Húsafell Stone

The Húsafell Stone is a lifting stone located in Húsafell, Iceland.[1] The stone weighs 186 kg (410 lb)[1] and was kept near a sheep and goat pen built by reverend Snorri Björnsson over two hundred years ago.[1]

The Húsafell Stone.

The stone has been used as a test of strength by either simply lifting the stone, or by lifting and carrying the stone around the sheep and goat pen where it is located. The Húsafell Stone is known as pen slab (Kvíahellan) in Iceland, as it was used as a door to the sheep pens.[1] Someone who could only lift the stone up to their knees would be lazybones,[lower-alpha 1] those who could lift it up to the waist would be considered half-strong,[lower-alpha 2] and a full-strong[lower-alpha 3] could lift it up to the chest and walk with it around the perimeter of the sheep pen.[2]

In strongmen competitions
An athlete carrying a replica of the Húsafell Stone at Brodick Highland Games.

When the event was featured at the 1992 World's Strongest Man competition held in Iceland and using the actual Húsafell Stone, it proved to be a very popular and influential event in the sport of strongman.[3] Canadian strongman Gregg Ernst set a record at the event by carrying the stone for 70 metres.[4]

In subsequent years, replicas of varying weights and sizes of the stone were made and used in strongman competitions all over the world.[5][3] For the 1998 World's Strongest Man in Morocco, they used a similar replica which weighed 173 kg (381 lb). The overall champion Magnus Samuelsson won the event by carrying it 79.7 metres. For the 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic in Columbus, Ohio, Rogue created an exact replica which weighed the exact as the original. The overall Champion Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson won it by carrying the stone 66.7 metres around a structure which resembled the original sheep and goat pen. At 1997 World's Strongest Man in Nevada, four Scandinavians Magnus Samuelsson, Svend Karlsen, Jouko Ahola and Flemming Rasmussen managed to carry a 163 kg (359 lb) replica for more than 80 metres.

The Húsafell Stone or it's variations were also used in 1993 World Viking Challenge, 1999 Britain's Strongest Man, 2004 Netherlands' Strongest Man, 2009 Norway's Strongest Man, 2013 Arnold Amateur Strongman World Championships, 2019 Strongman Champions League and in numerous other Icelandic Strongman competitions.[6]

World Record

Gregg Ernst's initial record with the original 186 kg (410 lb) stone stood for 25 years until it was finally broken during Iceland's Strongest Man 2017, by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson who carried the stone for 90 metres.[7] Hafþór further extended the world record to 98.16 metres at Iceland's Strongest Man 2019.[8]

Notes
  1. Icelandic: amlóði
  2. Icelandic: hálfsterkur
  3. Icelandic: fullsterkur

See also

References
  1. "The historic walk through Húsafell". Húsafell Tourist Services. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  2. Sigmundsson, Svavar (June 2006). "Aflraunasteinar" [Icelandic Lifting Stones] (in Icelandic). Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  3. The Husafell Stone Challenge (16 September 2010). "Diesel Crew – Muscle Building, Athletic Development, Strength Training, Grip Strength » Blog Archive » The Husafell Stone Challenge". Dieselcrew.com. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  4. Williams, Justin (1 July 2017). "The Cincinnati Strongman Is Here To Pump You Up". Cincinnati Magazine. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  5. Rogue Fitness (28 February 2019). "Road to the Arnold – 2019 – The Húsafell Stone". Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  6. strongmanarchives.com (31 December 2021). "Húsafell Stone". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  7. "Iceland's Strongest Man 2017" (video). 2017.
  8. liftingstones.org (24 March 2022). "Húsafell Stone". liftingstones.org. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
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