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Snaefellsjokull
Glacier - Rated #1
on New York Magazine's Follow-Your-Bliss List
Of the fifty euphoria-inducing destinations that will make you forget about crummy weather, bad traffic, and just about anything else Snaefellsjokull rated number one on New York Magazines FOLLOW-YOUR-BLISS LIST in October 2005. See The Follow-Your-Bliss List (1) Snaefellsjokull, Iceland Get totally transcendental atop a volcanic glacier - then ski down it. The cratered peak of Snaefellsjokull is most famously recognized as the gateway down in Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth, but these days the glacier is konwn for a different kind of descent. Ten months of the year (the glacier is closed in January and February), intrepid alpine skiers flock to this inactive volcano for nine-plus miles of uninterrupted glacial terrain, ending in greenery, fantastically bizarre lava formations, and an arctic-tern colony in the fishing hamlet of Arnarstapi. A ski lift will take you up partway, but the only way to the top is via snowmobile and a little ice climbing. Mystics believe the mountain is a healing source of "energy radiation" on par with the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge. True or not, the view from the top, a seemingly endless stretch of snowcapped peaks and foamy ocean, is transcendental. As Verne put it, "Where the earth ended and the sea began was impossible for the eye to distinguish...I wholly forgot who I was." The next 9 places on the list are: (2) Yap, Micronesia (3) Bray, England (4) Tokyo, Japan (5) Boca Paila, the Yucatán (6) Kerala, India (7) Glasgow, Scotland (8) Macao, China (9) Mount ilimanjaro, Tanzania (10) Gobi Desert, Mongolia.
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