An adventure week at the Inland Ice Cap

Spend a night on the inland ice!

8 eventful days for the active and adventurous! Out in the wilderness, on the Polar circle, close to the gigantic inland ice, is the West Greenlandic settlement and Atlantic airport; Kangerlussuaq.

This travel offers big experiences of the wild nature with flocks of reindeers and musk oxen, polar hares, grouse, ravens and gerfalcons. They live in the fantastic hilly area, which goes through the Arctic tundra and huge glacier fronts. An area, where the sun is reflected in glacial lakes and where waterfalls break the silence.

This travel is perfect, if you like a lovely and active holiday. You will ride mountain bike, hike, go canoeing, spend a night in a camp on the inland ice and sail on the Kangerlussuaq fiord. So prepare yourself for excursions and  experiences that you will never forget.

Day to day programme:
Day 1:    Copenhagen/Kangerlussuaq – accommodation in Old Camp
Day 2:    Mountain bike ride to Sugar Loaf – Hike to the waterfall
Day 3:    Canoeing - Hike – Spend the night in a tent camp
Day 4:    Excursion to the Garnet hill – Return to the rowing club
Day 5:     The Russell Glacier – Boat trip on the fiord
Day 6:     Point 660 – The inland ice - Camp Ice Cap (spend the night on the inland ice)
Day 7:     Hike to the Russell Glacier – Return to Kangerlussuaq
Day 8:     Kangerlussuaq/Copenhagen

Day 1, flight Copenhagen – Kangerlussuaq (Denmark – Greenland)
You will fly with Air Greenland´s Airbus from Copenhagen to Kangerlussuaq arriving in the morning.

Kangerlussuaq was earlier an American military base, so even though it has a scenic nature as background, the presence of the Americans during both the Second World War and the cold war are still visible.

Today the characteristic huts are used for accommodation and conference facilities, and a fighter wreck at the entrance to the Sandflugtsdalen is a tourist attraction. The new houses, however, has got the traditional colours and brighten up the landscape both summer and winter.

You will be accommodated at the youth hostel; Old Camp. The youth hostel is situated in the old officer huts with a direct view of the scenic landscape and the longest Greenlandic fiord; Kangerlussuaq. After you have settled at the Old Camp, there will be an information meeting and thereafter you go on a mountain bike ride round the base and the surrounding area.

In the evening you have dinner at the Old Camp, where you can enjoy the sunset over the hillside.

Day 2, Mountain bike ride to Sugar Loaf – Hike to the waterfall
You bike to the bottom of the 353 metres high mountain; Sugar Loaf. From there, there is an hour of hiking, before you are rewarded with the most beautiful view of the fiord, the airport and the Inland Ice. The terrain is hilly and you will go by gravel roads.

Afterwards you continue by bike for a while, before you hike again. This time the hike ends at the waterfall. A river is made during the summertime, where the melting water from the Inland Ice runs through a gorge. You will have your lunch in a lively area among cotton grass and willow scrubs, and maybe you are lucky to see musk oxen. 

Day 3, Canoeing - Hike – we spend the night in a tent camp
Today you are going canoeing! After breakfast you will be taken to the Rowing Club by Tasersuaq (Lake Ferguson), where there are canoes and kayaks waiting for you.  During the morning you row to the end of the lake, where you camp for the night. The afternoon will be spent on a hike and perhaps a climb south of Lake Ferguson.  You will spend the night in tents, which bring you closer to the nature and its total silence.

Day 4, Excursion to the Garnet hill – Return to the rowing club
The whole morning will be spent at the Garnet Hill armed with a hammer, so you can look for the glittering red stones of garnet. It is a beautiful area, where little spots of the wild rosemary, the yellow rose root and the small willow herb stand out from the grey-brown hills. Of course you also need to bring a camera, while this is the area where you most likely meet small groups of musk oxen.

Day 5, The Russell Glacier – Boat trip on the fiord
In the morning you will drive the exciting road to the Russell Glacier, and it is impossible not to be impressed by the sight of the 80 metres vertical wall of ice with a roaring river in front. It is an amazing sight, which puts the force of nature in perspective. The ice is creaking and once in a while floes of ice breaks off. The surroundings are spectacular – the huge deserted area is fascinating and makes you fell insignificant.

Musk oxen and reindeers often come by, so if you see a large dark spot in a distance, which looks like a rock, it might be one of the thousands of musk oxen in the area.

After hours of impressions you will be picked up by the bus, which brings you to the harbour. A lovely boat trip in the late afternoon on the fiord is going to begin. Somewhere in the hills you go ashore and have a love Greenlandic barbecue, and if you want to wander around in the area or do a little fishing from the coast, there will of course be time for that.

Day 6, Point 660 – The Inland Ice - Camp Ice Cap (spend the night on the Inland Ice)
Earlier the enormous ice sheet has been reserved for though polar explorer, but now we offer you the opportunity to experience the inland ice easy and convenient. The beauty of the adventurous landscape with rivers of melting water, crevasses and lakes is overwhelming. After a run through the program and the equipment you will ride a special designed vehicle 37 kilometres east to Point 660 – one of the most beautiful ice fronts in Greenland.  This will be the starting point of a small scaled expedition on the inland ice. Wearing steigeisen and walking sticks you will go out on the ice and a couple of hours later, you will reach the camp-area, which will be settled with the tour guide. The dinner contains of freeze dried food spiced with stories about the ice and social gathering in the “common-tent”.

Day 7, Hike to the Russell Glacier – Return to Kangerlussuaq
Another exciting day on the ice begins. You hike towards the Russell Glacier, which its impressive vertical wall s of ice, and on the way you will pass small rivers of melting water, crevasses and lakes. Again you will be wearing steigeisen and walking sticks, but no ropes, while the terrain is safe all the time. The lunch is eaten on the way or back in the camp depending on the weather. Early in the afternoon you return to Kangerlussuaq.

Day 8, Flight from Kangerlussuaq to Copenhagen
This is the last chance to enjoy Kangerlussuaq and Greenland before the flight back to Copenhagen.