The Eternity Fjord. The name casts a spell on most of those who hear it, and it is not only the name which hints at hidden magic. In the alpine mountains around this fjord north of Maniitsoq on the west coast of Greenland some of the biggest backcountry skiing adventures in the country lie hidden among jagged peaks and azure glaciers.
You don’t check into a sports hotel in the Eternity Fjord. Instead, you bring your own accommodation in the shape of a local tour boat. From a ship based platform the backcountry world opens up for trips into the unknown and up, up, up past rough, rocky cliffs, softly curving snow fields, and spellbinding glaciers where crevasses expose all kinds of blue tones in the ice. And looking back you will see how the distance covered has already turned your basecamp into a tiny colored dot on the fjord surface.
Ship based ski touring is a luxury that feels like home and where just about any kind of skiing interest in your group can be met. The captain and the mountain guide simply move the hotel to an area with the type of runs you and your group are looking for. And don’t worry, first runs are everywhere.
Ski Touring IN East Greenland
Ski touring in East Greenland’s Ammassalik District is operated right from the doorstep of one of the world’s smallest international airports on the island of Kulusuk, just two hours by plane from Iceland’s capital Reykjavik.
Remoteness, alpine peaks, and local culture are the keywords here, where the adventure begins by taking a boat from the ice edge in Kulusuk just a short distance from the airport runway.
That’s right, you basically walk and drive your gear straight out onto the thick sea ice, where the boat awaits, and from there you go to Kuummiut, a couple of hours up the Ammassalik Fjord, where you make landfall in a village with roughly 300 inhabitants.
Kulusuk is a typical Greenlandic fishing and hunting community, and out here you will live in a guest house converted from a private home, and be treated to one of the best combinations of hospitality and sublime skiing terrain anywhere.
Kuummiut is known for its combination of deep snow, immense nature, curious kids with a keen skiing interest, and remote snowmobile-supported alpine experiences around the high altitude Tasiilaq Mountain Hut near the famous jagged Triplets peaks. This is what makes ski touring in Greenland truly unique.
