At Mercy of the Wind: Snowkiting the Greenland Ice Cap
In May 2019 a three man team aimed to snow kite 2,300km across the Greenland Ice Cap. They were headed to Qaanaq, a lonely outpost in Northwest Greenland and the home of the hardy indigenous people known as the Polar Eskimo.
The rotor blades made a familiar “whop-whop-whop” sound as the helicopter touched down on the dull grey frozen surface.
Polar Guide Carl Alvey and his two clients bundled out as snow crystals filled the air, blasted into a frenzy by the downdraft. After hauling equipment from the belly of the aircraft, they crouched next to their sledges as it manoeuvred upward, away from their drop point near Narsaq, the most accessible southerly point of the Greenland Ice Cap.
The hulking sheet of ice smothers all but the fractured and mountainous coastline of the world’s largest island.
Get free access to
all stories.
Enter your email address,
and get an instant sign-in link.
Already have an account? Sign in
Essential cookies only.
We only use cookies that are necessary for signing in and hiding this notification. Nothing more. We do not track you using cookies.