Programme news | Thórsmörk Trail Volunteers

Jun 27

Training week at Langidalur

Each season, we begin with a week of induction and training for our Operations Team volunteers. The aim is to prepare them for their role which includes leading the teams, organizing our camps and the day management of the programme.

Tony Newby returned to Langidalur to run the training week for our 6 Operations Team volunteers (From UK, Germany, Australia and New Zealand). The week focused on team leadership skills, safety planning and practical skills training… with a few group exercises and games involving blindfolds thrown in.

A big thank you to Tony for a great week!

May 15

Back in business… with this season’s first volunteer team at Langidalur

Preparing for a day of challenging weather…

May 8

Our third birthday!

Preparation work at the volunteer camp stopped briefly on Thursday, so that we could celebrate the volunteer programme’s third birthday with chocolate cake and coffee (a welcome break from working on the roof of the volunteer hut in freezing cold temperatures).

Established by the Icelandic Forest Service (Skógrækt ríkisins) in 2012 as a pilot project, the programme now recruits, trains and leads volunteers on trail maintenance and nature conservation projects throughout Thórsmörk, Goðaland and beyond. In 2014, over 240 weeks of volunteer work were completed.

We would like to thank our volunteers and friends for all their hard work and support over these three amazing years.

(The cake was extremely good…)

Apr 27

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Reykjavík calling… (Skype days for our volunteers)

We are on our way to Langidalur later this week, but before we go we have set aside the next two days to help our teams with their summer planning and preparations.

The teams are now all registered and we would like to invite our volunteers to get in touch with their last minute questions. This can include any questions, concerns or advice needed about any aspect of the placements. This might be about your equipment, tent, camp facilities, travel plans or literally anything else. We will be available on Skype from 09:00 – 21:00 (GMT) throughout Tuesday (tomorrow) and Wednesday. All questions are welcome!

Of course, it is possible to get in touch with us at any time, but once we move up to Thórsmörk and the practical projects get underway, communication can become more complicated. To avoid possible delays, we recommend using this opportunity over the next two days before we set off.

It would be very nice to hear from you. Simply find us on skype during the next two days…

Apr 26

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First project of the season completed…

Our search for trails free from snow lead this season’s first volunteer team to Hjálpafoss in Þjorsadalur, where we have been working on Forest Service (Skógrækt ríkisins) trail projects in recent days. Our work included landscaping around the newly built trails at Hjálpafoss and general maintenance tasks there. This project was the first time that our teams have worked away from our home area around Þórsmörk, Goðaland and the Laugavegur, since our programme began three years ago.

We would like to thank the team for joining us, for braving the cold conditions, for their hard work… and for digging the car out of the snow so many times!

Now we are warmed up and ready for the summer!