Back From Greenland!!

[jbotti]

Just got back from an amazing 7 Days of Heli skiing in Greenland. Everyone should put this one on their list. One of the most beautiful places on earth and the pow skiing is pretty sweet as well. Here are links to a few pics. I will post some video later. Enjoy!!

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[jbotti]

Here is some video. This is one from our group skiing a steep line on day two. Enjoy!!

[jbotti]

Since I was the cameraman there is not a lot of vid of me skiing. Here is one shot that someone took. Not quite as fluffy but still awfully fun!!

[midwif]

Was able to look at the pics at work, but not the video.

Those are amazingly beautiful.
What an opportunity.

Can you tell us more about the trip?

L.

[jbotti]

I flew to Copenhagen on 4/16 and I spent a day and a half there. On 4/19 I flew from Copenhagen to Kangerlussuaq Greenland and then onto Maniitsoq Greenland. In Maniitsoq we met our guides and got on a boat called the Kisaq and headed out for the fjords of Greenland. We skied the first day we arrived starting at around 4:30 in the afternoon (it's light until 10:30 at night at this time of year and they pick up 12 minutes additional light each day!). For the next 6 days we moved around the fjords and the heli followed us and we had weather good enough to heli ski on 5 of the seven days. The other two days we ski toured mainly in white out conditions. Going up was fun. Coming back down was a total white out and challenging. I took one of those days off to rest the legs.

We hit it pretty big. The snowpack was excellent and we were able to ski some fairly steep stuff which is not always the case when heli skiing. We had two amazing guides. One was Pete Patterson who was on the US Ski team for 9 years and was an olympian twice. Pete is the brother of one of my dear friends wife. The other guide was Kevin O'Rourke from Wasatch powder guides. Both Pete and Kevin have immense experience in the backcountry and in Greenland as well (Pete is in his 13th season in Greenland). They are also both quite conservative and have zero cowboy in them and safety is the number one goal all the time on their trips. I would be very wary about heli skiing with any guide that I didn't know or know quite a bit about. We skied on many glaciers where there is not just avalanche risk but huge crevasses and some falling ice which can cause all types of issues. Our guides were amazing and it made some intense terrain and areas quite manageable.

It really was the trip of a lifetime!! An amazing week with some great people and fabulous guides. I hope to go back next year or the year after with my brother and one of my good friends.

Again it is definitely one to put on everyones list of things to do before we can't anymore. 

[jim-ratliff]

  WOW. Great report John. And closer than Chile. Do they have a "ski season" there or is it year around?

[jbotti]

Well in general it's too dark and too cold to ski there until mid march or so and there is good skiing until mid May or so and sometimes later. I think that is pretty much the season.

Yes it is probably closer that Chile but not all that easy to get to (at least from the west coast). You have to fly to Copenhagen and then to Greenland from there. From the east coast it is not bad at all.

[jim-ratliff]

John:

Everyone has on a climbing harness?
Just a precaution in case a rescue is necessary, or other use.

Great pictures. Thanks.

[jbotti]

Yes a precaution. Lots of crevasses. If someone fell into one this enables a reasonably efficient rescue out of it.

[LivingProof]

JB,

Wow, a powder trip for the ages! Thanks for sharing, the pics are just great.

I thought of our powder day in Squaw only your had brilliant sun. How did the quality of the snow compare to the heavier powder in Squaw? And, what skis are you holding up? BTW, nice run in the video.

What level of skier could do this trip? After my Squaw powder day, I'd be reluctant to try it without spending much more time in 3D, and, doing a helluvalot more physical training.

Yup, trusting your guides professional capability is mandatory. Crevass falls....

What do you plan for an encore after this trip?

[meput]

what skis are you holding up?

Only ones that you are willing to donate to a crevasse 

[jbotti]

LP, the skiing was not that difficult. Things you eliminate completely in heli skiing are bumps, chop and crud. We did ski some reasonably steep lines and to go there and have fun you have to be able to ski fresh pow reasonably well. IMO, it does not take that long to get to that level. Pretty easy if you live near Squaw or Bachelor or someplace where they get tons of snow. A little bit harder living on the east coast.

The snow quality was pretty good. All of it was thicker than what I normally ski in Montana. In the mornings when it was still real cold it was pretty light and fluffy, lighter than Tahoe on their best days of snow quality. On sunny days when it warmed up the snow got heavier. All of it was pretty easy to ski. The only times we hit funky conditions were at the bottoms on south facing slopes when we had gotten some sun baking causing a shrink wrap effect. Some of this was tough to turn in, but you just dialed it back and got through it. It never lasted for very long as it was always at the bottom.

The skis I am holding up are the Icelantic Shamans and they were perfect for the trip and the conditions. I started them on the line but the second day I moved them back 1.5cm and that was the perfect place to ski them. I also brought my K2 Hardsides which have duke bindings on them for says when we toured on skins

[jbotti]

As for encore trips, I am not sure. I am definitely going back to Greenland at least one more time. I will take my brother and another good friend the next time. My guess is that I will pick up some other friends that will decide to go as well. I am not sure that other Heli ski destinations can math this trip.

Away from skiing my next big adventure will be to go the the Himalayas and do some trekking with the same guide. He and his wife have promised to trek me up to the top of Mera, which is a 21,000 foot mountain in the Himalayas. I am probably several years away from doing this because it takes a month away from the family and after my wife letting me do this trip, I think it make sense for me to be around for a while before I disappear for a month!!

[smackboy1]

Wow, impressive! Definitely have to make some space on my Bucket List for heli skiing.

So how is Greenland different than heli skiing in N. America? What do Greenlanders eat?

[jbotti]

Greenland is a lot like Alaska in that it mountains are coastal. The highest elevation we were at was around 4500-5000 feet. The snow comes in a little wetter and heavier but usually the temps drop after the storms and this sucks a lot of moisture out of the snow pack. The result is that there is less sliding in Greenland and Alaska than in the Rockies or up in the big heli skiing zones in Canada. This means that you can ski some steeper pitches with a lot less risk.I have never been heli skiing before but I was told by several veterans on this trip that they had never skied lines as steep as they did on this trip.

Beyond that, it is the last uninhabited place with mountains on earth (i guess we could include Antartica but I don't think anyone is heli skiing down there). It is also the most stunningly beautiful place that I have been to.

The food on the boat was a mix of traditional cooking using some traditional Greenland ingredients (we had lasagna one night using Musk Ox instead of beef, quite tasty!).