FROM EVERYDAY SKIERS TO EXTREME ICE CAP CROSSINGS

Day trips for both beginners and more advanced skiers are available in Ilulissat where the mountain guides from PGI Greenland offer a selection of shorter cross country ski trips, most of which can’t avoid the spectacle that is the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Ilulissat Ice Fjord and the icebergs in the Disko Bay.

And you will meet cross country skiers everywhere in Greenland. Trails often cut straight through town, even in the capital Nuuk, a well groomed cross country trail has seen infrastructure built around it with small tunnels and a bridge to make room for one of the most favored pastimes in the country.

A lot of us ski every day, and you will be surprised by how many small towns even have an illuminated cross country trail for those deep winter nights in December and January. Also, expect to see anyone from 3 year old kids to Arctic Circle Race winning athletes sharing the trails a sunny Saturday afternoon.

At the more extreme end of the spectrum skiers plan for years and prepare for months to cross the Greenland Ice Sheet, taking about a month to traverse the world’s second largest glacier with pulkas, often charting a route between Kangerlussuaq in the west and the tiny village of Isortoq in East Greenland.

These are highly specialized trips, but they are within the reach of more and more adventure travelers who chose to sign up for a commercial trip with a designated tour operator.