Going Up

I went hiking up Snæfellsjökul, a glacier on the west of Iceland, last Saturday with Gummi – the new member of the team. It was a mini practice round as we were hiking on a glacier, going through crevasses and spending the day on ice. We went up the north part of the glacier, which isn’t hiked that often as it a little bit more dangerous than the typical southeast side and we went on top of all three peaks of the glacier. The hike took 7 hours and it was a great day.

Everything went well except the fact that I fell on the top and injured my ankle… But it looks like it will be ok before we start our yourney - hopefully. (In Icelandic people say “fall er fararheill” which can be translated roughly that if you fall in the beginning it means good luck… hopefully that is the case for me.)

Here are two (great) pictures from the hike but you can see a lot more by looking at a page that Gummi and his friends are managing, about their mountain adventures. I recommend you check them out as the pictures from our hike was truly amazing.

Finally.

For six years I couldn‘t go for long hikes do to my illness and therefore I couldn‘t hike on top of the highest mountain in Iceland, Hvannadalshnúkur – 2.110 meters (6.952 feet) high.

On the day I had my operation, in 2008, I promised myself that I would hike on top of Hvannadalshnúk the year after. Finally, a year to late (due to a possible swine influensa last year), I stood on top of the highest mountain of Iceland after a nine hour hike (15 hours up and down).

There was no view. We couldn‘t see anything due to clouds. And we actually couldn‘t see anything for most of the hike…

But I really didn‘t care. I was finally on top of a mountain that I had started to believe I would never hike due to my illness. And the best part was – It was easy.

I will treasure this moment, especially because my wife went up there with me… She doesn‘t have the same mountain addiction as I do but, after my operation, she said she wanted to go with me and be  a part of this, a part of my miniature moment of triumph.

I guess I‘m sounding a bit dramatic, especially given the fact that thousands of people have hiked on top of this mountain. Also because I‘ve hiked and climbed more demanding peaks than this one. But given my history and my endless desire to go up on this mountain, this is huge.

I plan on going again, next time maybe try another route and bring my mountain skis with me. And maybe, just maybe there will be better views next time.

The picture below shows me on top of Hvannadalshnúk, in 2110 meter height – My guess is nobody has gotten their feet as high as I did… possibly ever ,-)

Yesterday didn’t go quite as planned. Me, and two of my ‘Matterhorn teammates’ were climbing in Esjan on a known route called Heljareggin (translated Hell’s Edge) which is a 250 meter traditional climb (which means we had to put in our own anchors using nuts and quickdraws). We were climbing there partially to prepare for Matterhorn and partially just to have a great day in the mountains.

Long story short, when we had climbed more than 100 meters one of my teammates fell as a rock/boulder that he was hanging on to got loose, making him and the rock fall down. While falling two anchor placements went with him and he didn’t stop untill after 10 meters, where the main achor, and the belayer, stopped him. It really didn’t look good.

He got a concussion, broke his thumb and hurt his chin… that’s all.. which is incredible based on what we saw happen, and thought was much worse.

The rescue team came on a helicopter and picked him up, in a remarkable way, and took him to a hospital. He was in good condition after examination but stayed the night, just to be safe.

An accident like this sure puts things into perspective, and reminds me that what I’m doing isn’t quite the most secure thing in the world… But at the same time it’s not going to stop me and I will try to go out of this with more understanding and knowledge that make me more secure in surroundings like these. What happens next I don’t know but I know that I am not going to climb that route in the next few days.

Having a big goal like Matterhorn has many benefits, it keeps me focused and ensures I am active – it’s actually great. A couple of months ago I set up a schedule and since then I’ve been quite busy. Following is a brief overview of what I do, or try to do…

• Climbing: I do indoor rockclimbing three times a week, usually for two times each time. Just resently I pumped it up a notch where I take climbing sprints, that is, I climb up to ten easy routes in a sprint and repeat it 2-4 time – this is to build up climbing stamina – it’s also fun ,-).
• Hiking: I’m trying to hike 1-2 times a week, most of the time it means only going up on the “capital mountain” Esja, +700 meter. I hope to do more hiking, and possibly running up mountains, as it is what I will be doing most of the time in Switzerland/Italy.
• Running: I try to run two times a week where i run around 4-6 kilometers. I might start doing something called interval training soon, to make my exercises more effective.
• Cycling: I cycle each day to work, where I also cycle with my little daughter to playschool. I’ts only 7 km but it counts.
• Rope Yoga: For the past two months I’ve been doing Rope Yoga in the morning, before work, twice a week. It has really helped me gain core strength, improve flexibility and help my mind get centered. I hope to continue doing these amazing exercises.

I will be posting news about my preparation, including news from climbs, hikes and whatever that is newsworthy, these posts will be categorized as “Preparation“.