Greenland: Land of eternal Ice

2700 Kilometer long, 1000 Kilometer wide and no roads 

Greenland is the country of amazing contrasts. The extreme seasons range from the long, dark winters to the mild, bright summer days, when the midnight sun is never below the horizon. The beauty of the gigantic icebergs and the "eternal ice sheet" are accompanied by a unique silence, broken only by the sound of calving glaciers and the howl of the sled dogs.

The rugged, resistant forms of the primary rock in Greenland face the fragile and ephemeral forms of the ubiquitous ice. "There's a place where the desire for ice begins," TV journalist and adventurer Mark Lance writes in his book "Traveling to Greenland". And Ilulissat on Jakobshavn Isfjord (since 2004 a UNESCO World Heritage site) is the city where the icebergs are born. Therefore the name, which means in the language of the Inuit simply "icebergs". There are icebergs of incredible beauty right outside the front door: Some appear as cathedrals of ice, other delicate formations are looking as phantasy animals and sometimes icebergs seem to be unreal in the golden light of the midnight sun.

With 43 million tons of ice daily and a speed of 40-50 meters the seven kilometer long Ilulissat glacier is considered as the most productive in the northern hemisphere. 55 kilometers away at the mouth of the discobay the broken pieces of ice run into a shallow submarine threshold. Larger icebergs break there and the smaller one's go over into the sea to their journey to the south. Probably one of them became the Titanic's destiny.

For the photographer, the conditions in Greenland are remarkable: Depending from the season the midnight sun lighting conditions are best for many hours on the water and move to an almost incredible number of opportunities of unique motifs which change almost constantly: Icebergs turn, break apart and the changing weather turns always in new and interesting light conditions. Every subject becomes unrepeatable and is thus unique. For anyone who is planning a photo trip to Greenland enough disk space is strongly recommended!

The trip to Greenland starts mostly from Copenhagen, from where there is a direct flight to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland's main airport. It is located in central Greenland with a 25 km distance to the ice cap. Roads are basically only in the cities, which have rather tranquil village character, so driving a car becomes a hobby and you will travel in Greenland only by plane or especially by boat.

With 2.2 million km2, Greenland is the largest island in the world, over 80% is covered with a thick 3.5 km layer of ice. All towns and villages are on the ice-free coast. The air is clear and the summer temperatures can vary between 5 ° C and 25 ° C. The sea around Greenland is covered with icebergs and very cold. 

In spite of the approximately 400,000 visitors per year I've experienced Greenland as still largely untouched by tourism. In general more than 90% of the visitors travel to the island by cruise ships and and they don't explore the silent bays and islands close to the coastline. Nevertheless, everywhere gold-rush atmosphere prevails among the Danes, Americans, Russians and other nations to exploit the natural resources which can be accessed much easier due to climate change. 

More images under the following link...