A winter wonderland – Snowboarding in Nuuk

If you are anything like me, and absolutely love everything about winter, then Greenland is definitely the place for you. It’s a literal winter sports playground, and personally, I deeply enjoy snowboarding.

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Snowboarding

I started skiing when I was three years old, but changed to snowboarding when I was eight, and have enjoyed it ever since. When you grow up in a country where the mountains in your backyard are a playground, you quickly learn to find fun ways to spend your free time in the nature.

Some of the best memories I have from my childhood all involve the outdoors, and often the times when we have spent full days in nature, especially in winter season.

I find winter in Greenland very fascinating and magical. The mountains are covered in ice and snow, which really lightens up the city in the dark winter times.

It’s such a joy to observe the snow silently falling from the sky in the evening, knowing that the next day there will be fresh snow on the mountains, making the perfect environment for off-piste snowboarding.

I think that Greenland has an insanely cool winter sports culture. Personally, I think that winter really brings people together in so many other ways than normal. You will meet people out in the mountains, wave at your friends riding by on a snowmobile, or meet someone you haven’t seen for a while on the slopes.

Sometimes when the weather is warm and the sun is out, it can even be too warm to wear proper winter clothes. I will sometimes just go in a pair of warm jogging pants, with woolen clothes underneath, and a warm shirt. Jacket, hat or gloves are not needed. It’s so nice, cause then you can really move and feel the snow and the heat from the sun.

One thing that I will never go without, no matter the weather, is either my sunglasses or skiing glasses. The sun reflecting in the snow can make you snow blind, and it can be really difficult to see the texture of the environment, which can be quite risky, so sunglasses are always important to bring along for the ride.

On a small adventure

Sometimes we go for adventures further away. When going on a tour, further away from town, we either sail there or ride there on a snowmobile, which is my absolute favorite thing to do. It’s so amazing to go to new places, and Greenland has so much to offer.

Once we took a boat around Ukkusissat Mountain, which is approximately a 40 min sail tour. When we arrived we walked the first two kilometers, and then we got picked up by a snowmobile, which drove us to the top of a glacier.

It took about 15 min to ride to the top of the glacier. It’s a quite steep ride, but when you reach the top, the view is completely worth it. You have a view over the back side of Ukkusissat Mountain, as well as the fjords surrounding Nuuk.

When you reach the top and are ready to go down, it’s one of the most outstanding tours I have tried in Greenland. The whole way down there was fresh powder snow and breathtaking view.

Teaching others

I often bring out friends and family to teach them the basics of snowboarding, if they are interested in learning. It’s such a nice sport to observe when people are trying to learn.

When you haven’t tried it before and need to find the balance with both feet stuck to a board, it often results in a lot of falling. We do wear helmet and back protection, so it doesn’t hurt when we fall, but you do get a bit sore from time to time.

A few years ago, my mother found an interest in snowboarding, so we had some fun times fooling around in the snow, trying to teach her to control the snowboard. Now she has full control, and can drive on her own:)

The whole process of dressing up in layers, packing a backpack with snacks, drinks, and extra clothes, and heading toward the mountains is a part of the experience. One of my top places to go is what we call the Snowmobile playground. It’s located about a 30-45min ride from the airport in Nuuk. We get there by snowmobile.

It’s such a peaceful place to be when the mountains are cored in snow, and there are always so many other snowboarders, skiers, hikers, and snowmobile drivers. It’s really nice to be a part of a culture who appreciates nature and knows how to take advantage of the environment they were born in.

Summer in Greenland is very special, but the Greenlandic winter is absolutely outstanding, in my opinion, especially if you like the feeling of the frost biting your cheeks, a cold nose tip, and your eyes running in water 🙂

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If you are interested in visiting Greenland in winter, see our tours here.

Winter in Nuuk is magical, experience it for yourself here.

If you want to read more about Nuuk, read our Ultimate travel Guide to Nuuk.

Read more travel blogs from Carla Langholz