The unusually heavy snow that has fallen in the capital city area over the last few days has meant that Bláfjöll ski area opened on Saturday for the first time this winter. The other skiing area that serves Reykjavík, Skálafell, still remains closed. In recent years, as winters have been increasingly mild, Reykjavik ski bums have complained that local skiing has been bad – if not altogether impossible.
Over the course of this weekend, 10,000 skiers made their way to Bláfjöll, including 6,000 on Sunday alone, representing one of the busiest days in the history of the ski area’s operation.
Conditions were superb, with light powder snow. The opening of the ski area was marked by the introduction of a new electronic ski pass, which means that skiers no longer have to dig around in their pockets when queuing for lifts.
