Iceland?

Amy

New member
So looking at airfare costs to my three bucket list countries, Iceland is actually coming up really cheap next year. Anyone know any cavers there? I did some google searching and kept coming across tours, but no actual cavers.
 

rhychydwr1

Active member
Plenty of books on Iceland:


CAVES OF THE LAKI FIRES /A Gazetteer of the Caves Mapped by the Laki Underground Expeditions of 2000 and 2001 Ed Walters et al.  A monograph on lava caves in Icleand [pub as] Shepton Mallet Caving Club Jl Ser 10 No 10 Autumn 2001 pp 337 - 418.  The complete journal ?5.00

GEYSERS AND HOT SPRINGS IN ICELAND by Bj?rn Hroarsson and Sigurour S Jonsson  1992  158 pp over 150 colour photos maps etc.  Land of Fire and Water, Iceland is famous for its geothermal activity.  Only one of these springs is in a cave.  Beautifully illustrated with high quality photos printed on art paper.  In English.  HB DW  ?19.00 was ?35.00!

ICELANDIC PICTURES drawn with pen and pencil by Frederick W W Howell 1893  176 pp numerous illus and map.  With a description and engraving of Surtshellir - the most famous cave in Iceland.  Complete with original picture cover.  HB spine weak. o/w G ?35.00

LAKI UNDERGROUND 2000 The Bournemouth / Dundee Universities Joint Expedition to Iceland / Expedition Report by Chris Wood et al.  May 2001 36 pp, 14 figs.  Numerous caves were discovered, explored and written up.  SB glossy A4 together with:

LAKI UNDERGROUND 2001 The Bournemouth and Shepton Mallet Caving Club Expedition to Iceland / Expedition Report by Chris Wood et al.  May 2002 32 pp, 13 figs.  Numerous caves were discovered, explored and written up.  SB glossy A4.  Set of 2 for ?16.00

REPORT OF THE SMCC EXPEDITION TO THE REYKJANES PENINSULAR June 2003  [in] Shepton Mallet Caving Club Jl Ser 11 (4) Autumn 2003 pp 76-186, illus.  Over 50 Icelandic caves described and surveyed.  An important work. SB  ?7.50

SURTUR / Icelandic speleological Society's Bulletin 1992 Vol 3  77 pp many B&W photos.  Numerous cave descriptions, surveys etc.  Searching for caves; On the flanks of Heroubreid etc. In Icelandic with English Summary.  SB ?3.00

SURTUR / Icelandic speleological Society's Bulletin 1993 Vol 4  55 pp many B&W photos.  Numerous cave descriptions, surveys etc.  A Viking-age hide out in the Viogelmir Cave etc.  In Icelandic with English Summary.  SB ?3.00

SURTUR / Icelandic speleological Society's Bulletin 1999 Vol 7  62 pp 69 colour photos.  Minimal text in Icelandic and English.  ?12.00

THE SUBTERRANEAN WONDERS OF ICELAND by M T Mills 1981  19 pp location map 209 references.  An invaluable introduction to the caves of `The Land of Fire and Water'.  SB  ?3.00

I am unable to supply as I sold 'em all  :eek:
 

complex

Member
Hi Amy,

The Icelandic Speleological Society website is www.speleo.is (and only available in Icelandic ;)) which has an email address that you could use to get in touch with them.

What sort of trip did you have in mind? If you wanted to potter around a few lava tubes near Reykjavik for a day or two then there is enough information in the Shepton journals mentioned by rhychydwr1 above to get you started (available from the Shepton website, see http://www.shepton.org.uk).  The most comprehensive book to the lava tubes in Iceland is "?slenskir Hellar" - a big heavy coffee table type book with lots of fantastic photos, see http://www.ritverk.is/islenskirhellar.html - written by Bj?rn Hr?arsson (who is a Shepton member and also runs http://www.extremeiceland.is with his son).  Bj?rn has also written Hellahandb?kin, which is more of a caving guide book - see http://www.forlagid.is/?p=4938 (currently shown as sold out from that website ...)

Note that both of Bj?rn's books are only in Icelandic, but contain enough information for you to find most entrances, along with lots of good photos.

Hope that helps - happy to try to answer any more questions, or alternatively Ed W on this forum is mine of useful information on Icelandic caves.

cheers,
complex
 

Amy

New member
Thank you. Someone pmd me to email them and I have but yet to hear. Which is ok. Plans are in rough right now and looking like March or April next year. I found a travel buddy my amazing "cave mom" loves to travel to so we will have a blast. Here we are seeing how big her car's trunk is hehe. We are on the right ^.^ https://flic.kr/p/9qbXSw
 

Fulk

Well-known member
So all you guys go in the boot (or should I say 'trunk'), and all the ropes and stuff go on the seats? (By the way, I think that if I were contemplating Iceland in March I'd take a good look at the weather records.)
 

mrodoc

Well-known member
Could be chilly in March but you could get a look at this: http://glacieradventure.is/ which is on my list of to do's next time I go there. Lava tube caving is very straightforward and I can send you some of the locations I visited this year and a couple of years ago.  It will be cold and dark in March!
 

Peter Burgess

New member
The only thing I remember being told about underground Iceland is that there are cellars where they store, or used to store, fermenting sharks which are (or were) some kind of smelly delicacy.
 

mrodoc

Well-known member
I think they bury the shark which is an endangered species apparently:The flesh of a Greenland shark is poisonous due to the presence of the toxin trimethylamine oxide which, upon digestion, breaks down into trimethylamine, producing effects similar to extreme drunkenness. Occasionally, sled dogs that end up eating the flesh are unable to stand up due to the neurotoxins. Similar toxic effects occur with the related Pacific sleeper shark, but not in most other shark species, whose meat is often consumed fresh

However, it can be eaten if it is boiled in several changes of water or dried or fermented for some months to produce K?stur H?karl, often H?karl for short. Traditionally this was done by burying the shark in boreal ground, exposing it to several cycles of freezing and thawing. It is considered a delicacy in Iceland.

My wife has had it - once - one mouthful :thumbsdown: was her opinion.
 

Amy

New member
Yes I do still fancy it. And yay the boards are working again! Past few days I try to access and get a weird warning and it's blocked. I figured it was a U.S. Trying to view a UK site thing. Anyway. Yes I agree March isn't the best time. I would be hoping for April or May. Apparently May is a good time. Either way I will try to regrow my thick Michigan skin to deal with the cold :p

I don't understand the sandwich joke, unless it is about food being costly which I am aware of.
 

bograt

Active member
Amy said:
I don't understand the sandwich joke, unless it is about food being costly which I am aware of.

I think its to do with the buried, fermenting sharks Amy  ;)
 

Simon Wilson

New member
Amy said:
So looking at airfare costs to my three bucket list countries, Iceland is actually coming up really cheap next year. Anyone know any cavers there? I did some google searching and kept coming across tours, but no actual cavers.

The oldest rocks on Iceland are Tertiary basalt about 24M years old. There are no carbonate rocks. There are lava tubes but Iceland is geared up for tourism and it's expensive to get places. I think there are a few interesting things to do but caving is not one of them. I've never been but I've researched it and decided it wasn't for me.
 

Olaf

New member
Let me know if you make any other experiences, but I found the Icelandic cavers to be extremely cautious and secretive about sharing information on their caves. They've apparently made bad experiences with cave entrance coordinates appearing on the net and shortly after being raided by people who should rather not know about such places.

I was lucky enough to meet Bj?rn Hr?arsson in the UK before I went and got all the info I needed through him. Caving was not my main motivation to go to Iceland, though...

However, I have to say that I found even venturing into the further reaches of the very well known Surtshellir system quite impressive. There are of course lots of non-caving tourists around, but most of them just look at the entrance and say "Wow, it's dark in there!" and drive on to the next thing on their todo-list. The caves are certainly very different from limestone caves, but well worth a look. On your first visit, stick to the easy to find and well known caves, that even appear in standard Iceland guidebooks nowadays, and leave the more interesting ones for later, once you've decided whether or not you like lava tubes...
 

Amy

New member
My first wild caves were lava tubes I went to with the Oregon grotto.  I do enjoy them. Caving is not "main" on my to do list I'm figuring a couple days at most. There are other things to see too. Anyone know what time of year the northern lights are the best?
 

Simon Wilson

New member
To see the northern lights you need solar activity which can be at any time of year but you also need a sky which is both dark and cloudless. The best time of year will be the same as the UK which is generally Autumn and Winter - I guess.
 

crickleymal

New member
I saw the Alexander Armstrong visits the Artic Circle programme last night. Apparently they are creating a tunnel into a glacier which is due to open next year. It looks pretty spectacular. They take you to the glacier in a NATO missile carrier.
 

mrodoc

Well-known member
The tunnel into the glacier is open already. It certainly was when I was over there in July although we didn't visit it. I am more interested in visiting the natural glacier caves that exist there. At one remote spot there is also a thermal cave under an ice cap but as you can imagine 'thermal' and 'glacier' means instability. However it is on my to do list if and when I go again.

One time you won't see the Northern lights is in June ;)
 

Ed W

Member
The oldest rocks on Iceland are Tertiary basalt about 24M years old. There are no carbonate rocks. There are lava tubes but Iceland is geared up for tourism and it's expensive to get places. I think there are a few interesting things to do but caving is not one of them. I've never been but I've researched it and decided it wasn't for me.

Simon, sorry but I couldn't disagree more about caving in Iceland not being interesting.  At the last I heard there were c.500 recorded lava tube caves in the country, a number of other volcanic caves/shafts, and many glacial caves.  The country is still in a golden era of cave exploration, with open cave entrances waiting o be found in many of the more remote areas.  I was involved in seven expeditions to Iceland between 2000 and 2007 and found much of the caving very interesting indeed.
 
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