Northern Lights Hunt at Fossavatnsgangan
a story from Gunnar “The Worldloppet Skier” Zlöbl
Is there a more mystical thing than the Northern Lights? Snow, minus degrees, mountains a dark night and then, the Aurora Borealis start to dance on the night sky… Somehow it is hard to describe. You just have to see it on your own.
The last Worldloppet race of the season, the Fossavatnsgangan in Iceland is your chance to do so, while skiing. Ok, to be honest, the race date late in April (20th) is not the peak season for northern lights. But it is still possible to see them. Specially this year, as in 2024 the solar activity cycle has its peak.
Some tips to hunt and find the Northern Lights
Last year, when I travelled to Isafjordur to ski the Fossavatnsgangan Night race (which is taking place 3 weeks before the main race), I was lucky: Already on the plane, when heading to Reykjavik I saw the Aurora Borealis for the first time in my life. Then a few days later, our Northern Lights hunt was successful again. The chances these days were not the best, but we still stayed up late and finally around midnight the sky turned green. Let me tell you, this moment… The Icelandic snow covered mountains in front and the ice fjord in the back and above me Aurora dancing… It is indescribable.
