Wintersports in Iceland

During winter time Icelanders love to go up into the mountains for cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, snowboarding or ice climbing. Others take adventure tours on snowmobiles or hike in the snowy mountains. Then there is ice skating, both outdoors and indoors. Some even go ice fishing in the winters.

Even though the name Iceland should let us expect icy land, there is not always such. The Gulf Stream from Mexico Bay is a strong ocean current that brings warm waters into the Atlantic Ocean, so the climate is warmer than to expect in North Atlantic. The strong Gulf Stream warms the North Atlantic Drift which flows along the southeast coast of Iceland and keeps the west side of the island a few degrees warmer than the northeast side, which is cooled by the Iceland and Greenland ocean currents flowing from the Arctic. So those visiting the country need to study the conditions before organizing their winter adventures.

Still everyone can enjoy winter sports in Iceland from November to May, and even on the glaciers in summertime as well. Alpine skiing and snowboarding are very popular as well as cross-country skiing. The places to go are:

South Iceland winter sports

West Iceland winter sports

North Iceland winter sports

East Iceland winter sports