Classic Program - What to Expect

The Troll Peninsula is every skier's dreamland with about 90% of the mountains skiable, meaning there are not many cliff faces or flat spots. The mountains are the perfect mix of steep to very steep couloirs and faces to wide open low angled glacier runs.

What really sets the Troll Peninsula apart from any other heli ski destination is the fact that you can ski up to 1300m runs all the way down to the ocean.

There are plenty of slopes for skiers of all abilities from very extreme terrain suitable for the pro riders to nice and friendly areas for the first time heli skier. The mountains of the Trolls are up to 1500m or 5000ft high but you can in many cases, ski that entire vertical all the way down to the ocean. The average heli ski run is around 900m or 3000ft in vertical drop.

Due to our northerly position there is no tree skiing in Iceland, in fact the local joke is that if you get lost in an Icelandic forest, you just have to stand up. So if you are scared of big nasty tree wells Iceland will feel pretty safe. For the best idea of what the terrain is like, please check out our video gallery.

The snow pack is predominantly coastal and in the springtime we are skiing powder in March and April, to excellent corn snow in May and June, with the occasional powder dump well into May. What really makes the snow good is the small temperature difference between night and day which makes for perfect corn snow, never too deep and never too hard.

This also means we have for the most parts very stable snow in terms of avalanche danger so we can ski steeper and more exposed lines than you would normally do heli-skiing.

Another good thing about our great corn skiing in the second half of the season is that skiers that would usually not dare venture on a heli-skiing trip where deep powder skiing skills are a must can come here and enjoy themselves just as much as the experts.

There are several reasons for choosing Arctic Heli Skiing. Please visit our WHY AHS page for further information

• Adventure of a lifetime
• Chance to ski from the peak right down to the Arctic Ocean
• Closest adventure heli skiing destination to both sides of the Atlantic
• Exclusive Heli ski packages with maximum 16 guests per week
• Ski while basking in the rays of the midnight sun late into the night
• Iceland's only certified Mountain Guides and heli ski experts with over 20 years of experience operating ski trips on the Troll Peninsula
• Canadian certified heli ski guides and pilots
• Unique cultural experience
• First descents, volcanoes, hot springs, awesome food and company

Yes you can and it is definitely one of the highlights of our operation. We have plenty of runs with a vertical descent of 1000 meters or 3000 feet with pick ups right on the coast line.  Please keep in mind that this is dependent on conditions. 

You can if you like, but we do have a good fleet of Völkl high performance skis that we encourage you try out.  Please be sure to bring your boots, and better yet in carry on luggage in case your bags get lost on the way. As for type of ski best suited for our conditions a mid fat to fat ski, and not too soft, would be the ideal. If you take your skis to the shop for a tune up before your trip make sure to ask for a warm temp wax. We do have a good ski shop for repairs and hot waxing at the lodge in case of repairs or someone not advancing downhill due to the No Wax problem.

Yes bad weather happens and you must be aware of the fact that you are up in the high Arctic in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. But fear not for we have prepared some great down day activities. Visiting Lake Mývatn Nature Reserve with all its volcanoes, hot springs and bubbling mud pools is just one of those plans. You will also have the opportunity to experience the great local culture and dip into one of the regions many geothermal baths and visit the local micro brewery (our most popular down day activity...). If you end up skiing all your days on the Troll Peninsula you will most likely want to come back for all the great down day activities.

But keep in mind the huge advantage of our northerly position, the continuous daylight, meaning that you can have bad weather until 6pm but still get out for 10 plus runs since the sun is not setting until around midnight.

Of course!  We do not discriminate against our single board friends!  Although all of our guides use skis for guiding they are very used to guiding snowboarders and are very conscious in choosing the appropriate terrain when necessary (so no long flat run outs!).  Please be aware that our snowboard selection is very limited so we do encourage snowboarders to communicate with us about their equipment prior to arriving so we can ensure that we have what you are looking for. 

The Classic program includes 4 hours of flight time on the 4 day program and 6 hours on the 6 day program compared to 5 and 7 hours on the Premium program.  The Premium program is ideal for groups of 8 skiers. The Premium program guarantees that there are only 2 groups of 4 guests sharing 1 helicopter.  With the Classic program there is the possibility of up to 3 groups of 4 skiers sharing 1 helicopter.  Our guides do a very good job of keeping things running smoothly throughout the day so that guests are not waiting around.