Seeing Langjökull by snowmobile…
Possibly the best way to explore a glacier….
Snowmobiling is one of the many activities that are on offer in the winter (in fact, all year round) in Iceland, and although when I first came out here it wasn’t something that instantly appealed to me, the more I heard how wonderful it was from people who had been, the more I began to think it was something we would have to do at some point while we were here. That opportunity came up recently, when a colleague was leaving Iceland and the team decided to try to book a snowmobiling trip for him before he left. Sadly, the Icelandic weather scuppered our plans, as the day that the small group of us were due to go (his last day here in Iceland) ended up being a particularly bad-weather day and the likelihood was of a total whiteout on the glacier, so the trip was cancelled, and we ended up having a rainy-day-friendly trip to Sky Lagoon instead.
However, Iceland being Iceland, the very next day was due to have fabulous weather, although according to the forecast this would be for one day only, with the snow and rain setting in again the day after. We were lucky enough that we were able to rearrange our booking for the good weather day and so although there were only six of us rather than the original seven, we set off for our postponed trip. We didn’t have too far to go as the snowmobiling was on Langjökull Glacier which is not far from Reykjavík, so after meeting up at the tour operator headquarters near Geysir in the Golden Circle, we drove on to the car park beside Gullfoss waterfall where our bus was waiting to take us up to the glacier. When I say bus, this was an Icelandic bus of huge proportions – the wheels were almost as tall as me – capable of crossing pretty much any terrain in pretty much any conditions. The tour operator, AmazingTours.is, called it a monster truck, which seemed a pretty accurate description. After a further trip of about 45 minutes, we arrived at base camp on the glacier itself.
Langjökull (meaning the long glacier) is the second largest glacier in Iceland (and in Europe) although it is only an eighth of the size of Vatnajökull, Iceland’s biggest glacier. Having said that, it is some 935 square kilometres (361 square miles) of stunning whiteness. It’s about 50 kilometres (31 miles) long and up to 20 kilometres (12 miles) wide, and the ice is around 580 metres (1,903 feet) deep at its thickest.
The beautiful Langjökull glacier
Base camp was a sprawling one-storey building on the glacier itself, where we had a comfort break and were fitted for overalls, balaclavas, helmets – and gloves for those who didn’t have them. We then had a lesson on how to drive a snowmobile (remarkably simple) along with safety instructions and warnings about going ‘off-piste’ on our own on the glacier. Once instructions had been given and questions asked we were ready to set off as we each chose one of the snowmobiles that were lined up ready to go.
Almost ready to go
These machines look like big motorbikes on skis, which I suppose is pretty much what they are. Most people had opted to have individual snowmobiles and a few of us, Matthew and myself among them had booked to share one. I have to admit, I chickened out and let him drive with me as pillion behind, my excuse being that I could take video and photos while he was driving… I soon discovered, however, that riding pillion is quite scary – particularly when you are shorter than the driver and cannot see what’s happening; every bump and tilt comes as a surprise and my knuckles were soon white with holding on for dear life! Once I realised Matthew was not actually going to kill me I began to enjoy the ride – and the view…. What a view! White snow as far as the eye could see, pristine and untouched, except for the tracks that had been made by the snowmobiles ahead of us, the mountains in the distance and the deep blue of the sky – just perfect weather to be skimming across Iceland’s second-biggest glacier.
Setting off across the glacier
What an experience it was. Every now and then the group ahead slowed down so that everyone could catch up and any gaps reduced so that the group stayed together, and the whole time we were going, there were outriders from the tour company who flew past us, circled round and headed back to keep an eye on everyone and make sure we were all safe.
Two outriders keeping a close eye on the group
The original plan had been that we would ride out to an ice cave somewhere in the heart of the glacier and have a look round the cave itself, but we had already been warned on the bus ride to base camp that we may not be able to do that bit of the tour. Due to the dreadful weather and heavy rain that we had had for the past few days, there was a high chance the cave would be partially flooded, in which case we would not be able to go in. When we had our briefing, we were told that they had guys who had gone ahead to check out the cave but that it was very unlikely we would be able to go in. And so it proved. When we had all descended the rather hair-raising slope to the place where the cave was situated, and we had parked up in a long double row of snowmobiles we had a break and a chance to take photographs and catch our breath. Although most of the ride had been very smooth and flat, the cave was in an area that was like a huge deep bowl shaped valley in the glacier. I imagine it was probably a caldera that had been formed from volcanic activity at some point.
Stopping near the ice cave for a break
A few people climbed the steep slope to the mouth of the cave and had a look, but that was as near as we got. I have to say I was rather relieved we weren’t going to attempt it as the opening was apparently very small and steep and gave you claustrophobia just to look inside from the mouth of the cave…. To attempt to descend into a narrow steep cave, with glacier meltwater rushing through is probably one adventure too far! To be honest, it was lovely just to take a break and soak in the incredible views. We were also treated to a virtuoso display of snowmobiling by the guides/outriders, who took the opportunity to play. The sight of them tearing up the (almost vertical) slopes that surrounded us, then looping round and hurtling back down was incredible. My heart was in my mouth watching what looked like totally impossible feats that seemed to defy gravity. How they have the nerve to do it I do not know.
A few pictures of the crazy antics of our guides - and one of the same slope before it was looped with snowmobile tracks - the pictures don’t show how steep it really was!!
Each time we had paused on the way there, Matthew had turned and tried to persuade me to change places and take over the driving. Each time I chickened out and let him carry on. I was aware it probably wasn’t going to be quite as scary to be in control of the snowmobile, but didn’t want to try and then end up holding up the entire group behind us. However, after our break, he insisted that I have a turn. I have to say, the first 10 minutes or so were very scary indeed and at one point I think we were quite close to tipping as we went back up the (to me) steep slope back to the level area of the glacier. In fact, despite Matthew assuring me during his pep talk that it was practically impossible to roll the snowmobiles, there were several people who did do just that and had to be rescued by the outriders, each time necessitating two or three people working together to get them upright again. Luckily we had been warned what to do and what not to do if we started to tip over to avoid injury and nobody was hurt, but it didn’t do my nerves too much good to see that actually, yes, it is very possible indeed to roll and tip one of these huge machines!!
Matt reaching round me to take a selfie of me driving up the steep slope
Luckily, once we had been going for 10 minutes or so, my nerves started to subside and I realised I could actually do this and began to enjoy the experience. There is nothing quite like the thrill of flying across the snowy expanse of white at high speed – definitely one of the most exhilarating experiences I have ever had. I am so glad now that Matthew didn’t let me wimp out and made me do it as I wouldn’t want to have missed that experience for the world.
The way back to base camp
Clearly, not everyone enjoyed themselves quite as much and at one point we had to stop because a girl had become completely overwhelmed and couldn’t keep going. She’d apparently already had a bit of a panic attack and been encouraged to have another go but was not at all happy. So she was given a pillion ride on someone else’s snowmobile and as we were the closest pair at the time who were sharing a machine, Matthew was asked if he’d like to take her bike. He was very happy to and so for the last section of the trip we each had our own bikes and rode solo. I found it much easier to handle the snowmobile riding solo than with the weight of two people on it and really enjoyed the experience of having my own machine as it felt more responsive and was easier to turn and to manoeuvre. So as it turned out we each had the chance to experience what it was like to be up front driving on a 2-man bike, and to be on the back riding pillion, and also to ride solo.
I don’t know if it was because I was doing the driving on the way back or because the group was more experienced by this time and so needed fewer stops to regather everyone, but the ride back seemed way quicker than the ride out and before we knew it we could see base camp ahead of us. We headed up the slope to where the bikes are all parked and following the directions of our guide, we all parked up, leaving them in neat rows ready for the next group. From not having wanted to drive at all, I didn’t want to stop when the time came! This was one of the craziest, most exciting things we’ve done and I couldn’t stop grinning with excitement and sheer adrenaline. Definitely an experience to be recommended and one that we will probably do again while we are here.
Team Mace!!
