The White Falcon - 19.06.1981, Qupperneq 5

^^cier called "nunataks." These
become covered with frost and
ice many feet thick during winter
storms. The ice is coated on the
rocks in a billowing, soft fashion
which unfortunately gives way easily
to boot pressure and is not fit for
good climbing. The ice melts during
the summer.
Our climb began on the southeast
side of the mountain near a town
called Arnarstapi. We flew into the
small dirt field on the south side
of the mountain called Dagverdi.
Later in the summer as the snow
melts there is a four-wheel drive
road which opens up from Arnarstapi
across the peninsula to Olafsvik.
At the highest elevation of this
road a traveler would be within a
quarter mile of the glacier. On our
trip we hiked up and camped on a
snow plain and spent the night at
the base of the glacier. When we
woke the following morning about 5
a.m., all the previously soft snow
June 19, 1981 White Falcon 5
had frozen solid. The sun was
rising salmon pink on one side of
us and a full moon was just drop-
ping down between the two ice-
covered peaks at the very top of
Snaefell. We began our climb from
that point with our crampons barely
penetrating the now-frozen snow and
ice where the day before we had been
slogging it out in knee-deep snow.
"The climb out from base camp
was quick and we reached the summit
in approximately four hours. We had
bright sunshine all that day, re-
flecting off the ice. A solid
cloud layer below us at about 1000
feet looked like the ocean and
created another "shore line" which
made islands out of the lower moun-
tains. At the base of the summit
rocks we stopped to eat snacks and
take pictures and then climbed to
the top of the summit. We explored
the edge of the crater and jokingly
wondered about the Icelandic pheno-
menon called "glacier burst" where
a volcano erupts beneath a glacier.
Our descent back to base camp on
the ice was very rapid. We were
able to make one long continuous
sliding glissade and lost over
1000 feet in altitude. The flight
back to Keflavik from Snaefells was
on the clear Saturday before Easter
and we could still see the icy cap
of Snaefell from the base after we
landed, an exceptionally nice week-
end for weather.
Although an easy climb, Mount
Snaefell still requires some ex-
perience with ice climbing techni-
ques. A minimal amount of equip-
ment should include: crampons, an
ice axe, a good climbing rope and
wet weather gear.
It's not necessary to climb to
the summit to enjoy Mount Snaefell.
The peninsula has rugged Icelandic
scenery, waterfalls and grassy
hills. The weather along the
south coast is supposed to be bet-
ter than average. The mountain
is certainly visually impressive.
There are also some old Icelandic
ruins to be explored near the
fishing village at Sandur on the
north side of the mountain.
Anyone considering climbing
Snaefell should be familiar with
climbing in Iceland. Although the
altitude gain is minimal (the summit
of Snaefell is 4744 feet) the high
northern latitude presents weather
extremes which are associated with
mountains at much higher altitudes.
A sudden storm can come up and
make this a difficult climb. Fur-
ther information, and possibly even
a climbing guide, could be found by
calling the Icelandic Alpine Club
in Reykjavik. You can also get in-
formation about the Navy Flying
Club by calling SMSgt. Howard Ben-
ham at 5288 or 4064.
P.S. We didn't find Jules
Verne's opening to the center of
the earth - too bad.
Photos by Peter Bertrand