Jon Russill's Blog

New Iceland and East Greenland trip

jon@greenlandholiday.com — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Full details here! A new winter tour to Iceland and East Greenland is now available with departures in March! Experience the remarkable history and natural wonders of South Iceland, and the incredibly wild and remote Kulusuk area of East Greenland. These two places are in stark contrast to each other, but make for a really fulfilling experience of the far north. The Kulusuk area of East Greenland is one of our favourites. Here one finds a tiny hunting settlement where old traditions hold fast and people still live by subsistence hunting and fishing amongst an icy Arctic landscape that is spell-boundingly beautiful. This trip gives you the chance to join these people for a day on their dog sleds - still the most important means of winter travel around here!

Russian-Inuit Dog Sled Expedition Complete!

jon@greenlandholiday.com — Fri, 25 May 2007 23:00:00 GMT

Many congtraulations to Fedor Konyukhov and Hans Aronsen who recently completed their dog sled expedition across the Greenland icecap from Isortoq to Ilulissat (see previous blog entry for more details. They finished in a highly impressive time of 16 days. They arrived in Ilulissat last week to a great reception and most of the town had turned out to celebrate. It sounded like a fantastic event.

Photos and updates from the expedition can be found on Fedor's website.

Boating in Scoresbysund - NEW LOWER PRICE

jon@greenlandholiday.com — Thu, 17 May 2007 23:00:00 GMT

Due to some new logistical arrangements, we've just reduced the price for our trip to Scoresbysund, East Greenland, in August. This is a great opportunity to explore one of the world's great wildernesses from the comfort of a boat and wells-stocked hunting cabins. The trip circumnavigates the remote island of Milne Land, and offers some of the most beautiful and dramatic fjordland scenery one can imagine.

This is a good chance to have a great adventure with a little comfort. No experience necessary!

Click here for more details, pictures and prices!

Icecap activities

jon@greenlandholiday.com — Thu, 10 May 2007 23:00:00 GMT

For the last month I've been heavily involved with icecap logistics with our sister company Greenland Expedition Specialists. There's been a LOT going on, and we've provided logistical and guiding services for 6 expeditions attempting Greenland icecap crossing expeditions. It's been a busy time. For a full round of updates, have a look at the page on the GES website.

Particularly pleasing was my colleague Matt Spenceleey's recent success on the icecap. He was guiding fellow Brits James Alexander and Nick Anderson on a rarely attempted route between Isortoq in East Greenland and Ilulissat in the west. Having battled through heavy and deep snow in the early stages (which confined many other teams to their tents), they were finally able to make use of their snowkites and thereafter made incredible progress to the west coast. Te completed the crossing of 640 km in 18 days. I sent out a few dog sleds to meet them, and now they are safely back in Ilulissat. A fantastic achievement. Some voice dispatches can be heard here.

Also of interest is our involvement with the famous Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov. We have provided the arrangements for him to cross the icecap using dog sleds. Fedor is a man of quite some experience. He has previously achieved an unsupported South Pole ski, supported North Pole crossing (three NP trips altogether), crossed the Atlantic 12 times (once in a rowboat!), climbed Everest and the rest of the seven summits, circumnavigated the world in a sailboat four times (twice against the prevailing winds and once in a solo race around the world), traveled from Vladivostok to St Petersburg by bike, an Iditarod dog sled race, and rode the Great Silk Path on a camel. It's great to be involved with him.

In order to make this happen, we arranged for 2 dog teams to cross the icecap from Ilulissat to Isortoq. These were driven by Dane Klaus Anderson and Greenlander Hans Aronsen who is held in high regard for his previous dog sledding achievements. Having very successfully made the first crossing, the dogs had a good rest, Klaus flew home and Hans and Fedor set off back with Fedor driving Klaus's dogs. They're making great progress and are now well over halfway back to Ilulissat!

Back to the office

jon@greenlandholiday.com — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 23:00:00 GMT

Lots and lots going on at the moment. I'm just back from a fantastic dog sledding expedition in the Kulusuk area of East Greenland with some of our Inuit friends. Meanwhile, we've had mountaineering and Arctic training expeditions going on, and the first of several icecap teams working with us arrived on the ice yesterday. Keep an eye on their website for up dates from them. We have 5 more teams departing over the next few weeks, including a dog sled crossing from Isortoq to Ilulissat with renowned Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov.

So, lots to update you on, and I'll try to fill in the gaps over the next few days.

Iceberg climbing in Disko Bay, Greenland

jon@greenlandholiday.com — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:00:00 GMT

A bit of a late entry, but here's news of a great trip...

The call came in a few months ago that a Japanese television production company wanted to film iceberg climbing somewhere in Greenland. We should say at this point that climbing on giant chunks of floating ice is usually at best fatalistic and, at worst, fatal. However, in very particular conditions, and with a lot of fore-thought, it can be relatively safely done. At the beginning of February, with these factors in mind, a safety and climbing team from sister company Greenland Expedition Specialists set off by dog sled with a huge pile of equipment and travelled the mountainous route into a remote fjord that we hoped would prove to be a suitable venue.

Our first sight of the fjord was stunning; surrounded by low mountains, the Icecap met the fjord head in one long calving ice cliff whilst soft winter light picked out numerous icebergs, trapped in the skin of ice that covered the fjord.

After setting up a comfortable basecamp with a superb Space Station tent from Mountain Hardwear, we spent hours skiing through deep powder to find the perfect iceberg. It needed to be grounded and well frozen-in whilst being suitably aesthetic; the director had asked for the classic pointy kind.

The first day a huge fin of ice was found. From it's east and western sides, the 'berg rose into a sharp and steep spire, whilst the northern aspect presented a big face that offered an enticing groove/face system. After lots of rigging and a visit from the director, the whole team flew back to town to brief the film crew and spend one night in a warm hotel.

On Sunday, the helicopter relayed the film and safety crews into position. With cameramen in place and the rest of the group in safe positions on the sea ice, Guides Lori Frutiger and Matt Spenceley started the ascent with Japanese actor Takatoshi Kaneko in tow. 'Berg ice is under a lot of pressure, and combined with temperatures in the minus twenties, it paid to be gentle with the axes; any heavy blows produced serious fracturing. With no previous experience, Kaneko San made what turned out to be an impressive climb.

Filmed from a circling helicopter, the climbing team put in one final pitch along the knife-edge summit ridge. The goal of the prime time show was to make kaki gouri, a Japanese ice dessert, and it was for this ice that we climbed the 'berg. Sawing a small chunk off, all that remained to do was lower Kaneko San and the cameramen, then descend to eat something a lot like a slush puppy in seriously cold conditions!

Click here to see picture from the trip.

New Dog Sledding tour, Scoresbysund, Greenland

jon@greenlandholiday.com — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT

A new trip has just gone up on the site. It's a dog sledding trip in the Scoresbysund area of Northeast Greenland, and will be running this spring, around late April and early May when temperatures have begun to rise again and the nights are getting bright.

This one's a bit different in that it's a little shorter and more gentle than some of our other dog sledding options. The main feature of the trip is that much of the route follows along the edge of the sea ice at the mouth of Scoresbysund, the World's largest fjord. These waters tend to remain unfrozen all winter (it is a 'polynya'), and consequently they are very rich in marine wildlife such as seals, walruses, whales and even Polar Bears. The bid life is also pretty impressive at this time of year with huge numbers of Little Auks nesting on the cliffs of the outer coast. The open water a big reason for the success of the hunting communities that only settled here permanently in the 1920s.

This is a great trip for wildlife enthusiasts and, although relatively short, it offers the chance to travel through a beautiful area by dog sled with local hunters from the villages. These guys know the place better than anyone and will really enhance your time here. You even get to spend a couple of nights in tents out on the ice, so it's a real Arctic adventure!

Please click here to see more details about this trip and, as ever, feel free to get in touch if you need any more information.

Expedition Sailing

jon@greenlandholiday.com — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

An exciting new development for 2007 is our access to a couple of superb sailing yachts. One is Maiden - made famous for being that yacht that Tracey Edwards skippered with the first all female crew in the Whitbread Round the World race. She's a superb boat, and a real racing machine. At 58 ft, she provides room for a large crew of 12 and can cover huge distances with relative ease. Her slightly spartan nature means that she's great for expedition sailing, especially if we're carrying a lot of gear.

Her sister boat is Ice Maiden - a 50 ft steel-hulled cutter-rigged yacht built especially for high-latitude sailing where ice is an issue. She's perfect for the icy waters off the East Greenland coast. A little more comfortable than Maiden and offering more privacy, she can still take a crew of 12.

Some parts of Greenland, especially on the east coast, can only be practically accessed by boat. The cost of chartering flights to such areas is usually prohibitive, and getting to an expedition venue using natural power is a really appealing idea for us. Arctic sailing makes for some beautiful experiences, and the use of such boats as a basecamp for climbers, walkers and kayakers opens up a whole realm of exciting possibilities.

One or both of the the boats will be based in Iceland for much of the summer, from which East Greenland is just a few days sail away. Imagine setting out across the Denmark Straits, encountering the first icebergs and pack ice, and then seeing Greenland's mountains begin to rise above the horizon! A great chance to get up close to some Arctic wildlife too, especially whales.

We hope to be posting some ideas on the websites soon, but in the meantime if you have plans that could take advantage of these boats then please get in touch and we'll discuss it further.

Happy New Year

jon@greenlandholiday.com — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Happy New Year to you all. I hope you all had a good Christmas and enjoyed seeing in 2007.

It's shaping up to be a very busy year for us, with the winter and spring seasons having more on than ever, and the summer looking equally so. Never before have we been involved in such a diverse range of projects, in all sorts of different places around Greenland. It's going to be a very exciting time, and I hope you can join us with some of it. I hope you all have a good year, and look forward to seeing you in Greenland soon!

Tours to Greenland from the US - now online

jon@greenlandholiday.com — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Our new tours to Greenland departing from Baltimore in the US are now online! Here are the details:

Ilulissat and Kangerlusuaq
These tours are combinations of two of the most interesting destinations in West Greenland: Ilulissat is located next to the biggest glacier in the northern hemisphere and the town over looks the famous ice fjord, filled with huge icebergs drifting slowly towards the open sea. Here you can also experience the life and culture of the Greenlanders north of the Polar Circle. The Kangerlussuaq area has a unique landscape and the offers the best chance of seeing Arctic wildlife like musk oxen and reindeer.
8 day tour 5 day tour 4 day tour

We also have a tour that combines West Greenland and Iceland. More details coming soon.