Excursions / Social events
Excursions and social events
IGS 2015 Höfn in Hornafjörður
Pre-symposium excursion
An afternoon snow mobile excursion will be offered on Sunday 21 June from Jöklasel by Skálafellsjökull outlet glacier (see location map). The excursion will be arranged by the local company Glacierjeeps with guides from the Iceland Glaciological Society who will guide the group to some of the premier locations to observe the beautiful outlet glaciers of southeast Vatnajökull (see the Jöklasel webpage of Glacierjeeps for more information including photographs of Skálafellsjökull and the neighbouring area.
Participants should bring ordinary hiking clothes (a parka, gloves, thick socks, hiking shoes). They will be provided a warm wind proof overall, a helmet, a headliner to wear under the helmet and snow scooter gloves.
The excursion starts at 13:00 on Sunday afternoon (departure by bus from the conference venue at Hotel Vatnajökull). The snow scooter trip is from ~14:00 to ~16:00 depending on weather. The bus will drive the participants back to the hotel. There is travel information about how to reach this excursion by bus or domestic flight on the travel information page.
Mid-week excursion
A half-day mid-week excursion will be organized at 14:00 on Wednesday afternoon to Hoffellsjökull and Lambatungnajökull outlet glaciers. There will be a hike to a newly formed terminus lake at the tongue of Hoffellsjökull where recent retreat of the terminus has led to extensive breakup of the ice front and rapid thinning of the neighbouring glacier.
Post-symposium excursion
A two-day excursion in the South of Iceland will be offered after the symposium, starting at 08:30 on Saturday morning, 27 June. Main focus will be on glaciology, glaciohydrology and subglacial volcanism, see the tour plan. Sights during the tour include the outwash plains affected by jökulhlaups from the Vatnajökull and Mýrdalsjökull ice caps, including those caused by eruptions in Grímsvötn and Katla. There will be an opportunity to visit the glacial lagoon in front of the Breiðamerkurjökull outlet glacier and observe the calving front. The route passes by the Eyjafjallajökull stratovolcano, where lahars and meltwater floods descended downslope during the 2010 eruption while volcanic ash was thrown into the atmosphere, disrupting air travel. The trip includes a one-night stay at a hotel in S-Iceland. Finally, arrival at the central bus station (BSÍ) in Reykjavík around 19:00 on Sunday evening.
Other sighseeing
Some delegates may find it advantageous to combine the symposium with other sightseeing in the area. The options include a guided climb of the highest peak in Iceland, Öræfajökull (2110 m a.s.l.) that can be arranged through local trekking companies Icelandic Mountain Guides and Arctic Adventures, and sailing on Jökulsárlón lagoon by Breiðamerkurjökull which is offered by the company Glacier lagoon based near the ring road at the shore of the marginal lake. Participants considering the climb to Öræfajökull should bring ordinary hiking clothes (a parka, gloves, thick socks, hiking shoes, see equipment list on the web pages of the trekking companies). They will be provided with crampons and safety equipment.
Video Reykjavík–Hornafjörður
The view out the front window of the conference bus from Reykjavík to Hornafjörður has been compressed into a two and a half minute video by PiM (Pierre-Marie Lefeuvre at the University of Oslo) for the benefit of those who don't take the bust but would have liked to enjoy the view (note that you should have a good internet connection to view this video). Busy people that do not have time to participate in the pre- or post-symposium excursions you may consider asking PiM to make similar videos boiling them down to a couple of minutes.
Special events
- Sunday 19:30 : Icebreaker in the dining hall of Hotel Vatnajökull (sponsored by Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon).
- Monday 17:30–18:30 : Lecture about jökulhlaups in Iceland.
- Thursday 19h30 : Banquet at at Hotel Vatnajökull.
Photo: Oddur Sigurðsson, 1996.
