Iceland Forest Service | Thórsmörk Trailteam

Apr 12

Returning to Thórsmörk

We made an early start to the season this week with our first trip to Thórsmörk.

As well as delivering equipment ahead of the volunteer teams, it was a valuable opportunity to take a look at conditions on the trails and in the forest as the snow clears, and to make some final decisions about our work priorities for the season.

It was very nice to back at our volunteer camp at Langidalur (it felt like returning home), and exciting to begin preparations for another Trailteam summer. Our first international volunteers will be with us in less than 6 weeks time and we are looking forward to getting back on work on the trails.

Pictures taken at Langidalur volunteer camp on April 11th.

Feb 20

Summer ready

After weeks of applications and interviews, our summer teams are now finally (just about) ready.

Once again, this year we received a lot of interest in the placements with many strong applicants and there were some difficult decisions when making the selection. A couple of new teams were added to the programme so that we could include as many as possible.

Our 2022 teams are made up of participants from 18 countries and include first-time volunteers, returners and others with placements that were deferred due to travel disruption last summer. We are delighted that several of our most experienced volunteers will be returning as team leaders this summer and we very much look forward to working with them again.

We plan to return to Thórsmörk for preparations and trail survey tasks in April (when conditions allow) and our first volunteers will begin the practical work in May.

Jan 29

Trailteam summer adventures

The teams are now almost ready and we will soon be heading back to Thórsmörk for another summer of Trailteam adventures. This season we plan to host approximately 40 international volunteers in our 3 and 6-week teams and our volunteer camps will open for the first arrivals in May.

Gathering the teams is the highlight of our winter work and it has been very exciting to meet many new volunteers as well as catch up with old friends who are planning to join us again. As always, we have put together an ambitious summer programme and we are very much looking forward to returning for our tenth season in Thórsmörk and Goðaland.

Despite some ongoing uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we remain cautiously optimistic that our plans will go ahead and that we will be able to return to the trails in May.

We are now coming to the end of our search for volunteers for 2022. Applications will close at the end of Monday, January 31st so if you are thinking about joining us, please do get in touch.