hen
a man tells
you his family have
lived in the same valley since
God was a lad, you can understand
how it is that he knows the area so well. In fact,
Jökull Bergmann’s ancestors settled in northern Iceland
before God - at least the Christian version of the deity -
even existed, as far as they were concerned. His Viking
forebears were still worshipping Thor when they rolled
ashore on the Troll Peninsula in their longboats back in
the 9th century and they’ve stayed there ever since.
It means that now, more than a thousand years later,
their great, great, great (continue ad infinitum) grandson,
universally known as ‘JB’, has a pretty unique type
of local knowledge - something he uses to good effect as
the head guide with Arctic Heli Skiing, Iceland’s only
heli-ski operation.
And so it is that I find myself in one of the company’s
six-seater helicopters with four fellow skiers. It's a bracing
morning, and we’re heading towards the summit of
1,100
m Mount Kárahnjúkur on the very same peninsula
where JB’s ancestors first landed. Our pilot, Snorri, hovers
with only one skid on the ground, while the other hangs
in space over vertiginous crags. After we've all emerged
from the safe side of the 'copter onto the summit and
gathered up our skis, Snorri takes off, then drops like
a stone to clatter down towards our pick-up point over
a 1,000m below. At times like this, you wonder who is
having the most fun: the pilot or the skiers.
Although these mountains are modest in height – few
rise much above 1,500m (considerably lower than the
3,000
m summits of the French Alps) – there is something
uniquely
wonderful about
skiing here. Iceland’s
ski terrain is unlike anything
the resorts of Europe and North America
can offer. Flat-topped mountains tower over steep
slopes and wide valleys. Crags and cliffs, streaked with
black-banded rock outcrops, contrast starkly with the
snow. And then, perhaps the most singular feature of
the Icelandic heli-ski experience, there's the constant
presence of deep, blue fjords and the Atlantic Ocean way
COMPARISONS
BETWEENHELI-SKIING
AND RESORT SKIING
ARE POINTLESS
–
THERE
ARE NO LIFT QUEUES, NO
LIFTS, NOMOUNTAIN
RESTAURANTS, IN FACT,
NO SIGNOF HUMANITY
WHATSOEVER
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