Should we, or shouldn't we? This does not refer at all to our motivation or curiosity to tackle an adventurous ice climbing trip. But much more to the virus situation! So many times in the last two years I have organized and scribed something and almost everything had to be cancelled again. As we know, we don't give up that easily, so we went ahead with our project. But it was clear to the whole team that it had to be a place that was reasonably easy to reach. The last projects were already a bit further away: Canada, Japan, Siberia. So Thomas and Lukas came up with the proposal to travel to Iceland.

I thought it was a good idea. As an ice climber you probably have to have been there once;-)

Happy and not selboversträndlch we were then that our entire team could show a negative Corona test and all arrived fully motivated in Iceland.

Davide had compiled some information in advance with possible destinations on the island. Of course, we wanted to climb as much as possible. But it was not "only" about difficulty, about as many pitches as possible and many first ascents. It was about adventure! About discovering, about trying something new! For me, adventure means getting up early in the morning, going out into nature and not knowing what the day will bring!

But then a little planning had to be done. We were very happy about the great help from the local climbers. They showed us where to go and what to look out for.

We also implemented your advice. We drove with our two vans once clockwise around the island. Wherever we found it exciting, we went climbing. And I have to admit: It was brilliant. It was much better than I thought it would be. For example, I had prepared myself for rather short routes, so I only packed seven ice screws. Then, when we were faced with a 200-meter icefall, my packing proved to be wrong. It would have been nice to have at least 12 ice screws with me. But I mean, seven are better than none :-) With a little creativity, we then also managed this high icefall;-)

Almost everything on the island was frozen. The temperatures never rose into the plus range. We had caught a super period, that it was not always so, told us the local climbers.

For me personally, the diversity was the highlight. At the beginning, we climbed a large icefall, where there was still an incredible amount of water flowing. Then we climbed in the very north directly above the sea. Then we continued eastwards, in the basalt rock. I wanted to climb these hexagonal columns already as a child once. The routes there were then not so long, but very beautiful from the shapes and structures of the rock. The huge glaciers in the south then rounded off our trip very worthy. At a glacier gate, Martin and I set up a clearly overhanging route. At the same place, no longer quite so steep, Martin then still made a small training in ice climbing for our photographers, so that all were also tired on the journey home and had heavy arms.

I would like to thank Martin and my team very much. But especially to the Icelanders for the hospitality and for the many tips. A special thanks to the northern lights, who let us wait until the end to snap beautiful photos :-)

At the beginning we were unsure whether it makes sense to travel to Iceland. It turned out the way it almost always does: it's just worth trying something. Thank you Iceland, you will remain in good memory.