Icelandtrailteam | Thórsmörk Trail Volunteers

Feb 28

Our Highland Trailteams

This summer our volunteer teams will return to worksites on the famous Laugavegur hiking trail and once again we will be organising a programme of trail maintenance projects in partnership with The Iceland Touring Association (Ferðafélag Íslands). FÍ have been providing facilities and material support for our volunteer teams since we arrive in Thórsmörk in 2012. The valuable support that our teams receive from the hut wardens is hugely appreciated.

Planned project sites around Emstrur will be accessed by teams hiking from Langidalur and staying at wilderness camps close to the trail there but activity further north is coordinated from a volunteer camp that has been established at Hvanngil. Last season the teams focused their work on a 5km section of the trail between Hvanngil and Álftavatn where the main tasks included improving drainage, repairing damaged sections and adding about 200 new way-markers to encourage hikers to stay on the trail. Working at Hvanngil is particularly challenging due to exposed worksites and changeable weather. Our teams normally walk the 28km trail from Langidalur to Hvanngil in a day.

Despite the challenges, these long-range Highland projects are extremely popular with our teams. We change the groups between the projects each week so that participants experience a variety of locations and work tasks during their placements. Volunteers joining us for 2 weeks this season will hopefully have the opportunity to take part in the Highland projects in the second week of their placement but as always, the final decision will be made by the weather.

Throughout the main season (June-August) our volunteers will be divided into four teams working on project sites throughout the area from Monday – Friday. On Friday evenings the teams will gather at the Langidalur base camp for a meal together, a campfire and the chance to catch up with weekend plans.

We plan to open the camp at Langidalur on May 1st.

Feb 26

Trailteams ready for the summer…

Applications for the 2017 programme closed at the end of January and we have been busy putting the summer teams together.

Our request for volunteers received a huge response with hundreds of applications from over 50 countries. A (not so) shortlist was made and the Skype interviews have been completed. Most of the places are now allocated and we have waiting-lists ready to finalise any remaining placements within the next couple of weeks.

This season, the programme has received a lot of interest and allocations have taken longer than expected due to the large number of applicants. We wanted to give all the applications carefully consideration. There were many more good applications than places available and unfortunately it was not possible to accept everyone though we have added some extra places to the programme so that we can include as many as possible.

Now that we have our team, final preparations for the summer can begin!

Jan 28

Last chance to join us this summer – applications closing soon!

We have now reached the last few days of applications for our 2017 trail teams. This month we have been busy with placement planning and Skype interviews and although many of the places have now been allocated, we do still have some places available in several of the groups.

As our work area and number of teams increased last season, we have expanded our Operations team and created several new places for additional volunteer leaders. Applications will close on Tuesday, January 31st, so if you would like to join us, don’t delay!

No previous experience of trail construction work is necessary as practical training will be provided. We are looking for participants who have some experience of camping and hill walking, enjoy wilderness landscapes and are ready for a challenge. Iceland’s notoriously changeable weather means that our teams have to be well prepared with warm clothing, good waterproofs and sturdy tents. Due to the strenuous nature of our work, participants must be physically fit and as many of our work sites are in remote locations; we do a lot of hiking to get to them!

Full details and application forms… https://trailteam.is/opportunities/

Jan 10

Volunteer application update… Interviews and allocations

We are now in our second week of Skype interviews and progress has been good. We are steadily working through all the application and we have now allocated the first places. Further Skype interviews are planned throughout the next two weeks.

It is an exciting time as the summer teams are starting to take shape. Places are filling quickly so if you would like to join us this summer, don’t delay!