing and snowboarding is rich
among townspeople. The pisted slopes cater to all
levels, from beginners to advanced. Children who
have just learnt how to walk have skis attached to
their feet and families in super-jeeps rush to the
mountain when the clock strikes five. Thanks to
the snow blowers that the ‘Friends of Hlíðarfjall’
recently invested in, the slopes are now covered
in even more white beauty than usual, which
makes a trip to Akureyri the ultimate Icelandic
winter-sports journey.
This winter is no exception, so on a clear
day in January The Grapevine decided to flee the
capital and fly straight to Akureyri. The 50-minute
flight provided a stunning view over the snow-cov-
ered mountains on both sides of the Glerárdalur
valley (which seemed a little too close to the
plane’s wings at times) and the untouched white
landscape below filled us with enthusiasm.
It was a little past three in the afternoon
when we reached the mountain and the area was
almost empty. The weather was a dream for out-
door activities, with not a cloud in the sky. The guy
working in the cafeteria told us that Hlíðarfjall had
been open almost daily since December 6 (those
lucky bastards). He then charged me 1,300 ISK for
the four-hour lift pass. Snowboarding in Iceland,
like most other fun things to do in this country,
isn’t cheap, but some things in life are worth the
extra spending, right?
I hadn’t been to Hlíðarfjall for years and
have to say that the mountain was much bigger
in my memory. For riders used to top ski resorts
across the globe, Iceland’s pisted slopes could
seem a bit dull at first glance and the Hlíðarfjall
area is very basic. There are a couple of tow-lifts
and one new chair-lift that climbs up a 1000 metre
hill, so if you’re looking for vertical drops or large
terrain parks, go somewhere else. The lifts will
not lead you to steep hills and the runs are short.
I actually timed it. It took 6 minutes 23 seconds to
reach the top and 1 minute 18 to ride down.
This doesn’t mean that skiing and boarding
in Iceland can’t be good fun. In Hlíðarfjall, there
are plenty of fun canyons offering some nice cas-
cades and when special snowboarding sessions
take place, a snow park with rails, big-jumps and
half-pipes adds to the pleasure. If you put in some
extra hiking-effort, the surrounding area also of-
fers plenty of cliffs and fun off-piste action where
you will find fresh pow.
When experiencing Iceland’s ski areas,
what you can expect instead of huge slopes is the
fact that they are almost never overcrowded and if
you show up early, you can almost have the whole
mountain to yourself, which is a huge rush and a
unique experience. When the sun sets, the illumi-
nated mountains offer perfect night-skiing, some-
thing not common in most places. Add to this
the fact that you will have the chance to ride un-
touched slopes numerous times and feel the new
snow break underneath your feet. If that doesn’t
get your blood pumping, I don’t know what will.
Damn Destructive Weather
Sharing the hills with a group of teenage boarders
and a couple of skiers, I cruised down with my
i-pod in my ears. Caught up in my own thoughts,
it was already dark when the lifts closed. After a
few attempts to hitchhike back to town, a girl was
finally nice enough to give me a ride in her jeep.
The course was set to the Akureyri swimming
pool which, hot-tub wise, is among the country’s
best pools. It was freezing outside and the hot
steam from the tubs created a cosy fog. Incredibly
relaxing. When my finger tips started to look like
ten tiny raisins it was time to leave.
For me, few things in life are greater than
snowboarding, soaking in hot water and relaxing
with a cold beer in my hand afterwards. Since the
first two missions were accomplished, there was
nothing left but to head straight to the bar. It was a
Monday evening so nothing much was happening
in town. Among the few souls inside Café Amor,
we enjoyed our drafts and watched the traffic out-
side. The same cars passed our window over and
over and we realised this was the famous Akureyri
“rúntur”, which basically means driving in circles
and waving to passing cruisers. I could only think:
what a weird way to pass the time. We took one
last round at Café Karólína, a venue frequented by
beer-thirsty students, before heading back to our
guesthouse.
We had hoped to make a second trip to the
mountains the next day but unfortunately, as is
more of a rule than an exception in Iceland, the
weather was the total opposite of the weather
the previous day. Due to a powerful windstorm,
all flights back to Reykjavík were cancelled, the
slopes were closed and the only thing to do was
to find some indoor activities.
Among other things, we checked out an
exhibition at the Akureyri Art Museum where the
spirit of Buddha had settled inside the museum’s
premises. After viewing various art pieces we
paused in front of a pillow on the floor, which, as
the sign read, was a spot for Zen meditation. To-
gether with the soothing sounds in the room, the
atmosphere was calming, almost dozy, something
that was totally shattered after we witnessed the
Germans defeat the Icelandic national handball
team in the European Cup shortly afterwards. I
should have kept the pillow to cry in.
We had just recovered from the incredible
handball humiliation when a text message in-
formed us that the airline had started flying again
so it was time to head to the airport. Our packed
plane flew over the same gloomy mountains as
the day before, which was not a very cosy feel-
ing this time, considering that huge trucks had
overturned and ships had flooded in the violent
storm only hours before. But the plane landed in
one piece, we lived to tell the story and will return
defiantly at the first chance offered.
Text by Steinunn Jakobsdóttir
Iceland’s Winter-Sports Capital
We had hoped to make a
second trip to the moun-
tains the next day but un-
fortunately, as is more of a
rule than an exception in
Iceland, the weather was
the total opposite of the
weather the previous day.
There is a reason they call Akureyri the winter
paradise. Photo by GAS
Article | Reykjavík Grapevine | Issue 02 2008 | 19
TRIP PROVIDED BY:
ACCOMMODATION PROVIDED BY:
Gula Villan Guesthouse
Þingvallastræti 14, Akureyri
Tel: 8968464, www.gulavillan.is
www.airiceland.is