Between the 8th and 16th July 2023, 12 Officer cadets (OCdt), 2 Officers and 2 instructors completed an expedition to Iceland to achieve the Summer Mountain Foundation Course (SMF) by finishing both the Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls trail. Through hiking over 75km with 7,500ft of elevation whilst carrying tents, rations, and relevant equipment everyone had an exciting experience to encourage progression within summer mountaineering.
“It was such a great expedition; the hiking was fun, the views were incredible, and we managed to learn so much along the way. If I could do it all again, I definitely would!”
Officer Cadet Austin Nash
Background
This journey started in October 2022 when the idea of a mountaineering expedition was pitched to the AT Officer within BUOTC. This involved researching and reviewing the relevant trails, campsites, flights, hostels, transport and medical services that were required for the smooth running of the trip. The remote nature of this expedition made the planning challenging, as we had to ensure the safety of all members in the group which meant devising detailed risk assessments and medical plans. When deciding on which country and then which route to hike we had to consider the potential dangers, distances and elevation in each day in order to accommodate the introduction of novices to summer mountaineering. Iceland was a perfect choice as it has varying terrains allowing for lots of valuable teaching points and experience. Two of the students selected to go on the expedition had already achieved the SMF qualification, so they would be using this expedition to gain experience on differing terrains and develop their skills towards their Mountain Leader (ML) qualification. Meanwhile, some of the other officer cadets were entirely new to mountaineering, so the aim for them was to learn the foundations of mountaineering, e.g. personal and group admin, assessing dangers on the trail and also learning about the geographical features and weather systems that were to be encountered. All of which went towards gaining the SMF.
Summer mountaineering in Iceland is both mentally and physically challenging. Participants must navigate a completely new environment and carry six days of arctic rations, jet boil stoves and gas, tents between two/three as well as their own personal kit to remain prepared for variable weather conditions making our bags very heavy! However, it was these challenges that made the trip worthwhile. To prepare for the physical challenge all members of the trip had to have completed a minimum of a weekend of mountaineering in the UK, so that they were used to the kit they would be using, the weight and the type of distances that would be covered.
Once all the flights had been booked and route planned, it was time to get on the plane and leave for Iceland!
Day 1 After a night spent at the reserve centre in Birmingham where everyone’s kit was checked, 15 members of the group set off for Stansted airport to meet our second instructor. We arrived at Keflavik airport at 15:00 and travelled to a campsite in Reykjavik for our first night in the tents. A quick shower after the travel day freshened everyone up and was greatly received! That evening ‘Killer Uno’ was born; a game that created excellent team bonding and uncovered some competitive spirits within the group!
Day 2 An early wake-up at 05:20 on the first hiking day allowed for careful consideration of the most efficient placement of items within our backpacks after the lesson we had the night before. We caught a bus east into the Icelandic wilderness, and after three hours of a very bumpy (but scenic) ride, we were dropped at the starting point on the Laugavegur trail. We then had a quick group photo, filled our water bottles, found the trail head and, in good spirits, began the first ascent of the expedition. It took a little time to adjust to walking with weight and keeping a steady pace as a group. We were agog at the outstanding natural beauty of the landscape, despite the often-unpleasant odour of bubbling sulphur pools emerging from the hillside. One of the Officer Cadets was a geography student and was very enthusiastic about the features surrounding us, so was unofficially nominated as the group tour guide, commentating on the history of the geological features we saw along the way.
Around 12 kilometres and 1750 ft ascent later, we eventually arrived at our campsite, put up our tents and cooked our rations for the evening. A few keen group members also decided to climb the nearby summit under the supervision of the instructors that evening to see more of the fantastic scenery which surrounded us.
“It took a little time to get used to the weight of the rucksacks because they were very, very heavy! But it all added to the adventure of it and by the end of the week once we had got used to it and eaten all our food it was much easier.”
Officer Cadet Polly Painter
Day 3 We began day three with an early start followed by a briefing about the importance of teamwork in arduous mountain conditions. One of the highlights of the day was in fact putting these ideas about teamwork into practice by doing multiple river crossings. We supported each other using the buddy-buddy system to ensure others’ kit was secured as well as helping by advising each other on the best route whilst they were crossing the river. We also applied this principle by moving at the pace of the slowest walker. This was extremely important as the day’s hiking consisted of lots of steep ascents and descents. Walking like this also enabled all members to look out for each other and a chance for everyone to get to know each other better.
Along the walk there were more sensational views of all the glacial valleys, and it was upon our descent to the campsite that we encountered our first potentially serious challenge. One of the Officers had slipped and sliced his hand on a rock. However, this was very quickly dealt with and in no time his hand had been bandaged up and he was back walking again with no dramas and still high morale.
We then all enjoyed the evening at the campsite by paddling and skimming stones in the lake and playing lots of catch!
Day 4 On day four we enjoyed a far flatter route allowing us to recover our strength, ready for the rest of the trail ahead. We walked through stunning volcanic landscapes along the floor of a U-shaped valley which, despite being very sparse, was still very beautiful. One of the highlights of the day was seeing a proper glacier; the instructors took the opportunity with the glacier in view to discuss progression onto instructor qualifications as well as the concept of winter mountaineering. This provided a key discussion point with many keen and interested in a newfound passion for mountaineering provided by the expedition thus far.
This day also included three different river crossings and, while these were not too challenging, they were incredibly cold on our legs! The last river however, did have quite a fast flow and managed to steal a croc and three sliders from our group much to each person’s despair!
Once into our next campsite in the evening, we had a briefing to discuss the timings for the next day which was to be run by the members training for their SMF. Once the route was analysed and timings sorted, this was conveyed to the rest of the group. Later that night some people managed to have some rather cold showers and more Killer Uno was played!
Day 5 The route on day five was very busy with lots of tourists trudging along the trail with us. From this, we saw the issues presented by over-tourism and how it can detract from natural beauty and landscape. To overcome this, we took some longer breaks so that we could walk along with as few other people as possible to make for better group management. These long breaks were also extremely welcome due to some very steep sections along the route. This pushed many individuals into their stretch zones allowing many of the Officer Cadets to grow and develop as mountaineers.
The campsite this evening was by far the best one of the week, as there was lots of soft grass which was a nice break after the previous hard rocky terrain that we had to camp on. We also managed to have a little explore of the surrounding area and watch the sun go down (which wasn’t very far because it was summer and the sun does not go very far down).
Day 6 Day six was quite a challenging day due to over 2400ft elevation gain over just 12 kilometres. Not only was the elevation gain high, but it was also along a few very slim ridges which made the whole experience even tougher. This day had most of the team members in their stretch zone! Part of the SMF qualification involves talking about how we assess and adapt to the dangers we will and could encounter on our routes. The more dangerous sections of day six were the perfect place to learn about these and see how easily something could go wrong and put in place precautions to make sure nothing did go wrong.
To top off the challenging day, our campsite that day was very exposed and had no water tap. The hard ground and exposure to the strong winds meant that we had to help tie our tents down with big rocks to not fly away during the night! With no water taps we had to do a water count and buy 16 litres from the hut at the campsite to ensure that every member of the group had at least one litre of water for the following day’s hike. This taught us valuable lessons on considerations of campsites and how to deal with difficult situations as they arrive.
“You truly understand the importance of relying on teammates when hiking almost 2500ft up a mountain. It was a great way to get to trust and know each other more.”
Officer Cadet Jack Eccleston
Day 7 This day was considered a favourite by many. In the morning we took our tents down quickly and set off quite early so that we could escape the strong winds and cold. Once we had escaped this, it turned out to be a very chill day with sensational views of lots of waterfalls which turned out to be a nice contrast to the dramatic volcanic landscape we had been seeing a lot of earlier in the trip.
We finished the day at the world famous Skogar waterfall, providing a great opportunity for officer cadets to update their Instagram profile pictures, and to take a group picture as well of course! Following this, we then enjoyed an end exped chippy which was very well received after five days on arctic rations. After settling in, our two instructors delivered the last two lessons we needed to be taught to gain the SMF qualification. We talked about different weather systems and the importance or packing for the weather and then we also learnt more about the risk assessments and medical plans that are needed for any mountainous activity.
In the evening we had a lovely sit-down meal in a local restaurant which was a nice way to finish the expedition together as a team.
Day 8 and 9 Upon leaving our last campsite we made our way to Reykjavik where we had a day to explore the city. We then had a very early flight the next morning meaning that we had to leave our hostel at 02:00 in the morning which was not super fun. Once we had finally got back to the UK, all that was left was the post-expedition admin of the kit and then we all went home!
It is safe to say that everyone who went on this trip thoroughly enjoyed it and came away with their SMF qualification and more experience going forward to doing their MLT. For this we are very much grateful to the Ulysses Trust and all our other donors for their support which helped to make this expedition possible.
Author: Officer Cadet Busby – Expedition member
