Akureyri, the snow sports capital of Iceland, is ready for their big winter festival – the Iceland Winter Games (IWG). Bringing a variety of events to the mountains in the North of Iceland, the IWG are pushing Icelandic snowboard development on all levels.

Icelandic Snowboard Championships in Big Air (WST NATIONAL)

On April 2nd, the Icelandic Snowboard Championships in Big Air will go down as a World Snowboard Tour NATIONAL level contest where the local Icelandic snowboarders will compete together with big names from the snowboard world. Finnish snowboarder Antti Autti, an X-Games Gold medalist, will be up as well as the Olympic medalist USA rider Scotty Lago. Check out the riders field here: http://www.icelandwintergames.com/en/competitors/snowboarders

Mohawks and GoPro snowboard Rail Jam

After the Big Air contest, the riders move downtown to shred the rail park in the heart of Akureyri for the Mohawks and GoPro snowboard Rail Jam – another highlight for the Icelandic Rookies and Groms.

Volcanic Big Air Super Showdown

Apart from the World Snowboard Tour contest, the IWG crew is taking care of spectacular scenes in the park of Mt. Hlíðarfjall. At the Volcanic Big Air Super Showdown, invited riders from Europe (Antti Autti and Stefan Mauerer) are battling it out against the North-American team (Scotty Lago and Greg Bretz) in a  showdown on a huge kicker which just looks like a real Icelandic volcano – of course special light and smoke effects included. The Volcanic Big Air Super Showdown will go down on April 1st during night. This showdown is a part of an international video contest held by Iceland Winter Games. The videos will be premiered during the White Night party at Sjallinn on Saturday 2nd of April and voting will be on the IWG Facebook page.

Open Slopestyle Session

As warm-up for the fantastic weekend to begin, the event organizers invite to an open slopestyle session for helping local riders to progress their riding skills, increasing competition experience, and first and foremost: to enjoy the perfectly shaped Hlidarfjall park.

So much more for snow sports lovers

With that being not enough, the IWG are offering many more activities throughout the whole weekend such as snowmobile competition and the first ever Freeride competition in Iceland at Mt. Múlakolla – Troll Paninsula. Details about all the activities and events offered can be found on www.icelandwintergames.com

About Iceland Winter Games

Iceland Winter Games (IWG) is running into its 3rd year and is one of the fastest growing winter festivals. Starting in 2014 as a single event, AFP world tour Freeskiing competition, IWG has become one of the biggest winter festivals in Europe, with events ranging from ski- and snowboard competitions, on jumps carved from the snow like Icelandic volcanoes, to the Icelandic National Dog sledding championship. Outdoor and winter sport activists will find a great variety of events to enjoy or partake in… and in breathtaking landscape! Iceland Winter Games hosts events found nowhere else, like the “Volcanic Big Air” freeski and snowboard competition, “Peak to Surf” ski tours on the Troll peninsula, Arctic horseback riding, snowmobile competitions and many more.

Iceland Winter Games hometown of Akureyri is a small city in comparison to almost any city in the world, but still one of the biggest in Iceland with a population of just under 20.000 inhabitants. Located in north-east Iceland, Akureyri is in one of the longest fjords in the country and is surrounded by mountains reaching 1000-1500 m. The Arctic Circle in only 60 km north of Akureyri but still the climate is mild, with summer temperatures up to 25°C and winter temperatures in average around 0˚C. Despite the small size of the city, it’s buzzing with life and everyone seems to be involved in some type of outdoor winter sport and activity. Earlier this year, Lonely Planet chose Akureyri as the Nr. 1 “Best place in Europe 2015” and Mt. Hlíðarfjall Ski resort was nominated as one of the Top 12 most exotic ski resorts in the world.

In 2015, Iceland Winter Games merged with the North-Icelandic festival, “Blizzard”, making it the biggest winter festival in Iceland with over 60 events in the course of just one week. The events showcase all that the north of Iceland has to offer in winter activities, with all the major tour operators working with Iceland Winter Games, taking their guests on breathtaking tours in their modified super jeeps, helicopters, 

Apart from the great variety of events hosted by Iceland Winter Games, opportunity for amazing and “once in a lifetime” experience is all part of Iceland Winter Games. Having the chance of skiing under the northern lights in Mt. Hlíðarfjall’s beautiful and diverse slopes, Outback Heli- or Catskiing from the mountain tops of the Troll peninsula, ending the ride on an Icelandic black sand beach and going for a surf in the Arctic Ocean, is something that can’t be experienced anywhere else in the world!

For more information about Iceland Winter Games, please contact us at The North Iceland Event Office:

Erik Newman: erik@vidburdastofa.is 

David Gunnarsson: david@vidburdastofa.is