"We're already late, might as well add a few more minutes to the tour," announced Kjeld, my guide, as he turned the wheel sharply to the right and veered off the dirt road. There was a collective sharp intake of breath, followed by an awkward silence as the bus slid across the frozen lake. We came to a stop directly above a visible crack.
I nervously asked how thick the ice was. "Somewhere between 1 and 2 meters," he told me, as my expression changed from concern to horror, wondering how long a 10-ton bus would last on such a shallow layer of ice. "It's about 7 feet to the bottom of the lake," he clarified with a grin, assuring me he pulls this trick every tour. "I try to make everyone scream. However, it doesn't always work!"
Driving across a frozen lake was the first of many unexpected interactions with nature during my trip to the Danish territory of Greenland. It is a country whose natural resources are as great as the tourist numbers are small. Despite being 10 times larger than Britain, only around 107,000 tourists land on Greenlandic soil every year, creating a unique situation: unlike countries struggling with overtourism, Greenland is desperate for visitors.
However, with only one airport and no two cities connected by road, traveling in Greenland is a challenge. The former US military base Kangerlussuaq is the only airport in the country with a runway suitable for jet aircraft, while domestic flights and, in summer, cruise ships are the main means of navigating an island almost completely covered by the Greenland ice sheet.
But change is coming. A runway extension in the capital Nuuk is expected to be completed by the end of the year, followed by an airport upgrade in 2025 in the northern city of Ilulissat. Both will increase the frequency of commercial flights from Europe, meaning Greenland will become much more accessible.
My winter trip had started in Kangerlussuaq - population 500 - where I took a detour to a frozen lake to Point 660. Here Greenland's longest road, a pocket-sized 51-kilometre gravel road, reaches the most accessible part of the world. ice cap. Year-round tours take you onto the ice for a slippery climb over ridges that have been polished by the wind to form fish-like scales. In the summer you can camp on the ice cap; In winter you probably prefer not to do that, because the temperature can drop to -50 degrees Celsius.
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Traditional Inuit culture is another big draw to Greenland. Eighty percent of the population identifies as Inuit and although most Greenlanders now prefer all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), dog sledding remains a form of transportation used by communities in the Arctic Circle when the rivers and fjords freeze.
For tourists, it is a chance for a husky-powered thrill ride. Early the next morning - dressed in thick sealskin trousers and a matching hoodie - I traveled with twelve pumped-up dogs from Kangerlussuaq along the frozen Qinnguata Kuussua River to where it flows into the fjord. Using a monkey-like screech command, musher Francisca put the gears on and we took off at high speed, led by pack leader Silka, whose battered snout suggested a less-than-smooth journey to the top. Within seconds we were gliding smoothly across the ice, a howl of fluffy white butts and tails pulling us forward.
Greenland has around 15,000 sled dogs, many of whom compete in the country's national sled championships every March, while tourists keen to try mushing can apply for a permit here. However, it is not a cheap hobby. Francisca's 30 huskies gobble down 100 kilos of food a week, a fuel that allows them to reach speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour. "Although we only do about 14," Francisca admitted, as her dogs failed to complete what seemed more like a Sunday walk than a high-octane sprint.
That evening I was eager to encounter the country's most impressive natural attraction. With an average of three hundred cloud-free days per year, Kangerlussuaq is one of the best places in the Arctic to see the Northern Lights. This year is predicted to be a year of abundance for the Northern Lights, when solar activity reaches an eleven-year peak. However, Mother Nature had other ideas. After an hour of standing in temperatures of -20ºC, I was confronted with a faint gray glow that only showed its green tones when captured on camera. In a misguided attempt to cheer me up, my guide gave me a video of dancing greens and reds - a celestial light show recorded a few days earlier.
The last leg of my journey was a drive south to Nuuk, but a snowstorm that hit the capital pushed my flight back a day and I arrived in a whiteout. Ironically, this is called 'Nuuk York' by the locals and is the largest city in Greenland, although with only 18,000 inhabitants it is hardly a busy metropolis. Instead, the capital is charming and walkable, with streets lined with cozy cafes and boutiques selling modern Inuit crafts, and a dramatic location beneath the razor-sharp Sermitsiaq Mountain.
It is surrounded on three sides by the second largest fjord system in the world, the Nuup Kangerlua Fjord, where skyscraper-sized icebergs float in summer. This fjord leads to many of the area's main attractions, so I headed north by boat to Qoornoq Island. Against a backdrop of deep snow and heavily dusted mountains, the village's houses in bold primary colors looked straight out of a fairy tale, but the settlement has a dark history.
In the 1970s, Denmark's controversial G60 policy forced Inuit communities like this one to move to cities, leaving their homes in disrepair. Many have since been reclaimed by relatives to become remote, off-grid summer homes, but during a snowstorm it felt like nature was trying to take them back.
As my time in Nuuk came to an end, I was not optimistic that the 36-seat propeller plane would depart for Iceland for my onward transport to London. Nuuk's coastal location means the weather is much less stable than Kangerlussuaq - so it remains to be seen whether the elements can throw a spanner in the works of the country's lofty tourism expansion plans.
Against all odds, my flight took off, and as the plane cleared the clouds, my parting gift was the green glow of the aurora on the horizon. Traveling in Greenland means surrendering yourself to the whims of nature; if you're willing to accept that the country's unpredictability is a big part of its charm, you certainly won't be disappointed.
Essentials
Steph Dyson traveled as a guest of Regent Holidays (01174 534 356; regent-holidays.co.uk), which offers the new six-day "Greenland's Ice Cap and Capital Break" from £3,560 per person, including flights, accommodation, transfers and excursions.
How to explore by cruise
Cruise ships have traditionally been the most common way to visit Greenland and are useful for exploring other areas, such as Greenland's wild, uninhabited east coast. Cruises also visit historic Norwegian settlements along the southwestern coast, before docking in Nuuk and finally Kangerlussuaq or Ilulissat.
Adventure Canada (adventurecanada.com) has been sailing to Greenland since 1991 and specializes in small ship expedition cruises, employing Greenlanders on their expedition team to provide authentic insight into the islanders' way of life. Their 13-day cruise 'Iceland to Greenland: In the Wake of the Vikings' costs from £4,195 per person, including all meals and excursions.
