Greenland ice cap ski crossing expeditions:
Next expedition: 16 April 2019 - 13 May 2019
Current number of team members: 4
Team member spots remaining: 0
2019 expedition entry now closed. Now taking applications for 2020.
28 days skiing on the ice cap - 575km - Complete west to east crossing
Join the adventure of polar travel!
Ice Horizons specialise in Greenland ice cap ski crossings. Our next ice cap ski crossing is in April-May 2019. We are the dedicated professionals to take you on one of the world’s great expeditions, a challenging coast-to-coast 28 day 575km ski crossing of extraordinarily beautiful Greenland.
Join us on an incredible journey as we ski west-east across the Greenland ice cap. We start in Kangerlussuaq in the dramatic west coast fjords of Greenland, and ski across the magical expanse of the Greenland ice cap, to finish on the east coast of Greenland in Isortoq, one of the world’s most remote and tiny Inuit villages.
This unique 28 day 575km expedition will take you on a journey in one of the world’s most spectacular environments. You will travel where very few have gone before you, indeed less people have skied across Greenland than have stood on the summit of Mount Everest.
This is polar travel in the romantic and demanding way of early explorers, where in a small team you will individually haul a sled (also known as a pulk) containing everything you need to survive and enjoy a month in the Arctic. Leaving behind the outside world and its complexity, you will find the freedom, pureness and reward that is the simplicity and uniqueness of polar ski travel. This will be a spiritual journey as much as a physical journey, one that will leave you physically at the peak of your fitness, and mentally stronger than ever before.
Yes it will be hard. Yes it will be cold. And yes it will be an amazing adventure of a lifetime, a truly remarkable and incredible achievement.
You will need to be in excellent physical condition. This is a long expedition requiring patience, stamina, mental fortitude and strong will power.
Traditionally, this type of expedition has been limited to those with technical polar knowledge. This is no longer the case. With our skill, knowledge and equipment, you can now experience the beautiful Greenland ice cap (or ice sheet as it is scientifically known) as the early explorers did before you.
Our commitment to you is to provide you with the highest quality and safest expedition experience possible. We do this by specialising in Greenland ice cap ski crossings, to ensure that every detail of the expedition is thoroughly prepared, so that nothing is left to chance. Your enjoyment and safety are paramount. It is this attention to quality, safety and price that makes Ice Horizons the perfect choice in crossing the Greenland ice cap.
We have carefully programmed the expedition to utilise the most favourable conditions for travelling across Greenland. Before mid-April the climate is too cold and windy, after mid-May the ice cap deteriorates in the approaching summer warmth. Even so, in order to undertake this expedition, you will need to be prepared to travel in potentially difficult weather conditions, day-in-day out, for 28 days. It will be cold throughout the journey, where temperatures down to -30°C can be expected. The temperatures will warm throughout the journey as spring develops, but are unlikely to rise above -2°C for the duration of the trip. When we are skiing across the ice and exerting energy, the cold weather is quite tolerable, and you can ski with relatively little clothing. When we are setting up camp or pulling it down however, the cold weather can be problematic so we will do this task as a team speedily and professionally. Once in the tents, warmth is quickly restored and we get on to the enjoyable task of preparing dinner.
This expedition is extremely physically demanding. You will need to have skiing experience (downhill experience is suitable although nordic skiing experience is preferable); and you will also need to have a very good ability to travel in a cold wilderness environment, eg good experience hiking, camping or climbing for an extended period of time in a challenging mountain or other cold climate environment. If you have any doubt about your ability to undertake this journey, feel free to contact us to discuss your experience. Primarily, if you love adventure and love facing a challenge, and are prepared to commit yourself to succeed, then you are already a long way towards crossing the ice cap.
Skiing across Greenland is a truly unique and extraordinary adventure. And with Ice Horizons, you will be in safe hands to ensure your journey will be a truly rewarding and memorable achievement. Team numbers are limited, so book early to secure your place in the team!
How to join this expedition?
If you would like to join our 2020 expedition, please complete the Expedition Application Form (see link below) and return it to us by email to icehorizons@gmail.com whereupon we shall be in contact with you within 24 hours to discuss your application. Alternatively, contact us by either email or use the Contact Form on this website to discuss the expedition, your experience and matters such as training and equipment.
Contact:
Ice Horizons Limited
63 Beechcroft Road, London SW17 7BZ United Kingdom
Email: icehorizons@gmail.com
What to expect on the ice?
One of the beautiful things about skiing across the Greenland ice cap is that a simple, effective and enjoyable daily routine develops as we move across the ice.
A typical day on the ice cap will involve waking up at 6.30am, having breakfast, packing up our equipment, and setting off skiing around 8.30am. Usually we would plan to ski around 9 hours, with 5-10 minute breaks each hour, with a longer break of 20-25 minutes at lunch. Between 5.30pm and 6.00pm we typically end skiing, then quickly set up camp, and relax as we prepare a hearty and much deserved dinner, melt snow for the following day's water, and enjoy a couple of hours rest before falling asleep around 8pm-8.30pm in a very comfortable tent and warm sleeping bag.
The distances we will cover each day will vary due to the conditions. In the initial section of the crossing, being the first 25km through a section with glacial terrain, your pulk/sled will be at its heaviest (approximately 66kg), therefore the distances we cover each day will be the shortest in the first few days. After a few days, we get beyond the glacial section to reach the flat expanse of the ice cap, and our distances will quickly increase to around 25km a day, and will then steadily improve towards a comfortable 30km a day by the end of the expedition, particularly after we reach the summit of the ice cap, at a height of around 2600 metres and situated in the centre of the ice cap.
Who will lead the expedition?
Ice Horizons Limited founder and senior guide David Paabo will lead the 2019 expedition. Originally from Australia, David has over 20 years of expedition experience around the world, in all types of wilderness environments, and has made extensive expeditions in Greenland including several expeditions on the ice cap, becoming an expert in polar ice cap travel. His particular passion is leading groups across the Greenland ice cap.
David was born in Sydney, Australia. His early childhood adventures in the Blue Mountains and Tasmania cultivated a passion for the outdoors that has stayed with him. Having completed a Law and Economics Degree at the Australian National University, he presently works as a lawyer in Karratha, Australia for Avon Legal, which he manages to balance with his outdoor passions.
David has travelled widely and to many far flung locations where he has cultivated his ambition as an explorer, largely achieving his goals as a solo adventurer or in small groups. In addition to having conducted numerous hiking and canyoning trips in his home country, David has also been involved in many mountaineering and hiking expeditions, most notably in South America where he travelled for 2 years and developed a love for the Andes mountain range, particularly the Cordillera Real in Bolivia, the Colombian National Parks of Cocuy and Los Nevados, and extensive parts of Patagonian Argentina and Chile. During his travels throughout South America, David also completed extremely challenging jungle treks in Bolivia, including the Mapiri Trail, a traverse of Madidi National Park, and a lengthy expedition in Noel Kempff Mercado NP.
David has also successfully undertaken the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea twice, as well as the Kapa Kapa Trail, on each occasion acting as the guide for small groups. He has hiked extensively through the Carpathian Mountain Range in Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, as well as the Transylvanian Alps in Romania, and the French/Spanish Pyrenees.
David has a particular love for the wilderness of Greenland and its people, and has explored numerous remote locations on trekking and skiing journeys there, as well as through kayaking trips across various fjords.
David’s other most enjoyed past times include yoga, eating, reading and lazing on tropical beaches.
Join us on an incredible journey as we ski west-east across the Greenland ice cap. We start in Kangerlussuaq in the dramatic west coast fjords of Greenland, and ski across the magical expanse of the Greenland ice cap, to finish on the east coast of Greenland in Isortoq, one of the world’s most remote and tiny Inuit villages.
This unique 28 day 575km expedition will take you on a journey in one of the world’s most spectacular environments. You will travel where very few have gone before you, indeed less people have skied across Greenland than have stood on the summit of Mount Everest.
This is polar travel in the romantic and demanding way of early explorers, where in a small team you will individually haul a sled (also known as a pulk) containing everything you need to survive and enjoy a month in the Arctic. Leaving behind the outside world and its complexity, you will find the freedom, pureness and reward that is the simplicity and uniqueness of polar ski travel. This will be a spiritual journey as much as a physical journey, one that will leave you physically at the peak of your fitness, and mentally stronger than ever before.
Yes it will be hard. Yes it will be cold. And yes it will be an amazing adventure of a lifetime, a truly remarkable and incredible achievement.
You will need to be in excellent physical condition. This is a long expedition requiring patience, stamina, mental fortitude and strong will power.
Traditionally, this type of expedition has been limited to those with technical polar knowledge. This is no longer the case. With our skill, knowledge and equipment, you can now experience the beautiful Greenland ice cap (or ice sheet as it is scientifically known) as the early explorers did before you.
Our commitment to you is to provide you with the highest quality and safest expedition experience possible. We do this by specialising in Greenland ice cap ski crossings, to ensure that every detail of the expedition is thoroughly prepared, so that nothing is left to chance. Your enjoyment and safety are paramount. It is this attention to quality, safety and price that makes Ice Horizons the perfect choice in crossing the Greenland ice cap.
We have carefully programmed the expedition to utilise the most favourable conditions for travelling across Greenland. Before mid-April the climate is too cold and windy, after mid-May the ice cap deteriorates in the approaching summer warmth. Even so, in order to undertake this expedition, you will need to be prepared to travel in potentially difficult weather conditions, day-in-day out, for 28 days. It will be cold throughout the journey, where temperatures down to -30°C can be expected. The temperatures will warm throughout the journey as spring develops, but are unlikely to rise above -2°C for the duration of the trip. When we are skiing across the ice and exerting energy, the cold weather is quite tolerable, and you can ski with relatively little clothing. When we are setting up camp or pulling it down however, the cold weather can be problematic so we will do this task as a team speedily and professionally. Once in the tents, warmth is quickly restored and we get on to the enjoyable task of preparing dinner.
This expedition is extremely physically demanding. You will need to have skiing experience (downhill experience is suitable although nordic skiing experience is preferable); and you will also need to have a very good ability to travel in a cold wilderness environment, eg good experience hiking, camping or climbing for an extended period of time in a challenging mountain or other cold climate environment. If you have any doubt about your ability to undertake this journey, feel free to contact us to discuss your experience. Primarily, if you love adventure and love facing a challenge, and are prepared to commit yourself to succeed, then you are already a long way towards crossing the ice cap.
Skiing across Greenland is a truly unique and extraordinary adventure. And with Ice Horizons, you will be in safe hands to ensure your journey will be a truly rewarding and memorable achievement. Team numbers are limited, so book early to secure your place in the team!
How to join this expedition?
If you would like to join our 2020 expedition, please complete the Expedition Application Form (see link below) and return it to us by email to icehorizons@gmail.com whereupon we shall be in contact with you within 24 hours to discuss your application. Alternatively, contact us by either email or use the Contact Form on this website to discuss the expedition, your experience and matters such as training and equipment.
Contact:
Ice Horizons Limited
63 Beechcroft Road, London SW17 7BZ United Kingdom
Email: icehorizons@gmail.com
What to expect on the ice?
One of the beautiful things about skiing across the Greenland ice cap is that a simple, effective and enjoyable daily routine develops as we move across the ice.
A typical day on the ice cap will involve waking up at 6.30am, having breakfast, packing up our equipment, and setting off skiing around 8.30am. Usually we would plan to ski around 9 hours, with 5-10 minute breaks each hour, with a longer break of 20-25 minutes at lunch. Between 5.30pm and 6.00pm we typically end skiing, then quickly set up camp, and relax as we prepare a hearty and much deserved dinner, melt snow for the following day's water, and enjoy a couple of hours rest before falling asleep around 8pm-8.30pm in a very comfortable tent and warm sleeping bag.
The distances we will cover each day will vary due to the conditions. In the initial section of the crossing, being the first 25km through a section with glacial terrain, your pulk/sled will be at its heaviest (approximately 66kg), therefore the distances we cover each day will be the shortest in the first few days. After a few days, we get beyond the glacial section to reach the flat expanse of the ice cap, and our distances will quickly increase to around 25km a day, and will then steadily improve towards a comfortable 30km a day by the end of the expedition, particularly after we reach the summit of the ice cap, at a height of around 2600 metres and situated in the centre of the ice cap.
Who will lead the expedition?
Ice Horizons Limited founder and senior guide David Paabo will lead the 2019 expedition. Originally from Australia, David has over 20 years of expedition experience around the world, in all types of wilderness environments, and has made extensive expeditions in Greenland including several expeditions on the ice cap, becoming an expert in polar ice cap travel. His particular passion is leading groups across the Greenland ice cap.
David was born in Sydney, Australia. His early childhood adventures in the Blue Mountains and Tasmania cultivated a passion for the outdoors that has stayed with him. Having completed a Law and Economics Degree at the Australian National University, he presently works as a lawyer in Karratha, Australia for Avon Legal, which he manages to balance with his outdoor passions.
David has travelled widely and to many far flung locations where he has cultivated his ambition as an explorer, largely achieving his goals as a solo adventurer or in small groups. In addition to having conducted numerous hiking and canyoning trips in his home country, David has also been involved in many mountaineering and hiking expeditions, most notably in South America where he travelled for 2 years and developed a love for the Andes mountain range, particularly the Cordillera Real in Bolivia, the Colombian National Parks of Cocuy and Los Nevados, and extensive parts of Patagonian Argentina and Chile. During his travels throughout South America, David also completed extremely challenging jungle treks in Bolivia, including the Mapiri Trail, a traverse of Madidi National Park, and a lengthy expedition in Noel Kempff Mercado NP.
David has also successfully undertaken the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea twice, as well as the Kapa Kapa Trail, on each occasion acting as the guide for small groups. He has hiked extensively through the Carpathian Mountain Range in Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, as well as the Transylvanian Alps in Romania, and the French/Spanish Pyrenees.
David has a particular love for the wilderness of Greenland and its people, and has explored numerous remote locations on trekking and skiing journeys there, as well as through kayaking trips across various fjords.
David’s other most enjoyed past times include yoga, eating, reading and lazing on tropical beaches.
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