Albatros Arctic Circle - Greenland Brochure

THE EDGE OF
GREENLAND’S ICE
SHEET
Very few places in Greenland offer such a
phenomenal sensation and view of the
Greenland Ice Sheet as Point 660, located
at the Ice Sheet’s edge.
The Greenland Ice Sheet is a fantastic natural
formation developed over millions of years as
layers of compacted snow and ice, gasses,
dust and water accumulated. Although the
landscape appears to be a frozen mass that
has stood unchanged for eons, the Ice Sheet is
active just like a living, breathing, evolving
organism.
In fact, with an average thickness of 2- to
3-kilometers (1.25-1.75 miles), the immense
weight continues to push the ice outward
toward the sea, which is why this so-called inland
ice sheet can also be seen along much
of Greenland’s coast.
As the excursion to Point 660 begins, our
4WD-vehicle or coach will pass Kangerlussuaq’s
makeshift golf course, a miniature forest of
conifers and a roughly 400-meter high
cone-shaped rock called Sugarloaf.
As Kangerlussuaq fades in the distance, we
enter a stunning landscape of mountains,
plains and semi-desert valleys. The route to
the Greenland Ice Sheet winds along the
beautiful valley of Sandflugtsdal and its
equally long, milky turquoise meltwater river.
The terrain alternates between fertile moor
and dense scrub with sandy dunes and barren
mountain slopes. By Greenlandic standards,
this landscape is mild, with rich flora and
speckled with lakes, yet relatively arid.
A few kilometers from the Ice Sheet’s outer
periphery lies the Russel Glacier, an impressive
sight with vertical ice walls rising as high as 60
meters.
Our final destination, Point 660, is nearby
at the edge of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Its
towering backdrop of glacial foothills stretches
from North to South as far as the eye can see,
and is quite a remarkable sight to behold.
You will have the opportunity to explore the
surrounding area on foot and breathe in the
Ice Sheet’s one-of-a-kind atmosphere.
After an hour on the ice, we will have time
to warm-up on the bus as we drive through
Greenland’s beautiful tundra landscape during
our return to Kangerlussuaq. There is a good
chance we will spot reindeer, musk oxen and,
depending on the season, many species of
birds and flowers.
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