Unpredictable weather in Greenland: from -22 to t-shirt weather

Bonus day with changing weather

What a bonus day today. It actually started as predicted: nice and crisp, with a bit more wind. During the first break, it was still minus 22. It actually seemed like it was going to be a day where there wasn’t much to say, except that we were just putting in the miles. There was a bit more wind than in recent days. The fact that the wind was coming from diagonally behind us was actually very pleasant. But around noon, I noticed the wind was coming from the east, meaning we were getting a headwind. That wasn’t a problem at all, because it wasn’t blowing very hard and it was actually quite nice to cool down a little in the, once again, burning sun.

The plan to walk an extra shift

Plans were made during the noodle break. Someone said: today might be the last day of truly beautiful weather, why don’t we add another shift? That way we make it a really long day, do a normal day tomorrow, and have a bit of a margin for Tuesday and Wednesday when the wind is supposed to pick up. Everyone liked that idea. The noodle break comes after four shifts. But Greenland wouldn’t be Greenland if things didn’t turn out a little differently.

From minus 22 to minus 3 and sticky snow

Instead of an extra shift, we didn’t even finish the sixth one. We already realized during the noodle break: it’s only minus 3 and the weather is actually pretty bad. Still, we thought it was pleasant enough and that we could just keep walking. During the sixth shift, it suddenly got incredibly warm. The snow started sticking. Everyone took everything off. We were basically walking in t-shirts with sunglasses on. We looked at each other and wondered what was going on, because this wasn’t what was predicted. Minus 11 was forecast with 20 to 30 kilometers per hour of wind. In reality, it was completely still, the sun was blazing like crazy, and the snow started sticking.

Decision to stop and enjoy

We looked at each other and said: if Greenland is giving us this little gift, shouldn’t we just take it? So we set up camp and thoroughly enjoyed the sun. You could just sit outside in your t-shirt and dry all your gear. It’s clearly the calm before the storm. Looking at the weather report, it’s going to be quite windy tomorrow: between 40 and 50 kilometers per hour. On Tuesday, we’re looking at a base wind of around 45 kilometers per hour, with gusts over 60 kilometers per hour. On Wednesday, it steps up another gear, at least during the night and morning. We’re not looking further ahead than that, because it’s still a bit too far off.

Last beautiful moment and what’s to come

We thought: maybe this is the last moment we’ll have such incredibly beautiful weather, where we can be outside without being cold and without being bothered by the wind. So we took that moment and we’re sitting here enjoying it now. If all goes well, the wind will pick up tonight. From tomorrow on, it’ll be a different story. We still have about 107 kilometers to go, I believe. We’re not going to get that last stretch for free, but we don’t need to. It’s still Greenland. We’ve had a week of fantastic weather. If a cold morning and some wind in your face is the only thing you have to complain about, then we’re doing pretty well here.

Deep loose snow and looking ahead

Oh yeah, and the deep snow is still there. There’s still a layer of about 30 centimeters of completely loose snow on a very hard base, and it just won’t bind. Maybe the advantage of two days of more wind is that the snow will bind a bit more, so you can walk on top of it instead of sinking through it all the time. That might eventually make walking easier, especially if we have a bit of a tailwind. We’ll see, because whatever comes, comes. The forecast is just a forecast. Today was also very different from what we expected. I really didn’t see it coming that it would get so warm and the snow would get so sticky. In a way, it’s also fun to stick your nose out of the tent tomorrow morning and deal with whatever it is, forecast or no forecast. We’ll just get on with it. Everyone is really looking forward to it. We’re looking forward to the end, but we also realize that while we’re looking forward to it, we’re also going to be very sad when we finally get there.