Maniitsoq, Greenland

So where should I even start? Let me take you back to December 2024 when my big brother Mads was home for Christmas. My brother has been travelling around the world as a photographer for the past 7 years, but recently spend more time in Greenland. He basically lives there most of the year. I asked Mads what his plan was for the upcoming 5 months since he was going to stay in Greenland from January 2025 and not come back home before end of June 2025. One thing he mentioned was that he was going to sail around Greenland with the boat Zula and ski around Greenland. I have been on the boat Zula once in Iceland in June 2024 - you can read about that, “Isafjordur, Iceland” (not finished yet). The boat Zula is owned by Tobias who is a great friend of Mads. He is just as adventures as Mads; they make a great team ;) Mads and Tobias wanted to try this ski and sail thing in April/May, and I thought it sounded so cool! But I haven’t been skiing for the past 2 years and I have never tried ski touring, or just off-piste skiing in general. But I really wanted to learn how to do ski touring since I think combining skiing with walking around in beautiful surroundings would be the dream! I said to Mads that I wanted to go, and he said sure you can come. I was like, are you for real? Because I know that you must be a good skier to ski off-piste. And then there is this whole safety thing regarding avalanche. But I mean, skiing in Greenland while being on a sailboat sounded too good to be true so I had to say “YES” and turn this into a reality!

This leads me to the whole story of “Taghazout, Morocco” because before figuring out that I would be going to Morocco I thought of going to Japan for 2 months to practice my skiing and get to know how to ski in the off-piste and use touring skis. But as you can read in “Taghazout, Morocco” I never went to Japan but went one month to Morocco instead ahah. I often looked at flights for Greenland while I was in Morocco, and they were so expensive. Mads and I still haven’t agreed on the dates, since Tobias and Mads was going to have other people on the boat before I would go there. It was confusing and as always never planned before last minute… I knew I had to practice before going to Greenland because I haven’t been skiing for the past two years and never tried touring skis. It was a bit stressful...

After coming back from Morocco, I planned a trip to Switzerland and started searching for used touring skis. All the gear for ski touring is SO EXPENSIVE and I didn’t know what to search for. It took me two weeks to find the right equipment and a lot of hours trying to understand what I would need. During this time, I was trying to figure out what exactly my plan was in Switzerland. I knew I was going to visit family friends who are just the most lovely and welcoming people on this earth - such a great family! But when visiting them I wouldn’t be able to practice ski touring. I was just going to practice my alpine skiing in a local resort nearby them. So, then I thought of my two friends Mauz and Jan from Switzerland, who I met in Portugal. I knew that they work as ski instructors in Andermatt and that they are pretty good skiers. I contacted them and we figured out that I could come by and visit them and then they would help me learn how to do ski touring. It was so nice that they wanted to help me and let me stay with them - thank you guys!

After trying ski touring in Switzerland, I was a bit nervous about the thought of going to Greenland. I had so many crashes in Switzerland and had a hard time turning my skis in the deep snow. I felt out of control and felt like I couldn’t use any of the usual technique that I have learned from alpine skiing. But to be honest I also didn’t practice enough. I brought my friend Stella with me to Switzerland - shoutout to Stella for being super brave and just saying “YES” to everything on this trip. She is just amazing and such a power woman! Anyway, we just had 4 days of alpine skiing in Elm, Switzerland, in a small resort. Here we did try to do some runs down the ”off-piste” next to the resort. It gave us a feeling of how it is to turn in deeper snow, but it was nothing compared to real ski-touring and off-piste skiing. When we went to the boys in Andermatt we went one day with Mauz to the top with the gondol and took one long run down. It was ONLY an off-piste route down the mountain. That was my first time really skiing off-piste for more than just 100 meters. IT WAS SO DIFFICULT! I had zero control over my skis and fell so many times. I still don’t get why I didn’t break any bone ahah. Anyway, full of sweat Stella, Mauz and I made it down - sorry Mauz, thanks for being so patient. To be fair the snow wasn’t the best and it was way too steep for our level and not super wide. We made it down anyway. But Stella and I still haven’t tried the touring part. That was the goal for the next day. NOTE: Stella was not going to Greenland like me, but ended up trying touring as well, just for fun. She has less experience with skiing than me, but did way better than me, crazy girl! We went touring for the first time the day after with Mauz. We drove the car a bit out of town and walked up a mountain for 4 hours, I think 900-1000 height meters in total. It was so funny walking with the skiis, but also difficult once we had to do the kick-turns… It was so beautiful, and I really enjoyed walking up the mountain while looking at the beautiful white mountains surrounding us and the sun in our faces. We made it to the top and now we had to ski down… I wasn’t excited about that part after yesterday, but I mean I had to learn it since I was going to Greenland soon. Mauz tried to teach me all the turns and tips and tricks, but I had a hard time. Sweating so much and really focusing every single time I took a turn. Again, thanks to Mauz for his patience. Stella and I made it down and succeed (or kind of succeed) our first day of ski touring.

Anyway, back to Greenland. Took the flight from Copenhagen to Nuuk together with Marcus, a friend of Mads who was going to be on the boat aswell. In Nuuk we met with Tage, another friend of Mads who was also going to be joining us on the boat Zula. From Nuuk we took the flight to Maniitsoq which is a small town a bit north from Nuuk. We arrived in the small airport and said hello to the former crew who had just been onboard Zula for one week of skiing. Then we took a taxi and brought all our gear down to the harbour where Zula was located. Just driving around Maniitsoq was stunning and already an adventure. Greenland is such a special place, and the way people live in the crazy nature is just amazing to witness. This was my second time in Greenland. I went to Greenland one year ago with the whole family to visit Mads and see where he spends so much time. We made it to the boat and Mads was welcoming us. It was so nice to see Mads again. I haven’t seen him since Christmas. We are quite used to not seeing each other that often, but it's always so nice to spend time together with my big brother - he is a big inspiration to me, because he chooses to follow his dreams and lives out of his passion. He is a videographer and photographer and has been working a lot for many years and has been quite successful from a very young age. The way he drives his business is an inspiration to me and the network of amazing people that comes with it is also inspirational. Of course, it’s not always fun and I know, and have seen, how hardworking he is - but I think what drives Mads is his passion and now the opportunities Greenland has to offer. That’s why it was such a nice thing to be able to visit Mads in his “element”, because he really loves spending time in the rough nature and tend to try quite extreme sports.

Watching Mads being so curious about new sports or new things to explore is amazing and the way he the put effort into learning the skills needed for example ski touring or climbing is inspirational. I think it’s important to stay curios, but of course being curios in extreme nature like Greenland always comes with a risk. Mads also put a lot of time into all the safety things and he made me feel safe on the trips we were doing. I was a bit skeptical in the beginning since Mads recently became a “proper skipper” and took some courses. Of course, I believe in his sailing skills, but this time was the first time without Tobias onboard the boat as the captain. So, Mads was going to be the captain on our sail from Maniitsoq to Nuuk. I don’t know how to sail and neither did Marcus or Tage, so Mads had a big responsibility aha. Mads was a brilliant captain and serious about it - I was a very proud sister during our sails. Watching him steering Zula in Greenland on his own, with a little help from Marcus, Tage and I, was so cool! Sorry Mads for being a bit skeptical. I think I was just a bit afraid of the ice and not knowing anything about sailing other than the small trips daytrips I have been participating in at home or in Iceland one year ago. Also, Tobias were the captain (he is the captain) when I was onboard Zula in Iceland so I think it was unusual that Mads was in charge and not Tobias.

The first days we spend in Maniitsoq just waiting for some nice weather to be able to sail to our anchor spot and do some skiing. We spend the days relaxing, eating food, playing cards, going for walks and then Tage, Marcus and I practiced some skiing in the “backcountry” of Maniitsoq in some very small and friendly hills. It was nice to get my skis back on even though it was a lot of transitioning of the skis (walk mode/ski mode) just to ride down a small hill. But I had to practice, since I wasn’t satisfied after my first-time ski touring in Switzerland. Had to face my fear and I had to teach Tage how to use the touring skis, since he never used them before aha. Maybe you think we sound a bit stupid and like amateurs... maybe we are, but we had fun and were serious about safety of course. Marcus never skied before, he only tried snowboarding. So Mads brought him cross-country skis to use. Tage and I took a few runs on the touring skis while Marcus practiced his cross-country-ski technique. Thinking of the three of us playing around in the hills makes me smile - what a funny sight. We always went to the local hotel for some WIFI when we were in Maniitsoq and grabbed a coffee there. Having one week with almost no WIFI was quite of a challenge, but also SUPER liberating to spend almost no time on my phone. We also went to the local library one day and ending up talking to the sweetest local man who showed us old photos of his family and Maniitsoq in the old days. Always so nice to encounter with the locals. Another day we went to a sauna - we really made the most out of our time in Maniitsoq while waiting to set sails.

We finally set sails and had a 4 hour sail to “Hamburgerland” which is some Fjords next to Maniitsoq. It was a beautiful sail! Imagine there is white mountains around you and ice floating around in the water. And then there is Zula. Coffee is mandatory onboard Zula, so we drank a lot of coffee - with coffee beans from the coffee shop I work in at home of course ;) Other than that we just enjoyed the sail in these stunning surroundings and listened to music - couldn’t ask for more, maybe only a few more degrees and some more sun. It became a bit gloomy on our sail and it’s not warm sailing in Greenland, but you will manage to stay warm if you dress properly. Arrived at our anchor spot. We anchored, ate some food and then we went straight for a trip to the ice. We put on our boots, backpacks and brought our skis to the dinghy. It a whole lot of work to get ready to go skiing on a sailboat. First of all putting on ski boots is always annoying no matter where you do it ahah. Imagine being on a boat then. When the booths are on you must be careful to not slip outside on the deck. Then you must get down into the dinghy without falling or losing gear into the water. Once you are in the dinghy with all your gear you’ve got to make sure that you don’t hit the dinghy with some sharp metal from your bindings, boots etc. But it’s all worth it and only possible thanks to Mads - you have to be a patient captain and focus when getting ready to ski onboard a sailboat.

It was so crazy to just anchor Zula so far away from everything and then take the dinghy into the ice. The ice is just the frozen Fjords. We sailed all the way to the edge of the ice and stepped on it and then we put the dinghy on the ice to make sure it’s still there when we get back from skiing. I felt like I was on an expedition, it was so cool! We put the skis on and walked along the ice until we reached the bottom of the mountains. Mads and I went on a trip together and Tage and Marcus did a trip together. Now the real adventure begins. Mads and I started our way up the mountain and went for a small and not so steep run down to practice our turns in the deep snow. It was so beautiful and so peaceful. And what an honor to share this with my big brother. I was surprised of my skills to be honest. It wasn’t so difficult for me to turn in the deep snow as back in Switzerland. I think it had a lot to do with the condition of the snow. We got a lot of fresh snow, since it had been snowing the days we were in Maniitsoq. After the first run down, we went to another mountain (we did small runs so not so high in altitude). This was a bit steeper and at one point it was both narrow and steep. I struggled so much with my kick turns OMG it’s so difficult and NOTE that I didn’t really practice kick turns before now aha. I had to give up at one point, because I fell two times when I was in the split position during my kick turn. I just couldn’t make it ahah. Quite annoying since I wanted to make the run down. I waited for Mads to walk up the last bit and just enjoyed the stunning view. The sky had kind of cleared a bit since we arrived, and I could see the ocean, mountain, icebergs, and small island - it was just amazing. And I have never experienced anything so quiet. It was almost too quiet; it was SO WEIRD. It was a special moment and I love these random moments where you start thinking about what you are doing and where you are ahah. Mads skied down to me and we took the last bit together and found Marcus and Tage. We all went back to the dinghy together and then back to the boat. We cooked dinner, made gin tonic and played some cards games - so nice to be without Wi-Fi, makes you spend more time together!

The day after was a day spend on the boat since there was a snowstorm. After breakfast we went to shore to practice avalanche safety and glaciers safety. We learned how to make an anchor and how to pull people up from a crevasse, since we had to ski on a glacier the next day. Then we also went through how to find buried people in an avalanche. I think avalanches are so scary since you must act so quick and don’t have a lot of time to rescue people in the deep snow. There will always be a risk once you step out into the backcountry, so it’s just mandatory to know the basics about safety! We went back for lunch and spend too much time inside playing card games. We really needed some fresh air so Mads dropped us off on shore with the dinghy. Marcus, Tage and I walked around and played in the snow - like real children. It was snowing so much, and everything was white. It was so magical. We build a snowman and then went back to the boat. Mads picked us up with the dinghy and we made dinner and gin tonic again with ice we picked on our little stroll earlier.

The next morning, we woke up early to get ready for our daytrip to the glacier. It always takes a while to get ready since we have so much gear and we are on a sailboat. We made it to the dinghy and went to the ice. Other than carrying avalanche gear, extra clothes, ski gear and food/water we also had to carry glacier gear which is like wearing a belt for climbing. You have different metal things hanging around your waist. So, there was even more weight than usual - ski touring is a good exercise. We walked across the ice and made it to the bottom of the mountain. It was a bit gloomy in the morning and kind of bad sight but Mads promised it would clear up later. After making it across the first hill where we skied the other day, we saw the glacier and started our approach. The scenery is not a blue glacier, since it’s all covered in snow. So, imagine you just have a bigger flat white area - that’s kind of the scenery. Around the glacier you just have beautiful mountains sticking up! WHAT A SIGHT! And it was so quiet, just me, Mads, Marcus and Tage. The snow was deep, so it was hard to walk in. Mads were in the front and made some traces which made it easier. We walked for 3 hours or something. The last part was the most difficult since it was steep, and we had to do so many kick turns - my favorite! It was also a bit windy and there was quite a lot of new snow from the snowstorm the day before, so I was kind of afraid of potential avalanches. At one point Tage shouted that there was snow coming down to our right. I looked to my right and saw snow slowly going down from some cliffs. Mads told us to go to the left, but not too far since there would be a danger of crevasses to the left. I was kind of afraid and started walking super-fast to the left. It wasn’t an avalanche, but when snow falls like that it can potentially start an avalanche. Also, we were in the steepest part, which makes up good conditions for avalanches to occur. As our guide Mads acted and walked a bit further up to feel the snow and get a feeling of the situation. It was all good and we continued to the top aware of the snow to our left. I was scared and thought to myself in that moment when I saw the snow falling, “What am I doing here?!”. I don’t really get scared that often, but this made me scared. We made it to the top and what a nice sight! The snow was so deep up there, so when you step out of your skis, to make the transitioning of your bindings, your legs are totally buried in the snow! We quickly ate lunch and put on more clothes for our run down. You get cold super quick and there was still a lot of wind. But the sky had cleared, and it was so BEAUTIFUL! Blue ski, white mountains, and blue ocean! I was the first to ski down. I was very aware of how the snow felt since I was so afraid of an avalanche, because of the falling snow before. I took my first turn and WOW it felt amazing! I felt like I made some pretty good turns, and I really enjoyed the feeling of POWDER! And such a stunning view and so quite - never have I tried anything like this! It felt like a success, everything I was so worried about turned out to be alright! Now I really get why people do this! After Switzerland I was like “I like to walk up, but I don’t like to ski down” since I crashed so much. But being in Greenland with perfect snow conditions I felt the opposite; now I want to ski down! I waited for the boys and enjoyed the view. We made it to the flatter part of the glacier and took the last part together - Marcus went all the way to the top on his cross-country skis and went down on them as well. Pretty cool! And quite funny. We were all high on this experience!

Back to Zula and then we immediately set sail and went back to Maniitsoq. A 4-hour sail with beautiful sunshine. I made some banana pancakes, and we ate those on deck and drank more coffee of course. Marcus and Tage cooked up some nice curry for dinner and we ate that on deck as well. We arrived late in Maniitsoq. We went straight for a shower in the local sports club. I was the last one and I ended locking myself inside the shower room. Had to call my brother so he could send Tage to help me out, since nobody reacted when I knocked on the door. It was also 23:30 so no one was there anymore aha. Anyway, Tage came, and I made it back to the boat. WHAT A DAY! Such a crazy and unforgettable experience - make me want to do more of this!

The next morning Mads, and Marcus woke up at like 4 am to being our sail towards Nuuk. We had a 16-hour sail ahead of us and we had to make it since more wind was coming the day after. I woke up around 5:30 to a beautiful pink sunrise. I felt seasick once I stepped out of bed since it was already quite wavy, and I was on an empty stomach. Ate a bit, but still felt bad. I have never tried to be seasick before. Took a nap and tried to spend time outside, but it’s freaking cold ahah. Mads was so cool! He sailed all 16 hours and spend all those hours out on deck. There was a lot of things to be aware of, so he decided to do all 16 hours himself. Marcus, Tage and I tried to help with other things. I made some egg salat, but no one ate it ahah. And it made me more seasick… Anyway, a stunning sail with the view of the coastline of Greenland, ice floating, waves and then whales in the very end! We only had one hour left and finally made it to calmer sea because we made it to the Fjords. We were for some reason all four on deck, which haven’t happened more than once throughout the day. We sailed past an abandoned “bygd” (small village) and suddenly two whales showed up. It was magical! Perfect way to end the sail. Made it to Nuuk and tied the boat. Then we went straight for some food and then we went for a beer - so nice! We were all exhausted and almost a sleep in the bar ahah. The trip was over and now I had two weeks to spend in Nuuk where Mads lives and works. The first part of my trip to Greenland was over. It was an unforgettable trip and I’m super grateful that I got the opportunity and that I choose to say “YES” and turn it into a reality. It was worth all the work figuring out which dates to go, buying touring skis second hand and not knowing if they fit, going to Switzerland to practice, and then arriving in Maniitsoq waiting for nice weather. It’s hard to plan and know exactly what is going to happen, especially on a trip like this where you rely so much on the weather. But everything turned out well in the end and I couldn’t be prouder of myself and my brother, as well as Marcus and Tage. Everything is possible if you dare to take some risks and I’m so happy that Mads and I got to talk about this whole thing back in December 2024!

Until next time Greenland!