Iceland review - 2016, Qupperneq 112

110 ICELAND REVIEW
Summit Adventure Guides shows
you sights unseen.
TRUE WILDERNESS
Whether you want to journey to the center of the earth
or scale to Iceland’s highest peaks, Summit Adventure
Guides will take you there. This small team of experi-
enced local guides is passionate about its work and knowledge-
able about its environment: the stunning Snæfellsjökull National
Park.
Brimming over with natural wonders, Snæfellsnes peninsula
is just a short drive from Reykjavík, and yet much of it remains
largely undiscovered by tourists. This offers exciting opportu-
nities for travelers looking for an out-of-the-ordinary Icelandic
experience, and that’s where Summit Adventure Guides comes
in. “There’s been a demand for unique adventures,” says com-
pany co-founder Ægir Þórsson. “We know about places not
mentioned in guidebooks… beautiful, untouched waterfalls
that maybe only a handful of people see every year—that’s true
wilderness.”

FAMILY AFFAIR
Six years ago, Ægir and his father Þór began leading visitors
through Vatnshellir, an 8,000-year-old lava cave near the base
of Snæfellsjökull glacier. Today, they’ve given 80,000 visitors the
chance to experience this unique wonder, and their company
remains the only one in Iceland licensed to lead tours into this
protected cave. It’s one of their most popular tours, but even
so, they remain committed to sustainable tourism and mindfully
limit the number of visitors to ensure the welfare of this fragile
environment.
Þór and Ægir have also developed a variety of half-day and
day tours that celebrate the majesty of Snæfellsjökull. Take, for
instance, the Magical Glacier Hike, their most popular summer-
time glacier tour. With the snow melted from Snæfellsjökull’s sur-
face, guests on this tour get an up-close look into its deep glacial
crevasses and other surprising topographical features, as well as
incredible panoramas of the surrounding landscape.
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SPECIAL PROMOTIONWEST ICELAND
Snæfellsjökull glacier.