Courses

Mountain Skills Course

Take your mountain and climbing skills to the next level by learning from highly experienced mountaineers.

Tour code: IMG111

Mountain Skills Course

Multi-day Mountaineering Training In The Stunning Skaftafell National Park

We have combined three shorter courses to create an extensive course where participants go through the fundamentals of mountaineering. Your highly experienced and professional mountaineering instructors will cover general ropework, making of rock and snow anchors, crevasse rescue, and ice climbing. You will go through safety issues regarding avalanches and beacon search, glacier and mountain travels, crampon technique, self-arrest with an ice-axe and a lot more during the training. Along with learning how to use mountaineering equipment, you will experience camping overnight on a glacier. If the conditions are right, we might build a snow house or other types of snow shelters.

Knowledge about avalanches is a very important and necessary part of this training. With an appropriate choice of routes, it’s possible to minimize the risk of triggering or getting caught in an avalanche. Participants must bring along and know how to use the necessary gear needed for finding avalanche victims and getting them to the surface. The course offers an introduction to this gear and how it is used. Upon completion of the course, you will walk away with an all-around base in mountaineering. This will ensure that you are more fit for traveling safely on glaciers and mountains on your own.

No prior courses or experience is required, but participants have to be in fairly good physical and mental shape. They need to have appropriate outdoor clothing and gear that suites winter travels. Registered participants will receive a detailed equipment list.

Tour Overview

  • We pick you up @

    Included

  • Group size

    4 - 6 participants

  • Language

    English

  • Accommodation

    Hostel and camping

  • Difficulty

    Demanding

    Difficulty

    Demanding some effort and certain endurance. Good health and some hiking experience is required. 6-8 hours walk per day. Often involves carrying your own gear.

  • Availability

    Apr & May

  • Duration

    6 days

  • 18

    Minimum age:

    18 yrs

Guides on this Tour

Book this tour

Customer Reviews

“Your country and people are unique. I feel a great affinity here. A mind blowing experience our mountain course.”
Douglas English, USA — 0001-01-01

I took a six-day mountaineering skills course, with 3 others covering mountaineering, glacier travelling and ice climbing. We had then the opportunity to climb the Hvannadalshnjúkur, the highest peak of Iceland. As a general introduction to mountaineering, it was completely what I expected. Our two guides Jón and Bjartur were really good teachers, and gave us a great time.
Nicolas, France — 2017-07-20

I just completed the ten-day WildernessFirstResponder course organized by Icelandic Mountain Guides last week and I could not have been any happier. Organization and information by Ívar beforehand was great. There were 31 people in our class and two stellar NOLS instructors flew in from the US to teach us. We had a transfer service for the international students. Classes and outdoor scenarios were held at Hjálparsveit skáta í Reykjavík (SAR) where we could use the kitchen facilities and some of the equipment. There were plenty of cookies and snacks to see us through ten days of studying and practicing. It was intense, challenging and so much fun. We learned how to assess the scene and our patient, to make decisions on spine protection and evacuation and how to treat a variety of injuries and illnesses. Our instructors were knowledgeable and always patient and ready to help. We did some solo scenarios, many team scenarios and some larger group scenarios, one of them at night, to let us practice our new skills. On the last day we had a 100 question written test and a practical test assessing one of our instructors. Everyone passed. I enjoyed the course so much that I am now thinking about taking the Wilderness EMT next. Thank you, IMG for organizing this course. It was amazing!
Kim, Germany — 2018-02-14

“For me this was very valuable. The course added enormously to my prior knowledge of mountaineering, the risks that come with it and how it’s possible to reduce that risk by avoiding certain situations and conditions and bring along gear that are useful to get obstacles out of your way. Also how it’s possible to use various equipment and rope work to get yourself and others out of trouble if something comes up. This was an excellent course, all the preparation and operation was first class and that directly resulted in positive experience for the participants and good spirits of the whole group. The instructors were very professional.”
Vilhjálmur Árnason, Iceland — 0001-01-01

“Course program is very good, I think everybody will agree, we got all we expected and much more. Your training, instructions and attention to details were so great. I liked the weather too, thanks for arranging it.”
Alexey Timanovsky, Russia — 0001-01-01

Tour Highlights

Experienced Teachers

Rope skills

Winter Camping

Glacier Travel

Included

  • Experienced and qualified guide
  • Hostel sleeping bag accommodation in dormitories (5 nights)
  • Minibus transport Reykjavík - Skaftafell - Reykjavík
  • Breakfast (5), Lunch (6), Dinner (5)
  • All common glacier and safety equipment

Not Included

  • Personal mountain- and glacier equipment

Optional Extras

  • Accommodation in Reykjavík before and after the tour

Tour Map and Itinerary

Click map for detailed itinerary

Mountain Skills Course

MAP & ITINERARY

Day 1

Skaftafell - Practical Exercises

Pick-up starts at 7:30. Everyone needs to be ready by then. First stop will be at the IMG office to sort out boots and rental gear and take care of any last minute equipment issues. We leave town, stopping for lunch on the way, arriving in Skaftafell around 14:00.

When we have settled down it´s time for action. We start slowly, the first topic is avalanche safety. We go through few slides and discussions. After that we introduce and practice the use of avalanche beacons and go through the search process. No snow at this point but it´s still possible to go through some practical exercises. Dinner is at 19:00 and after that we go through the plan for day 2 and take a look at the gear we will be using.

Day 2

Hnappavellir - rope works

Breakfast at 8:00. We go to Hnappavellir, Iceland's biggest sport climbing area. There we practice rope work, rock protection and making of belay anchors, rappelling (abseiling) and we also want to get some rock climbing done. So bring the rock shoes with you. In the evening, after dinner, we start planning the glacier trip that starts on day 4. We try out the stoves, put up the tents and think about what we take with us, gear and food.

Day 3

Svínafellsjökull - hard-ice training

Breakfast at 8:00. We go to Svínafellsjökull outlet glacier for hard-ice training. We go through crampon techniques, step-cutting, route finding and crevasse rescue. We also go through different ways of setting up protections on ice. In the evening after dinner we pack our back packs and prepare the food for the next day.

Day 4

Hike up to Iceland's highest summit - training

Breakfast at 4:00. Departure from Sandfell (where the hike up to Iceland‘s highest summit starts) no later than 5:30. We practice self-arrest with an ice axe, step-cutting and how to travel in snow and steep terrain. Also we go through beacon search in snow. On the glacier we rope up (glacier-mode). We practice crevasse rescue in snow. At the end of the day it´s time to find a good spot for camping, prepare dinner, melt water and do what has to be done before a night on the glacier.

Day 5

Hvannadalshnúkur

We wake up at 5:00. We melt snow to use for breakfast and for the day. We leave the tents, sleeping bags and other such gear and head higher up on the glacier. The aim is Iceland´s highest peak, Hvannadalshnúkur (2110 m/6000 ft). We travel over crevassed terrain, introduction to snow anchors. After summiting Hvannadalshnúkur we head back down to camp and pack. Then we head all the way down.

Day 6

Svínafellsjökull - Reykjavík

Breakfast at 8:00. After that we prepare for our return to Reykjavík, get everything done for check-out. Before hitting the road we go again to Svínafellsjökull outlet glacier for some ice climbing. We train until around five in the afternoon. After that we drive back to Reykjavík, stopping for dinner on the way. We should be in town between 10 and 11. 
  • Day 1
  • Day 2
  • Day 3
  • Day 4
  • Day 5
  • Day 6
Click to activate the map

Practical Information

Participants will be picked up from designated bus stops in down town Reykjavík. Pick up starts at 07:30 on day 1. Those not in the down town area and IMG staff should come to Stórhöfði 33 – 110 Reykjavík.

Participants in the course take care of the cooking together but all food is provided by IMG. Should you have special dietary needs please make note of that when you book.

We stay one night in tents on the glacier. Otherwise, we will stay in simple sleeping bag accommodation with shared facilities.

For your own well being and safety, we strongly suggest following the advice of our equipment list, this includes having good quality rain-gear, tops and bottoms!

  • Hiking Boots – Waterproof with good ankle support. 
  • Gaiters.
  • Long sleeve shirt (thermal underwear) – Wool or synthetic.
  • Long Johns (early season – April / beginning of May). 
  • Light sweater, wool or fleece (2nd layer).
  • Warm Jacket – Wool or fleece (3rd layer).
  • Pants – light and fast drying – e.g. soft-shell. 
  • Jacket with a good hood – Waterproof and breathable. 
  • Rain pants – Waterproof and breathable material.
  • Gloves – 2 pairs - different thickness.
  • Mittens – insulated (early season climbs / April beginning of May). 
  • Socks – Wool or synthetic. 
  • Extra warm socks and thermal shirt.
  • Warm hat– Wool or synthetic.
  • Puffy jacket – down or fibre.
  • Casual clothing for wearing off the mountain.
  • Bathing suits (you never know when you might run into a hot pool in Iceland).
  • Extra warm jacket, down or synthetic.
  • Stiff boots for ice climbing and mountaineering (can be rented, but best if it´s your own that you are used to).
  • Larger backpack (60 – 75L).
  • Camping mattress (e.g. Thermarest).
  • Sleeping bag (-10 to -18°C). A liner bag is also a good idea.
  • Ski-goggles.
  • Sunglasses – rated for glacier travel.
  • Sun protection / face and lips. High SPF 30 or more. 
  • Camera.
  • Headlamp (at times of year when it gets dark). 
  • Classic ice axe / technical ice axes.
  • Crampons.
  • Harness.
  • Helmet.
  • Belay device (Reverso, ATC-guide or similar) .
  • 2 – 4 locking carabiners.
  • 2 – 4 non-locking carabiners.
  • 1 – 2 pulleys (optional, not essential but makes the crevasse rescue easier).
  • 3 – 6 m prussic-cord (6mm).
  • Other climbing equipment as available – ice screws, slings, rock-climbing shoes, rock-protection – if you have it bring it and learn using your own gear. If not, we will have it available.

Related Blog Posts

Adventurer of the Week: Nicolas prepares for the Mountains!

2017-07-20
Kim is a true Iceland-lover, and going a lot  further than most. She joined us on our 6 day Mountain Skills Course, and acquired a the necessary technical proficiency to take her exploration of Iceland to the next level, and helping other to explore too. 

Adventurer of the Week: Kim Gets some Mountain Skills

2017-06-22
Hikers going down a snowy hill from Hrútfjallstindar on a tour with Icelandic Mountain Guides

What is the Three Peaks Challenge in Iceland & how to Prepare for it

2018-05-08

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