Today we have to get up early. As usual its the one day I am not already awake. We need to be in the mountains for our ice cave tour at 9.30am. Google says one hour, the say twoso we allow two and a half, thinking it will probably take one and a half plus an hour for our breakfast in the van.
Its dry when we leave camp at 7am but we can see dark clouds over the mountains. We are suitably clad (at least we hope we are) in thermals which include two wicking t shirts, full thermals, cords, thin fleece, thick fleece and full waterproofs. Plus woolley hats and gloves!
We arrive at Husafell Outdoor Adventure Centre at 8.30am. Time for a brew and breakfast. Just after 9am and others start arriving. We are to take a shuttle from here to the base camp using one of their infamous F Roads. F stands for ‘Mountain Road by the way! We would not have attempted this in our van so its a surprise to see the shuttle is a full size coach. And they are certainly packing us on!
weve arrived at base camp. Here we are eyed up and down to see if we need extra protective clothing. Apparently we are going to get very wet! I am issued with waterproof over boots as I have ankle boots. Ians are deemed OK. Ian decides to borrow one of their waterproof over jackets as he didnt see the need to get a new Gortex before this tripsomething he has regretted from day one!
Outside we are eying up our monster all terrain truck which will take us up over the glacier and to the mouth of the ice cave. We have two informative guides who ask us questions to which no one except Ian seems to be volunteering the answers.
There are marker points with years showing where the glacier used to start. Its a reminder about the dangers of global warming. Its estimated that between years hence the glacier will be gone. Our guide points out a mountain where a glacier has already been declared dead. They held a funeral service to sharpen attention to the problem.
can be adjusted to give better grip on the snowsometimes they are as low as 6psi so the truck glides along the surface.
We are informed that there are three species of creatures here: the Arctic fox, a bird called the ptarmigan with feathers growing all the way down to its claws, plus the idiots that try to do this trip on their own and get stuck in the snow!
Its 10.30am and we have reached the ice tunnel. We step off the truck into the snowits treacherous. Its also snowing afresh right now.
The first part of the tunnel is slightly steep and dark. My glasses are the type that adjust to the light. Not great as they dont adjust quickly enough and Im trying to negotiate my way in the dark. In the end its easier to simply take them off all together.
We arrive at the crampon room which is dripping and everyone gets a set to slip over their boots. This makes life so much easier.
There various stopping points throughout for bits of information and photo opportunities - though to be honest, one tunnel is pretty much the same as
We learn that one day a couple of guys came up the mountain with a few beers and thought to themselves, why dont we dig an ice tunnel so that others can enjoy this. The cynic in me says there may have been a bit more to it than that: with 55 people and three tours a day at £135 a headand actually they always seem to be pretty much fully bookedthats quite a big return for a one hour walk through a series of tunnels. We should perhaps add that the tunnel does need constant maintenance by the two guys who look after it, and the monster trucks are probably fairly pricey to maintain.
The tunnel was supposed to be circular but they had two teams digging in either direction and one team went off course so it ended up being heart shaped. There is a room that they use for concerts and a chapel. In places it feels like walking under a waterfall, and in others there are huge slush puddles.
