Skessuhorn

by North Ice · Sightseeing day tours · Reykjavík

Fine on your own
Adults only

from €412.3 per person

Next departure: Thu 22 Oct

1 / 10

10 photos from North Ice. Tap any one for the full-size original.

Duration
12 hours
Difficulty
Challenging
Season
All year
Starts in
Borgarnes
Pickup
Hotel pickup available at extra cost, or meet at the start point
Starts at
Skessuhorn
N1 gas station Brúartorg 1 , Borganes
Guide
Guided in English, Icelandic
Departs
08:00
Cancellation
Cancelling costs 20% of the price within 6 days of departure.

Meeting point, in North Ice's words: null

About this experience

About the tour

Skessuhorn is one of the most fun mountains to climb close to Reykjavík. The north west ridge is a beautiful climb with an alpine feeling.

We start with one hour drive from Reykjavík heading north-west to the valley Skorradalur. When we get to the destination, we will go over the task for the day. When we are ready, we begin the approach to the base of Mt. Skessuhorn.
Approach takes from 3 to 4 hours over swamps, rocks and beautiful landscape. We have a few rivers to go over on the way, but they are small and usually not hard to pass.

Under the mountain we gear up for the climb and have some lunch. After a bite we’ll go over how to climb and how to use some of the climbing gear.

For the hard parts of the climb our guide will climb up 15-30meters and bring you up, so you are always climbing on top rope. Climbing the ridge takes from 2-3 hours and is one of the most fun ridges to climb in Iceland.

This is not a super difficult one but a fun one.
On the summit we grab some photos and enjoy the view before going back down. There are two options one the way back. we can hike back the normal hiking trail or rappel back down the ridge, our guide will take that decision and let you know.

When we are off the mountain we walk back to the car. After long day of hiking and climbing it's nice to get to the car and have some drinks.

Description from the operator, North Ice. Prices and availability in the booking panel are live.

Where you go

How to get to Skessuhorn
Skessuhorn

Included

Local guides, climbing gear, ropes, helmets,
carabiners harness.

Not included

You should bring:

Warm clothes,

rain gear; pants & jacket,

down-or primaloft jacket (can be nice on lunch break),

good hiking boots,

hat & gloves,

backpack 20-30l,

food & water for the day,

sunglasses,

hiking poles.

Good to know

You should bring:

Warm clothes,

rain gear; pants & jacket,

down-or primaloft jacket (can be nice on lunch break),

good hiking boots,

hat & gloves,

backpack 20-30l,

food & water for the day,

sunglasses,

hiking poles.

Cancellation for this tour

Cancelling costs 20% of the price within 6 days of departure. If the operator cancels for weather or safety, you get a full refund or a new date.

Why this one and not the cheaper one?

The nearest cheaper Reykjavík Luggage Storage in BSI Bus Terminal from BagBee is €12 — €400 less. Here is every difference we can actually measure.

	North Ice · €412	BagBee · €12
Changing your mind	Not stated	Free until 2 h before
How hard it is	Challenging	Easy

On everything we can measure, the BagBee tour is the better buy. The €400 is not buying anything we can point to, so unless you want this operator in particular, take the cheaper one.

Who this is not for

Not for anyone unsure on their feet or carrying an injury — the operator rates this as physically demanding, and there is no easy version of the day.
Not a good fit if you want a relaxed day: 12 hours is a long time on the road, most of it spent getting there and back.

Read off the operator's own conditions. If none of it applies to you, this is a good one.

Why we list it

North Ice is one of 204 operators we work with — chosen for reliability, honest descriptions and how they treat guests when weather changes plans. We don't list everything; we list what we'd book ourselves. The six checks every operator passes →

What travellers say about North Ice

Read all 35 reviews on Google →

Operator rating 5.0/5 from Google — these are reviews of the company, not this specific tour. Shown as Google returns them, unedited.

Gert Pauwels
★★★★★ · 4 years ago
If you ever visit Iceland, you should definitely try ice climbing. If you prefer to do this with a small group with a very personal approach and very experienced guides, then you should definitely contact North Ice Expeditions. Our guide Bergur was really great and gave us a wonderful experience to take home with us. The scenery and the views on the Sólheimajökull glacier were unreal.
Hannah Hingston
★★★★★ · 4 years ago
We booked a summit hike of Hvannadalshnukur and a day of ice climbing with North ice expeditions and were not disappointed! Bergur, our guide, was extremely experienced and professional. For us, the summit hike was our first summit on the top of a glacier and he provided all the equipment and advice and we felt very safe. Bergur recommended the ice climbing - and we had a awesome time exploring the glacier and it's crevasses! 10/10 - would recommend.
Lori Mac
★★★★★ · 2 years ago
Bergur was absolutely fantastic! A different company cancelled on us and North Ice stepped up and took us on an unforgettable adventure. They actually opened up on a day they were closed! We enjoyed the views at the summit and were very lucky as the sun came out as soon as we hit the glacier 😁 but you should prepare for wind, rain and cold as it is Iceland. This company is professional and deserves your business. Also, thank you Bergur for driving over two hours to meet us.
Alyssa Sismaet
★★★★★ · 4 years ago
100% highly recommend this tour company! They are a small business which I liked. Our tour guide Bergur was great! We did the ice climb/glacier walk 4 hour tour and it ended up just being us two with our guide which was nice, but they do pretty small groups either way for a more personalized experience. We asked Bergur tons of questions and he made sure we felt safe and secure on the ice and while ice climbing - for someone with a fear of heights it was really relieving! 4 hours felt like a perfect amount, we had three different places to try ice climbing if we wanted. We got to see a lot of the glacier. Don’t hesitate to book a tour with them, they’re great!! I wish more people wrote reviews for them to make it easier to find.

Reviews from Google · updated 21 Oct 2026

Reviews from our travellers

Only people who booked this tour through us can write here. We publish every review in full — good or bad.

Reviews arrive the day after each trip — none yet for this one. After your tour we send one email asking how it was, and what you write goes here, unedited.

Hotels

Where to stay for this tour

Places to stay near Borgarfjörður, from our hotel partners. Rooms are booked on our hotels site. Ourhotels is our sister company — the same people, a different business — so we list it first and say so.

All hotels in West Iceland →

One checkout, any number of operators
Rankings are not for sale
203 operators vetted, and not all of them accepted
If it falls short, we fix it

from

€412.3 per person

North Ice's own price. 3% off the whole trip when you book two or more tours together, in one checkout.

Your date

The next departure we can see — change it if this tour is for another day.

Pick a date to check departures.

Departs08:00

Borgarfjörður: light 08:37–17:44, 9 h 7 min of daylight.

· Cancelling costs 20% of the price within 6 days of departure.
✓ Instant confirmation by email
✓ If North Ice cancels for weather or safety: a full refund, or another date
✓ Card — Apple Pay or Google Pay where your device offers it — through Stripe; the charge is made in Icelandic krónur
✓ Price promise: North Ice's own price, or we refund the difference
✓ One checkout, even with tours from several operators
✓ Vetted operator — the six checks every operator passes

Pairs well with

Add any of these to this tour and 3 % comes off both at checkout — about €17 on the cheapest pair. One basket, one payment, however many operators they come from.