Posts Tagged: Ice-Climbing

Contents Reykjavík The Golden Circle Southern Iceland Southeastern & Eastern Iceland Northern Iceland Western Iceland Landing at Keflavík International Airport in the early hours of a Saturday morning was a little disappointing. It was cloudy and foggy, and my first glimpse of Iceland through the airplane window was a barren rocky peninsula barely visible through the mist. Lauren and I disembarked from the aircraft and entered the terminal, a maze of duty-free stores, restaurants, and coffee shops.

I spent two months in Alaska during the summer of 2007 through an environmental sciences field study program. On our day off, we decided to go ice climbing on the Root Glacier, one of the two major glaciers in the area. We took a shuttle to Kennecott, an old mining town that sits above the glacier. Our guides were two women, Elizabeth and Betsy. They outfitted us with gear: plastic mountaineering boots, helmets, and crampons, and together we hiked a mile and a half down to the glacier.