First jumps above Greenland

It’s cold, freezing cold here in Kangerlussuaq above the Polar circle. A herd of muskox grazes at the edge of the glacier, their breath visible in the frigid air. There’s not so much weed, it’s still winter. Although the spring stands at the doorstep. Then, suddenly, the herd looks up. A humming noise comes closer. The herd instinctively forms a circle, their defensive position. The noise becomes clearer. It is a shiny red helicopter from Air Greenland. It climbs faster and faster, surpassing 10.000 ft. Look! Something unforeseen happens. Five little dots emerge from the chopper. Four red ones and one purple. Drawing together, they plunge earthward before their parachutes unfurl. They come closer together, fall deeper and then the parachutes open. The flapping reverberating through the freezing cold polar air. On March 21 we made the very first sport skydives above Greenland. A project organized by Bob Draijer. It wasn’t easy to arrange everything, but we succeeded!

And how! March 22 we made another jump above Kangerlussuaq. This time we built a 5-way formation, setting a record for the largest freefall formation in Greenland’s history! Following our maiden jump, we were inaugurated in the Order Of The Blue Nose, for crossing the Polar circle. Over the course of our expedition, we completed a total of four jumps. Two above Kangerlussuaq and two above the capital town of Nuuk. Kangerlussuaq, aptly translating to ‘long fjord’ is situated about 110 miles inland, very close to the beginning of the great ice cap. Upon arrival, everything was frozen solid. During day time it was -13F and at night time close to -40F. Here we have seen the mesmerizing Northern lights. Nuuk is nestled along the ocean’s edge, at the mouth of a fjord. Nuuk means ‘peninsula’ or ‘cape’ in Greenlandic. Around Nuuk the backdrop presents a picturesque tableau of snowy skerries.

Stunningly beautiful. The jumps in Nuuk were around sunset time, when the weak sunlight felt over the water, putting everything in a mysterious blue polar light. Beyond the skydiving we immersed ourselves in the Greenlandic Inuit culture. Since prehistoric times already fully adapted to the harsh and cold way of life. A lot of people wear clothes from seal fur or muskox wool. Reindeer antlers and skin are everywhere to been seen. The traditional diet is seal meat (not so tasty 😊) and whale steak. Fish and shrimps are also on the menu. For the vitamins the Greenlandic people eat whale skin with blubber and seaweed. Thanks to Ronald we made a scenic helicopter flight over the ice cap. Very impressive to see the awe-inspiring majesty of ice formations rising more than 200ft above the rugged terrain and behind that the breathtaking perspective of the vast frozen expanse. Weatherwise, we were very blessed.

The first two days it was very cold, but clear skies. When we went to Nuuk our flight was delayed seven times, for weather reasons. Temperatures were rising, causing the weather to get worse. When we finally were able to fly to Nuuk, the skies were clear again that evening. After the jumps it collapsed again to 1000 ft overcast and stayed like that as long as we were in Greenland. This was a very special, extreme and beautiful expedition, which all five of us savored very much. A trip for the history books of Greenland, the sport and ourselves.