Ski Iceland

Iceland is home to nearly 20 ski areas, although more than half of these are small or temporary arrangements with portable lifts.

The country’s biggest ski area by far is Bláfjöll in the Blue Mountains, a short drive from Capital Reykjavik and 25km for the international airport at Keflavik. First established in the 1960s the lifts did not get installed until the early 1980s but there are now more than a dozen including quad chairlifts and the slopes are floodlit until 10pm, at night some evenings.

Hlíðarfjall near the town of Akureyri in the north of the country is most easily reached with an internal flight from Reykjavik. It is smaller but also operates a quad chairlift.

Other Iceland ski resorts are also relatively modern and generally quite small with one or two lifts each, normally drags, they include Siglufjörour in the north of the island which only opened in the late 1980s.

Summer skiing and boarding is also possible in Iceland thanks to its glaciers and northerly latitude. Kerlingarfjöll for example is a group of mountains in central Iceland, reached by a stunning three hour drive from Reykjavik or a 50 minute flight. There are half a dozen drag lifts here which normally operate between June and August.