Mountaineer John Snorri Sigurjónsson completed 8 of planned 14 trips up and down Esja mountain, Vísir reports. The ambitious hike is a fundraising venture for his planned trip up K2, the world’s second-highest mountain. John Snorri plans to be the first to top the mountain in winter. He had planned to make the 14 trips in 28 hours, but an injury stopped him short. None the less, 8 trips up and down the Esja mountain in 18 hours is no small feat.
The combined length of the 14 Esja climbs is slightly longer than what John Snorri will have to traverse to climb K2, which is 8,611 metres (28,251 feet) high. He invited friends and supporters to join him for one or more of the 14 hikes. Among his company on the first trip up was Dean Carriere, who climbed Manasla with John Snorri this fall: the world’s eighth-highest peak.
John Snorri plans to start his K2 climb in January. When asked why he was setting out on the challenge, Snorri stated “Because I know I can do it and I want to see the Icelandic flag on the top of K2 in the winter. The first flag in the world, for it to be Icelandic. No one can take that away. It will always be the first flag that stood on K2 in wintertime.” John stopped the hike due to an inflammation in his right knee. “It’s no major issue but since there are only two weeks until I leave for Pakistan I thought it was sensible to not risk any further injuries. These sprints up and down the Esjan were mainly thought as both practice and for fundraising, but not to jeopardize the project,” John said in an announcement.
John’s K2 trip is expected to cost between ISK 22-24 million ($180,000-196,000/€161,000-176,000). Locals who would like to support the journey can make a bank transfer to the account 549-26-52, kennitala (social security number) 200673-5499.
Esjan
Esjan is 914 metres high, looking over Reykjavík 10 kilometres from the north. It is a popular pastime to climb the mountain in both summer and wintertime. Esjan is a volcanic range of mountains rather than a single mountain, but is still spoken of as one mountain. John Snorri climbed up towards Steinn rock in the Esjan mountain, which is approximately a 6.6 kilometre hike from the starting point as well a climb of 597 metres.
