FEBRUARY 2025 · ADVENTURE
Iceland — On the Ice
Breiðamerkurjökull, Vatnajökull National Park
The crampons go on at the glacier's edge. You clip the front points over your boot toe and tighten the heel bail, and then you step onto the ice and the traction is immediate — the points bite and hold. Everything changes. You stop sliding. You are committed.
Breiðamerkurjökull is an outlet glacier from Vatnajökull, 500 square kilometres of ice draining southeast toward Jökulsárlón. In February it is pale turquoise on the surface and a saturated, almost artificial teal in the crevasse walls. The colour comes from meltwater — the ice compressed by its own weight until it is denser than the air trapped inside it, and denser ice transmits light differently. The volcanic ash stripes running horizontally through the walls are records of eruptions beneath the ice cap, deposited and compressed into the glacier's history.
You stop sliding. You are committed.
Breiðamerkurjökull — February 2025
The crevasses open from above as slots a metre across, then widen as you descend. Some are fifteen, twenty metres deep. Meltwater has carved channels through the walls, left frozen cascades, created overhanging lips. You descend with a rope and a guide and your crampons find the steps cut in the ice, and at the bottom you look up and the sky is a thin pale stripe above turquoise walls.
The group appears in several frames: four helmets in a line, figures small against a wall, a person in red standing in a luminous crevasse interior. They provide scale. Without them, the formations read as abstract geology. With them, you understand what you are actually looking at.
An overhead shot of crampons and boots on pale ice, black volcanic ash streaks running beneath the metal points. The equipment as evidence. We were here; the ice recorded nothing.
Crevasse splits bright turquoise ice with narrow waterfall-like formations in Breiðamerkurjökull glacier
Deep crevasse carved into glowing turquoise glacier ice with black ash stripes visible on the walls
Overhead view of crampons and hiking boots on turquoise glacier ice with dark volcanic ash streaks
Ice canyon with towering turquoise walls and white frozen waterfall cascading down the centre
Group of hikers in colorful gear standing at edge of bright turquoise glacial crevasse under grey sky
Line of glacier explorers walking across pale turquoise ice with black volcanic ash deposits
Four hikers wearing white and black safety helmets on Breiðamerkurjökull with glacier behind
Hikers with full winter gear exploring dramatic ice formations and crevasses on the glacier
Three glacier hikers in helmets and backpacks facing towards towering turquoise ice wall
Complex maze-like ice formations showing layers and striations in turquoise glacier ice
Close-up of sculpted turquoise ice with volcanic ash streaks and natural ice formations
Hiker exploring ice cave beneath glowing turquoise glacier wall with dark rock visible
Vast turquoise glacier ice formation with dark volcanic ash stripe and rock base
Towering ice wall with turquoise glow and complex crevasse patterns carved by meltwater
Explorer in red jacket inside luminous turquoise ice cave beneath overhanging glacier formations
Dramatic overhead shot of deep crevasse cutting through bright turquoise glacier ice
Jagged crevasse with vertical ice formations and striking turquoise glow throughout
Hikers navigating rocky moraine with distant glacier formations and volcanic landscape
Wide vista of hikers scattered across pale glacier surface with turquoise crevasse and black volcanic field beyond
Aerial perspective showing multiple hikers exploring turquoise ice formations on vast glacier
Deep crevasse in Breiðamerkurjökull with turquoise walls and intricate ice surface patterns
Hiker descending into turquoise ice canyon with towering walls carved by glacial meltwater
Spectacular bright turquoise ice formation with complex curved crevasses and ash striations
Close-up of sculptural turquoise ice formations with deep shadows and textured surfaces
Overhead perspective of boots and crampons on pale turquoise glacier ice with ash streaks
Turquoise glacier wall with dark volcanic ash stripe and rugged ice surface detail
Wide glacier landscape showing hikers walking across pale turquoise ice under dramatic sky
Intricate patterns in bright turquoise glacier ice with meltwater channels and volcanic ash
Hiker exploring sculptural turquoise ice formations with complex vertical striations
Group exploration of luminous turquoise crevasse beneath overhanging glacier ceiling
Cavernous ice formation with glowing turquoise walls and explorer standing for scale
Deep glacier crevasse with turquoise walls and vertical ice formations above
Hiker in red jacket navigating complex ice terrain on Breiðamerkurjökull glacier in Iceland