Jan getting in his ski boots - fine for skiing, but far from ideal for mountaineering

The route that we're following isn't traveled often, to say the least. We had some decent information about what to expect and talked to someone from a party that had been there a couple of weeks before - very likely the most recent visitors. That gave us some idea, but Jan hadn't counted on the really rough terrain lower down, with a terrible scree slope and lots of rocks on the lower part of the Svínafellsjökull glacier. His ski boots had suffered badly yesterday, and would suffer again during the first hour or so today. Mountaineering boots, like I had, were much better. However, Jan had wanted to bring skis so he could make a fast and fun descent at the end of our three day trip. Obviously he didn't want the extra weight of two pairs of boots. On the other hand, having no off-piste skiing experience, I packed snow shoes, for which mountaineering boots are fine. Once we were on the glacier he was happy with his choice, but until then he was cursing the terrain and what it did to his boots... 18 May 2018.