Hlíðarfjall / Akureyri ski resort is located in northern Iceland and is seven kilometres from Iceland’s second city, Akureyri. The top ski station on Hlíðarfjall Mountain is situated at 1000m above sea level and there is good beginner to upper intermediate terrain, as well as off-piste skiing. The slopes are illuminated for night skiing and cross-country skiing is also available.
The only facilities at the resort base (500m) are the toilets, shop and cafeteria at the Strýta ski lodge, and a couple of mountain restaurants. All other services are in Akureyri, including a symphony orchestra, art museums, and a wide range of shops offering brand-name products.
Strýta ski lodge can provide sleeping accommodation in twin rooms for 22 persons, besides having a communal sleeping area which can take 70. There are several hotels and many guesthouses in Akureyri that offer bed and breakfast. Après-ski in the town is fairly lively with theatres, cafés and restaurants, plus bars and night-clubs. A children’s ski school is also available.
There are 12kms of groomed trails at Hlíðarfjall ski resort with wide open terrain rated easy to advanced; the longest run is 2.5kms. There are four ski lifts, including one quad chair, and three surface lifts, with a total capacity for 2,500 skiers per hour. The quad (Fjarkinn) replaces an ageing lift system and now carries four times its original capacity.
Within the town limits there is a forested area (Kjarnaskögur) offering a number of walking and cross-country skiing trails. The Botanical Garden is the most northerly one of its kind in the world and is very popular. Eyjafjörður is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country, offering a great number of mapped hiking trails and horse-riding trips.
The ski season at Hlíðarfjall runs from mid-December to the end of April; opening times are 13:00-19:00, weekdays (to 21:00 on Fridays), and 10:00-17:00 on weekends. The best way to reach Hlíðarfjall ski resort would be to fly to Reykjavík, then to Akureyri and take a Ski bus from the airport.
