Spend a night at Camp Ice Cap near Kangerlussuaq. It’s a magic moment. Waking up in a small, cosy tent and looking out over the seemingly endless white ice cap near Kangerlussuaq makes you feel small and invincible at the same time.Small, knowing that the amazing wilderness around you is a mere fraction of the Greenland ice sheet, in all covering 1, 710, 000 square kilometres, or roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. But invincible too, as you can easily pretend that you are a real explorer on a much longer trip, minus the dangerous hardships.
The Greenland ice sheet, covers 1, 710, 000 square kilometres, or roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland.
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The dome shaped kitchen tent was already there when we arrived, glowing like a welcoming big orange in this world of white and ice blue. In groups of two and two we pitched our own tents, a great way to make new friends while at the same time making sure each tent was securely fastened in the ground, or rather in the snow covered ice, with sturdy ice screws.
It was a happy little crowd that enjoyed dinner in the orange dome while the full moon lit up the sky, giving the magnificent surroundings an eerie and precious look, as if we were in the middle of an exquisite oil painting.
It’s exciting too. After breakfast the following morning, it’s time to explore on foot. Anyone who is reasonably fit is able to join a day-hike on the Kangerlussuaq Ice Cap. Equipped with crampons and walking sticks we walk in a line, following in the footsteps of our experienced guide Kim.
Not even this ice cap veteran Dane knows exactly what the ice situation is going to be like or precisely where it will be possible for us to make our way over it.
He does know the ice language however, showing us nature’s different signs and leading us over soft snowfields with tracks of Arctic hare and through winding tunnels of ice that comes in every imaginable shade of blue. We marvel again and again over nature’s own works of art, all part of the adventure in this untamed region.
The silence is so palpable you can almost hear it. There is not an airplane, not a sound of any kind, signs of other humans nowhere in sight. At the end of this trip we do not only feel small and invincible, but humble too. Camping on the Greenland ice sheet is a lifetime experience.
WOGAC offers winter and summer experiences at Camp Ice Cap
By: Kicki Lind, a curious and independent writer based in Sweden, www.kickilind.se.
