Basecamp

Chasing Glaciers in Iceland

PAKAFILL® Explorations: Cath Simard shares her exhilarating glacier exploration enhanced by mountaineering skills and PAKA gear.

My love for Iceland's glaciers started a long time ago. Their ephemeral and ever-changing nature has always captivated me, inspiring me to visit the country many times and photograph these frozen giants from all sides.

This past December, I embarked on a new glacier exploration alongside Niklas Söderlund, but this time with a new skill set, including mountaineering and ice climbing.

Our first mission was to ice climb a moulin during the winter solstice. Occurring annually on December 21st, it is a significant astronomical event marking the shortest day and longest night of the year, with daylight lasting approximately 4–5 hours. This adventure, for us, was more than a physical challenge; it was a connection to the rhythms of nature, the rare light of winter, the impermanence of ice, and our own fleeting presence as humans.

With crampons on, we stepped onto the glacier and trekked through crevasses until we reached higher ground, where we scouted a few moulins. The one we chose was a large, impressive 20-meter-deep frozen time capsule. After our guide built anchors, Niklas braved the unknown, descending into the moulin first with his camera to capture my climb. Once he secured himself at the bottom, it was my turn.

It was my first time ice climbing a moulin, and I didn’t know what to expect. The wall was 20 meters high, purely vertical, and the ice was extremely hard and compact—unlike anything I’d climbed before. After a few minutes of mental preparation, I swung my ice axes with full force and dug my feet into the wall. With sharp focus, I began my ascent. At first, the hard ice and the wall’s steepness were incredibly challenging. However, after a few minutes, my movements became more fluid and confident, and my mind calmed. Before I realized it, I had reached the top of the wall. I felt exhausted but proud—especially looking back at a few years ago, when I couldn’t have imagined having the capabilities to do something like this.

Niklas, who had been standing in the moulin for almost an hour, climbed next. After a sustained vertical push, he reached the top as the light slowly turned into golden hour. With our mission accomplished, it was time to make our way home.

Both our PAKA jackets performed exceptionally well during this trip. They were easy to layer over a few base layers, providing warmth during moments of stillness and breathability during the climb. The jackets allowed fluid movements and comfort while ice climbing, with the double zipper proving handy when wearing our harnesses, making it easy to adjust or remove as needed.

After an hour of hiking, we reached an incredible frozen lagoon at the glacier's foot. As night turned to dawn, we strapped on our crampons, walked across the icy lake, and headed toward the glacier. The walk itself was meditative, with only the sound of ice cracking beneath our feet breaking the silence. As we prepared to step onto the glacier, the sun rose, bathing the landscape in golden light.

Our glacier exploration involved ascending steep sections and navigating narrow crevasses. The wind gusts were fierce, occasionally pushing us toward the edges of crevasses, adding to the challenge. We explored the glacier until sunset, mesmerized by its unique formations and deep, vivid blues.

Our PAKA natural fiber jackets proved versatile in our layering system during the trip, offering enough warmth to wear under our hard shells during the windy morning and being thin enough to fit under a larger belay jacket when we were stationary.
 These adventures were profoundly humbling and a poignant reminder to explore and cherish these extraordinary frozen wonders before they fade into memory.

About the Author

Cath Simard is a photographer and digital artist known for her surreal, blue-toned landscapes that blur the line between reality and imagination. Her work is shaped by a deep connection to the wild, capturing remote mountain scenes at dusk, dawn, and night. She treats landscapes like a puzzle, combining details from multiple visits and lighting conditions to craft a single, cohesive yet surreal image. Producing just a handful of images per year, her work is a testament to endurance, transformation, and the limitless possibilities of creative expression.