Húsafell Stone


The Húsafell Stone is a lifting stone located in Húsafell, Iceland. The stone weighs 186 kg and was kept near a sheep pen built by reverend Snorri Björnsson over two hundred years ago.
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 goat pen where it is located. The Húsafell Stone is known as pen slab in Iceland, as it was used as a door to the sheep pens. Someone who could only lift the stone up to their knees would be lazybones, those who could lift it up to the waist would be considered half-strong, and a full-strong could lift it up to the breast and walk with it around the perimeter of the sheep pen.

In strongmen competitions

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. Canadian strongman Gregg Ernst set a record at the 1992 WSM by carrying the Húsafell Stone 70 metres. The record was broken during Iceland's Strongest Man 2017, where Hafþór Björnsson carried the stone for 90 metres.
In recent years, replicas are created and used in events at strongman competitions all over the world.