Scale: 1:10 000

Contours: 2,5 m

Size: A4

Authors: Jan Gaute Buvik (2010), Morten Lassen, Lotte Hjort

Year: summer 2013

Area: 4,62 km²

The first map of this area was drawn by Jan Gaute Buvik in Mars 2010. The map was in the same scale with contours 5. As vegetation is growing and changing very fast, major revision was made by Morten Lassen and Lotte Hjort in summer 2012 and 2013 and contours changed to 2,5 m.

Heiðmörk is a large forest area and a popular recreational site situated in a vast lava field at the outskirt of Icelandic Capital.

Both the terrain and vegetation vary a lot in different parts of the map. From fast running to hard to pass passages.

On the western, north-western and eastern edge of the map runners can be tricked by rough lava terrain, full of details, boulders, cliffs, knolls, erosion gullies and depressions of various size and depth. Most of the lava is covered by thick layer of moss which makes moving in them even slower and treacherous. Special attention and slower pace is recommended in those parts.

In the southern third of the map, you get to open land hills. At most of those hills bare rocks are drawn in the map indicating bare parts with big (but not tall) boulders not overgrown by vegetation and moss. Seasonal marshes are common too, mainly showing larger flat mud sections, even though often dry in summer they are always very distinct. Where similar places are dominated by stones (patterned ground) the symbol for sandy ground is used.

Vegetation and forested areas vary a lot, too. In some semi-open area tall lupina plants can slow runners down and even though Icelandic trees are rarely tall, one gets easily trapped in very thick and almost impassable network of branches and crooked bushes. Passable passages are indicated wherever existing but as the low undergrowth is growing rapidly, those may be visible but not necessarily  easy to follow. Further revision of vegetation surrounding the controls will be made for the race.

Find more pictures from ICE-O 2010, 2011 and 2013 held in Heiðmörk at our flickr page.