Camping on the World’s Largest Ice Sheet: An Arctic Adventure in Greenland

Spending a night on the Greenland Ice Sheet, where the sun never sets and the ice is constantly shifting, is an adventure unlike any other. My crampons scratched against the ice as I hauled a sledge packed with gear over ridge after icy ridge. The endless whiteness stretched to the horizon, and every step was a mix of exertion and awe. Our guide, Carl, announced we had reached our campsite, and we quickly secured the ice pegs to keep our tents from being blown away. Standing there, I knew this overnight adventure would be unforgettable.

The Greenland Ice Sheet covers 80% of the island and is one of the harshest environments on Earth. The easiest access is from Kangerlussuaq, a small town in western Greenland, where a 35km road built by Volkswagen in 1999 for winter car tests takes you close to the ice. The transition from soft tundra to jagged ice and finally to the vast ice sheet is sudden and dramatic.

The ice sheet is up to 3 km thick and spans 1.7 million km², with a mass so enormous it has pushed much of Greenland’s bedrock below sea level. Some basal ice is over two million years old, older than humanity itself. Due to the extreme environment, visitors can only explore with a certified guide, and only one company, Albatros Arctic Circle, offers overnight camping tours. Standing on the edge of a meltwater river cutting deep through the ice, it becomes clear: sometimes the journey itself is the real adventure.