Hiking up a mountain and riding it down, Iceland
After spending a night under the Northern Lights, I decided to make the most of this trip and stop by a mountain I had scouted during a previous trip, which seemed to be full of white powder. So I parked the car on the side of the track, put on my snowshoes, and, with my snowboard on my back, I headed up for the top.
Peace
As the sun shone through the clouds and lit the snow, nothing but peace and harmony could be felt
Jeep
Shamelessly inspired by a really good photography book I read about Iceland, I love how the snow sticks at the back of the car
White powder
How can you not want to go there and ride it down?
Wind
Not easy as it looked, the wind grew stronger and stronger as I climbed up
Sun
But the sun was there too and, back to the wind, made every little break more appreciable
Strong
I don't think I have ever been in places where the wind can be as strong as it is in Iceland. It does makes for really pretty snow shapes though
Snow shapes
Such as these
Powder
An hour later, I'm getting closer, but there is still a long way to the top. The view is great though, so I'm enjoying the ascension
Traces
Looking back where I came from, the wind blows so much snow that my traces will be covered in no time
Snowboard
Actually only seconds later the snowboard is already almost covered, it would not take long to loose it in the snow
Snowshoes
Perfect for this trip, I can fit my snowboard boots in those snowshoes and they kept a really good grip on the icy parts
Top of the hill
2h30m later I'm at the top, taking a last break before swapping the snowshoes for the snowboard and riding down
In the background, on the ride side, the lake Þingvellir where I spent the previous night can be seen
Mini GPS
Very useful little GPS. I marked the location of the car when I left, and should a snow storm or thick fog come, I can get back to the car with zero visibility