Skiing from a Sailboat is a surreal experience. Strapping on your ski boots while in the warmth of your cabin doesn’t feel natural. Neither does loading all your ski gear into a small speedboat and meandering through kelp beds to a remote snowbound shoreline. Skiing from a sailboat might seem unusual, but the access and comfort that a sailboat provides is difficult to beat.
Each day we wake up in a different fjord and enjoy a huge breakfast spread before going through the ritual of loading into a small boat to spend an amazing day in the mountains. Iceland is the land of steep couloirs but it also offers a variety of other skiing possibilities and we begin on a fun warm up run before working our way up to the steep stuff.
The top of each run offers incredible views of the snowcapped peaks and dramatic ocean scenery. Most runs allow us to ski all the way back to the ocean where we re-skin our skis and head back up for more. Some outings we will start the day in one fjord and finish our tour in another to be met by the sailboat, whose crew have spent the afternoon preparing a smorgasbord of culinary delights.
Evenings are spent enjoying a beverage on the top deck while soaking in the phenomenal scenery or, if we’re lucky, we are treated to a showing of the Northern Lights. Hornstrandir Nature Reserve is one of the most beautiful and remote areas in Iceland and provides multiple ski touring opportunities. Our trip spends 6 days traveling through the Hornstrandir fjords, an unnatural experience not to be missed.
