On Location: “Life-changing”: PAX explores “epic” Greenland with Quark Expeditions

“We’ve never been here before.”

Our expedition leader, Jake, announced the news over our ship’s intercom system.

After a morning of gliding through the frigid waters of iceberg-filled Kangerlussuaq Fjord, a narrow passage flanked by metamorphic mountains in Western Greenland, the captain and team aboard Ultramarine had identified a remote valley in a rocky bay that we, a ship full of thrill-seekers, could potentially land on and hike through.  

“Landings,” when passengers disembark a parked ship, pile into zodiac boats and get motored ashore, occur often on expeditions with Quark, a Seattle-based company that has been exploring Earth’s polar regions for more than 30 years.

This landing, however, was different. Mainly because it was our first one.

We’d been navigating majestic fjords (narrow sea inlets, created by glaciers) for two days now, training for what felt like a space mission. From learning how to step into zodiacs using the “sailor’s handshake” (when two individuals clasp forearms) to mastering the routine of wearing waterproof pants and high-tech lifejackets, everyone, at this point, was eager to unlock the “Gems of Greenland,” our 12-day itinerary.

This landing wasn’t entirely about us either. The misty valley ahead was a spot the Quark team, an enthusiastic crew of scientists and adventure fanatics, had never traversed before. The team aboard Ultramarine – a 199-guest, purpose-built ship that debuted in 2021 – was just as excited as the passengers. 

At a steady speed, our ship pushed its way through an alleyway of spiky and arch-shaped icebergs that could pass as the building blocks for Superman’s Fortress of Solitude.

A captain has to make all kinds of assessments when entering the unknown. Would the wind and waves allow us to safely board zodiacs in open, icy waters? Would there be enough space to sail around these humongous icebergs?

What if a wall of ice blocked us in the fjord? Would we be able to escape?

These are things you have to think about in Greenland. Finding a tucked-away patch of land in an isolated fjord isn’t as hard it sounds. Google Earth can do wonders. The challenge is getting there. 

In the world of expeditions, each day’s opportunities, built around hopes and intentions, aren’t 100 per cent clear until you get to where you’re going. A collapsing iceberg one minute, a dooming fog cover the next. Only Mother Nature can decide how cruises like this will play out.

The only way forward, in these polar parts, is to go with the flow of the fjords.

The “gold rush era” of expeditions

It’s with this “expedition spirit” – a term repeated often on rides like this – that PAX, alongside a group of Canadian travel pros, explored the vastness of Greenland, an autonomous, often-overlooked territory of Denmark.

The thrilling voyage, which PAX was invited to cover exclusively from July 23 to August 2, unfolded as expedition travel enjoys its “gold rush era,” as Vancouver-based Jake Rogers, an area sales director at Quark, would later tell us at Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas.

Laura Guignot, Quark’s area sales director for Canada East, who joined PAX on the trip, said there are travel advisors in her network who have seen a 40 per cent increase in expedition sales ever since the pandemic ended.  

“Now that travel has reopened, people want to get back to cruising. But they want to cruise with a purpose,” Guignot told us. “They want to do things differently. They want to explore the most remote regions on the planet.”

The land of rock & ice

Enter Greenland: the world's largest island, the northernmost point of land in the world, which isn’t entirely green as its name suggests. Summertime will certainly bring out the green in Greenland, but 80 per cent of the island is covered in ice.

The sparely-populated territory got its name from Viking Erik The Red, an Icelandic murderer who was exiled to the island around the year of 982. As the story goes, Red named it “Greenland” in hopes the pleasant-sounding name would attract newcomers.

But historians say the first traces of humans in Greenland date back to 2,500 BC. In Greenlandic communities, bloodlines from the Inuit, said to have migrated to Greenland from Asia in the 13th century, still exist today, along with centuries-old traditions.

The combination of glaciers, roaring mountains, moss and lichen-covered tundra and exposed bedrock, amplified by the cold bite of the Arctic and perpetual daylight of summer, paints a compelling picture.

But what makes Greenland a unique place to visit, compared to other polar destinations, is the fact that people – just under 57,000 – live there.

Antarctica has penguins, Greenland has people.

“In Greenland, the cultural experiences are very significant. It’s a huge part of why people come here,” said Jake, chatting with PAX in Bistro 457, a café-like dining venue with large windows – one of two restaurants on board Ultramarine.

Destination unknown

Unlike traditional cruises, expeditions, which utilize smaller ships, are about discovering a place – usually a far-flung one, in regions that large ships can’t access.

While ocean cruises may revolve around amenities and scheduled visits to well-known ports of call, expeditions tap into travel’s wild side with action-packed excursions into parts unknown.

Expeditions may involve go-with-flow itinerary changes, rifle-holding guides (polar bears are rare in West Greenland, but you never know) and a fleet of toys, from zodiacs to kayaks to even helicopters (Quark’s Ultramarine carries two). 

Quark’s Greenland trip, in particular, also starts slightly different compared to a mass market cruise.

Most guests fly to Toronto Pearson (YYZ), first, to spend a night at the Sheraton Gateway airport hotel, where they’ll register with the Quark team and get sized up for a bright-yellow, insulated and waterproof parka. It’s included in the fare.

These hooded coats are designed to withstand the world’s toughest elements. It’s like having three jackets in one. In warmer conditions, the inner fleece can be removed. And, with straps, the jackets can be carried like backpacks.

When navigating unpredictable environments – the temperature in Greenland, during summer, can swing from spring-like to freezing, quickly – this parka is your best friend.

On departure day, guests walk together to a gate at Pearson’s Terminal 3 to board a 4.5-hour charter flight (in our case, aboard a Boeing 737, operated by OWG) to Kangerlussuaq, a tiny, rugged settlement in west Greenland that overlooks a 170-kilometre-long fjord.

Landing in moon-like Kangerlussuaq, which means “big fjord,” is a reminder that you’ve arrived somewhere else. The region’s desolate, treeless and rocky terrain, with cups of black lakes and roaming musk ox, could pass as another planet.

But once aboard the home base, the 128-metre-long, Q-stamped Ultramarine, which we access by zodiacs, familiar comforts emerge.

The ship’s onboard suites are like modern condos, ranging from 132 sq. ft. (for solo panorama) to the spacious 563 sq. ft. “Ultra” suite.

Some categories have floor-to-ceiling windows, whereas others have balconies. All come with fixings for upscale living, such as heated bathroom floors.

The Ultramarine is, well, ultra chic. In the “Tundra Spa,’ there’s a sauna with large windows where you can sweat out the night’s wine while watching curvy icebergs float by. The gym has the latest in fitness bling.

There’s also a fine-dining add-on: “Tundra to Table” invites guests to savour the local flavours of smoked scallops and dry cod (served on a fresh ice chunk) and pan-fried musk ox and cod fillet.

Most of these ingredients are caught by local fisherman and hunters, and there’s nods to tradition, like Greenlandic coffee cake (every house has a different way of making it). 

But remember, this is an expedition ship. Not a luxury hotel (although, Ultramarine certainly blurs the lines).

From a spacious “Ready Room,” locker areas where guests can store their gear, to the “Ambassador Theatre,” where fascinating presentations can be watched from every angle, to a water-level Zodiac hangar, where twenty boats can be quickly deployed, to helipads, which serve the ship’s two H145 helicopters, every corner of Ultramarine is designed with discovery and exploration in mind.

Expedition first

“Quark is very expedition first,” said Robert Sharp, owner of Toronto-based LGBT tour operator Out Adventures, who was spotted on board, hosting a group.

“They can get zodiacs into the water quickly and there are wrap-around decks, so if you’re sitting in the lounge or dining room, and see a whale, you don’t have to run to an observation area. There are doors everywhere to get outside.”

And this happened. A lot. At meal hours, we’d be enjoying lobster tail or seared duck in Ultramarine’s main dining room, Balena, one minute, and then leaping from our seats, and dashing outside, to watch a plunging humpback whale the next.

On this cruise, “the show” is what’s happening outdoors. Gongoozling, when one takes pleasure in eyeing down details on water, is not just encouraged, it’s required.

“Smokers see the most whales. They’re always outside,” as one team member put it.

“It becomes addictive”

As for who’s on board, the Ultramarine was as diverse as Sharp’s own small group, which consisted of adventure-loving gay couples, a mother-daughter duo, and friends who either fell under the LGBT umbrella, or identified as a community ally.

The rest of the ship were retired husband-and-wife couples and Gen-Xers (many paired with their parents).

Interestingly, several on board were on their second or even third expedition. “Once you do the polar regions, it becomes addictive,” remarked one female passenger in her late ’40s. A doctor, travelling solo.

What united everyone was a hunger to uncork the unknown.

“Expeditions tend to attract people who are well travelled,” Sharp said. “They’ve crossed off Machu Picchu, the pyramids and Angkor Wat, and they’re now looking for something new and interesting that people haven’t seen.”

Experts that “know their stuff”

Meanwhile, Quark’s upbeat crew of scientists, academics and logistic pros join in at meals and excursions to form friendships and share context about the world around us.  

We quickly became part of this eccentric community of polar pros – many of whom are at the top of their game.

Take our leader, Jake. Growing up on Lake Simcoe, ON, he started driving boats when was just five. Today, he has more than 75 polar expeditions under his belt, and has worked on more than 10 vessels, exploring nearly every region Quark operates in (this being Antarctica, Svalbard, Greenland, Iceland and Arctic Canada).

He’s also a licensed aircraft pilot, sailboat skipper and scuba diver.

His support team, meanwhile, consists of biologists, geologists, historians, ornithologists (bird experts), pilots, kayak leaders, mountain bikers, marine experts and wildlife photographers.

Collectively, it’s a ship packed with polar prowess (and a good sense of humour). 

“The true strength at Quark is the expedition team and the level of expertise they bring,” as Guignot put it. “They all have either adventure, scientific or polar backgrounds. They know their stuff.” 

Heart-shaped Uummannaq

It’s these skilled professionals who helped connect us to Greenland in profound ways.

We anchor near places like Uummannaq, a 12 sq. km. town of some 1,400 inhabitants, with Danish red, yellow, blue and green houses dotted across a rocky coastline.

In Greenlandic, Uummannaq means “heart-shaped,” an apt description for a multi-peaked mountain that towers over the community, where people’s backyards face a sea of floating ice chunks, scattered about like puzzle pieces.

We spread out through the town, like bumblebees in our yellow parkas. Some of us hiked around the mountain, others climbed a set stairs to a rocky lookout, where epic views of the town and bay awaited.

We visited a community centre, where sounds of thumping and singing were heard as a local woman, sharing Greenlandic folklore, led a drumming presentation.

Heart-shaped Uummannaq won our hearts.

The Greenland mummies

There’s joy in this Arctic air, but an eerie mystery lingers nearby. 

Across the water from Uummannaq is Qilakitsoq, an abandoned settlement where eight mummified corpses – six women and two children (including a baby) – were discovered in a cave in 1972.

The bodies were believed to have been placed there some 500 years ago. Sheltered by rocks, the remains were so well-preserved by Greenland’s freezing air, that even hair, skin, and nails were all left intact. 

Today, the “Greenland Mummies,” one of the Arctic’s biggest archeological discoveries, are on display at the Greenland National Museum in Nuuk.

We spent a morning at Qilakitsoq, which means “very little sky,” perhaps due to the towering cliffs that cast shadows on this bowl-like cove, which is mostly rock, save for pops of grass and violet arctic willow, sprouting from the surface.

As we sat in solitude on a cliff’s edge under a bright sun, not far from the mummy cave, now a gravesite, we listened to Quark’s resident historian tell the story of the mummies. How they, today, shed light on how the Inuit might have lived hundreds of years ago.

Next-level kayaking & flying 

There’s an activity for everyone here. A morning might involve a zodiac safari through a maze of icebergs with turquoise bases, or alongside majestic cliffs, as flocks of seabirds, like black guillemots and kittiwakes, playfully soar overhead.

By afternoon, you could be on a guided walk (divided into fast, medium and slow-paced subgroups) along a glacier shoreline.  

Then there's Quark’s Sea Kayak Program add-on, which lets passengers launch off the ship and come face-to-face with waterfalls, cliffs and icebergs when paddling is possible. (Regardless of your kayaking skill level, this is highly recommended).

Other times are reserved for opportunities like the dramatic polar plunge (see our video below) and “flightseeing”– all guests on Ultramarine get a 10 to 15-minute (included) helicopter ride, which offers jaw-dropping views of Greenland’s icy and mountainous universe.

Prior to boarding Quark’s helicopters, which pilots launch directly from the ship, everyone must zip into tight-fitting gore-tex suits. If you’ve ever wanted to live a Top Gun fantasy, the helicopter version, then this is it. 

Exclusive heli-landings, curated rides to secluded sites where ships can’t navigate, are also available for extra.  

Hiking to the edge of the world

Sometimes there are opportunities to break away from the group.

Like in Ilulissat, Greenland’s third-largest city, where we joined Kelsey Baron of Alberta’s AMA Travel in hiking the entire icefjord trail – including the “Blue Trail,” a rugged route over steep cliffs, neon-green hills and mossy boulders, set along a UNESCO-stamped shoreline of mammoth icebergs.

We hiked 10-plus kilometres that afternoon – occasionally with others, but mostly alone – over Greenland’s silent and spongy tundra, passing canyons and a glass-like lake. A hike, to the edge of the world.

Four hours (and five near-wipeouts) later, we completed the trek, which ended in a quarry-like junk yard, where more than 100 Greenlandic sled dogs greeted us, staring us down like supper.

The only thing holding the pups back were small chains around their necks, which were just short enough to prevent them from reaching our footpath.

It’s nerve-wracking, having dozens of dogs stare at you, but there was also something majestic about it all. Ilulissat, we later learned, has more sled dogs than residents.

“There’s so much freedom here”

Otherworldly landscapes might produce Instagram-worthy photos, but the beating heart of Greenland are its people. 

The most memorable moments on this voyage were the ones when locals simply showed us around their community.

In Sisimiut, a town just above the Arctic Circle, our young guide, Julia, shared her experience in growing up in Greenland’s second-largest city, which is believed to have been inhabited for the last 4,500 years.

What’s it like living here? The question came up. “Either you love it or hate it,” Julia explained. “And if you love it, you can’t live without it.”

On languages, she said households in Greenland typically learn Greenlandic first, followed by Danish and then English.

Greenlanders also share a similar DNA and culture with the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic, she said.

“We’re warm and welcoming. People may be shy at first, but when you get close to them, they’ll tell you everything,” she said.

We sampled Sisimiut’s local delicacies, like dried cod and whale, capelin, shrimp and musk ox stew – a “Taste Of Greenland” experience, brought to life by Quark’s local partnerships.

Food had a way of building bonds. Later, in Sermiliinguaq Fjord, we hiked over a cliff to a pristine lake, a postcard-perfect spot called Inussuit Tasersuat – which reminded us of Alberta’s Lake Louise – where a local family of four, the Zeeb Skiftes, kindly greeted us with smiles and a snack: smoked arctic char on raison bread with Labrador leaf tea.

“There’s so much freedom here,” said the father, Ole, telling me about what he loves about living in this part of the world. “I love having nature always near me.”

Some of Ultramarine's passengers took the invitation to connect with nature to heart. As we basked in the beauty of Inussuit Tasersuat, a few brave ones stripped down to their swimsuits and plunged into the ice-cold glacier lake.

There were shrieks and shrills, but only the joy-filled kind of having no regrets

The weather, depending on our location, was comfortable most days. But the question gets asked: how cold does it get in Greenland?

A museum attendant in Qeqertarsuaq, one of Greenland’s oldest settlements on Disko Island, and only volcanic region, said temperatures can drop to as low as -50 during the winter months.

“It used to be like that all the time when I was growing up,” the man said (as relayed by fellow passengers), referring to how the environment has warmed ever since climate change entered the picture. 

His point came full circle as we hiked over Qeqertarsuaq’s lush-green trails, passing black-sand beaches and enchanting waterfalls – wearing t-shirts. Occasionally, the crashing boom of a melting iceberg would blast sound waves through the air.  

We didn’t have to look very far to see signs of a warming Earth. It was all around us. 

The raw beauty of things

The fragility of earth’s assets come into focus while on an expedition. You leave with a duty to tell that story. 

Edmonton-based Alison Adams, a travel specialist and sales coach at AMA Travel, marvelled at how Greenland showed her “the raw beauty of things.”

“You feel so small in this massive world,” she said. “It was epic.”

Kelsey Baron was taken back by Greenland’s vastness. “There were so many nooks and crannies and places not even the crew had been,” she said.

Which takes us back to that very first landing in Kangerlussuaq Fjord. The team, after weighing the risks, decided it was safe to escort us into that untouched valley ahead, despite having never been there before.

What we discovered, together, was a wide-open space of mossy hills, speckled boulders, sky-piercing mountains, crispy rivers, crunchy tundra and the moodiest sky I have ever seen.  

“A landscape that has everything,” as our in-house geologist guide, Sofia, put it, as she led us into the valley. 

Expeditions are a risk-reward business. This adventure, through solitary Greenland, was a mountainous reward.

What’s it like exploring Greenland with Quark? Watch PAX’s sizzle reel – shot on location. 

Watch for PAX’s next installment of exploring Greenland with Quark – a mountain biking adventure in Sisimiut!

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