Review of My First Glacier Hike + Ice Climb in Iceland

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.

I saw glaciers for the first time back in August when we went to Alaska, but on that trip we kept a safe distance away, watching the ice crack and calve from a boat or kayak. The thought of stepping foot on a glacier scared me, as my anxiety immediately conjured up images of falling through a crevasse or the ice giving out beneath me. However, when I was looking for activities to do in Iceland, exploring glaciers came up over and over again – you can snowmobile, hike, ice climb, explore ice caves, and more across several of Iceland’s biggest glaciers. I routinely rock climb indoors and got to try my hand at outdoor rock climbing in Alaska, so I decided to book a tour at Sólheimajökull glacier (pronunciation guide here) in Southern Iceland and give ice climbing a try.

Gearing Up

We arrived at our meeting point 30 minutes early as instructed online and then took about 15 minutes to change into our wool base layers, ski pants, hat, waterproof gloves (Thomas’s weren’t waterproof and got soaked!), and hiking boots in the car as the winds were violently whipping around us outside. The wind definitely had us second guessing ourselves, but the tour wasn’t cancelled (we later found out they’d preemptively cancelled the next day’s tours due to even worse weather in the forecast).

There are bathrooms located next to the parking lot, but they aren’t free. They cost 300ISK (about $2.10), but it takes coins, not paper money. Luckily, it also accepts credit cards.

We booked our excursion through Troll Expeditions, who is one of the biggest tour operators in Iceland. When we walked over to their bus, we were ushered inside to get our gear together as a large group of people who had arrived on a tour bus chaotically got their gear on outside (those who booked through a bus tour only did a glacier hike, not ice climbing). We were thankful to be out of the wind and received much more hands-on attention from our guide as she helped us get all of our gear on. Despite feeling prepared with our hiking boots, we were given different boots to wear instead with a sturdier toe box for ice climbing. We were able to store our boots and any extra gear safely on the bus while we were gone. We also got harnesses and helmets with head lamps, which we could put on over our hats to stay warm (only possible if wearing a hat without a pom-pom on top!). We had come prepared with a helmet mount for our GoPro, but some of the helmets already had the attachment on them. Troll Expeditions also offered rentals of jackets, pants, etc. for an additional fee if you didn’t bring your own weather-appropriate clothing.

The last things we were handed before we headed out were an ice axe and crampons. It turned out the ice axe was more for photos than anything else (and to help carry the crampons). We didn’t put the crampons on right away because we had to hike out to the glacier first. Sólheimajökull is a retreating glacier, so while they’d originally built the parking lot at the foot of the glacier, over the years the journey has gotten further and further to the start of the ice.

We were in a group of four + our guide. The other couple had more outdoor climbing and mountaineering experience than we did, but we made sure to hold our own and not slow the group down.

Hiking and Climbing

It was about a 20-minute walk from the parking lot to the base of the glacier, during which we had to wear our helmets in case any rocks fell from the mountain next to us. We were able to stop a couple of times for quick photo ops (we were instructed not to walk and take pictures at the same time) before reaching the glacier, where our guide showed us how to put our crampons on. I’d never worn them before and was fumbling a bit to get them on – taking off my gloves gave me the dexterity I needed to make sure they were secure.

It was a bit difficult to tell exactly when we’d stepped foot on the glacier because so much of it is covered in dirt and rocks from the mountain and there’s no clear delineation. I noticed with each step more and more water and ice peeking out from under the dirt until there was no denying we were walking on the glacier. There were also layers of black ash in the ice from previous volcanic eruptions, highlighting the immense age of the glacier. As the rocks gave way to ice, it also got more slippery and we were instructed to take “angry steps” to make sure our crampons dug into the ice – we also had to make sure to walk with our feet wider than normal to avoid hitting our pants (or worse, the skin underneath) with our spiky crampons.

The glacier was pretty from the land but absolutely mesmerizing standing on top of it with ice walls rising around us and deep crevaces and moulins below. We spent some time exploring and then made our way to the ice wall that we’d be climbing, which was thankfully shielded from the wind. I’d expected a rope to already be anchored in to the top, but there was none. Our instructor followed a path to the top and quickly began setting the rope – I appreciated her emphasizing that she put 3 anchors in the ice for extra redundancy. Once she was back it was time to climb.

Despite my nerves, I volunteered to go first, following the demonstration our guide had given on how to drive the pickaxes and crampons into the wall as we climb. Surprisingly, I found the pickaxes to be the easy part, as they only needed to be a fraction of an inch into the ice to be able to support my entire body weight. The feet were trickier and I found it taking a few tries every time I wanted to set my feet.

As I got to the top of the wall, my biceps, forearms, and grip strength had fatigued significantly and I no longer found the pickaxes sticking on the first try. The top of the climb has the additional challenge of not hitting the ropes with the axes – something that seems obvious but, in the moment, would be an easy (but potentially disastrous) mistake to make. The last few feet were a little awkward as I had to climb with both my arms to the right of the ropes. When I finally made it to the top, I was sweating through all the wool thermals and ski clothes that had been keeping me warm. All I had to do to come down was hold both pickaxes in one hand and walk down the wall as I was slowly lowered by the guide – pretty much the exact same as normal rock climbing.

After I went, Thomas and the other 2 participants all took their turn and then we had the opportunity to go again, which I really appreciated because when we rock climbed on a cliff in Alaska, I’d gotten to climb twice but Thomas only got to go once. I was pretty exhausted after my first climb, so I waited until everyone had gone twice before I went again.

In our small group, we got really personalized attention and once our guide realized we were all competent, we were allowed to climb a more challenging section of the wall. We also got to be the very last people on the glacier that day, hiking back well after the sun had set. Half of our headlamps were dead, so we all had to use the light of the other 2 climbers to make our way back to the cars. At the base of the glacier, we took off our crampons, gave them a little bath in the glacial lake water to get the rocks and dirt off of them, and put them back on our axe to carry back to the truck.

Once we’d given all our borrowed gear back, we had to pay for parking on my phone by scanning the QR code on the sign (which would have been very easy to miss in the dark!) before heading out.

Overall Impressions

As the glacier retreats, the remaining ice is also constantly changing shape. Our guide said that they’d been climbing on another wall until a few weeks ago when it had melted away and in another place they’d walked over an ice bridge until it became brittle and collapsed. These constant changes mean that no two excursions on the glacier are identical and if you came back years from now it would look completely different and you’d get a totally new experience.

While I was nervous going in to this activity (especially with the strong winds), I am so glad I did it and would go again in a heartbeat. It was a bit scary looking down the cravaces but also breathtakingly beautiful. I also got to expand my rock-climbing skillset with a fun new challenge and enjoy a rush of adrenaline. I’d recommend this activity to anyone with a moderate amount of athleticism and a desire to try new things. Ice climbing can be found worldwide from Iceland to Montana to Norway, so check it out if you’re headed somewhere cold!