By Felix Belczyk
- former Olympics Combined Downhill Bronze Winner - 1988 Calgary Alberta
From my first trans-Atlantic flight between Western Canada and Europe as a member of the Canadian Ski Team, I hatched a plan to one day ski Greenland. The flight path over Greenland allowed me to see, when conditions were right this amazing land filled with ice and snow covered mountains. Opportunity knocked in the spring of 2004, and I did not hesitate.
However as our helicopter landed us in Ittoqqortoormiit, Eastern Greenland, I had little expectations of the type of skiing I would have other than what I had seen from 30,000 feet. Nothing, though could have prepared me for the experience I was to receive. From the initial vistas of the multitude of glaciers reaching the ice covered fjords, too distant mountain peaks continually bathed in sunshine, and a quaint colorful village that could be at the end of the earth, I knew that this would be no ordinary ski trip.
Our group consisting of 3 Icelanders, 4 Americans, and 2 Canadians led by our guides from Reykjavik were towed 15 km from the village by dogsleds to our base camp at the head of a glacier. An interesting feature of Liverpool Land other than the complete lack of vegetation was how mild the glaciers grade was in comparison to the steep mountain ridges that separated them. From where we were camped the glaciers like long narrow fingers, flowed seemingly in all directions, and provided an easy and safe conduit for travel to the base of any of the mountain slopes that we wished to ski. The late spring time frame, in a twenty-four hour sun exposed environment created a stable snow pack of mostly very carve-able corn snow but could also throw at us anything from bullet proof ice to 20cm of slush. The unlimited mountain pitches that varied from steep couloirs to open slopes brought to light that we had truly entered a ski touring Mecca.
Base camp was located at about 700m and with the mountains topping out at about 1500m, it left us about 800m of vertical to play on. The rush of ripping down a steep couloir was heightened by knowing that nobody had ever skied here before. Other than Inuit hunters and the odd summer tourist seeking hiking or climbing we were skiing on completely virgin terrain.
With easy access via glacier to the base of our desired run, we would pound up a steep slope accessing a ridge that would then reward us with not only the slope we had just climbed but something equally or more wicked, just on the other side. By touring along the ridge, new run options continually presented themselves. From the top of any ridge, we had amazing views of the neighboring mountains. They were so close, that it was possible to visually pick out a line down one the various pitches that we next wanted to ski. So planning our next accent/descent was as simple as studying a ski area trail map. The most difficult part, like always was getting consensuses from our group as too which great ski run to tear up next.
During the week we became more skilled at staying ahead of the curve of the sun so as to reach the top of a desired slope just as the sun had warmed it perfectly. The non-stop sun light, would mean our day usually consisted of two runs in the morning, another after lunch and for the keenest a fourth run at midnight, just because we could. All this added up to approximately 2000m vertical per day of pure adrenalin filled fun.
The people of Ittoqqortoormiit gave us a warm welcome and after a week on the glacier, the needed comforts of great meal and a warm bed. My Greenland experience in Ittoqqortoormiit was without a doubt the best ski touring trip I have been on and ranks high on my list of favorite experiences on snow!
