Dog sledding on rocks
May 17th, 2007 Originally Posted by Gelu Sulugiuc
Copenhagen correspondent Gelu Sulugiuc and Reuters photographer Bob Strong are in Greenland to visit a team of scientists studying the melting of the ice sheet.
ILULISSAT, Greenland – One can use any modern means of transportation in Greenland, from snowmobile to helicopter to plane. But nothing beats the dog sled at least when there is ice or snow to glide across.
We were reminded of that yesterday, when our trip to Dr. Koni Steffens research station, Swiss Camp, was delayed after the helicopter pilot who was supposed to fly us 100 kilometers out on the ice cap fell into a crevice and fractured his skull. This is the only helicopter Air Greenland has left in Ilulissat, after a second one crashed a few weeks ago at Swiss Camp. Nobody was seriously injured, but that machine had to be airlifted back to town in pieces.
Just hours before we heard about the latest helicopter mishap, we had convinced two local sled dog drivers to take us out on a ride, ignoring warnings that there wasnt much snow left. Locals say spring comes earlier here now, moving the end of the dog sled season to early May or late April, where in the past sleds could easily ride until the end of May.
So when we met our sled drivers on the edge of Ilulissat, we found their 29 dogs strapped to two sleds resting firmly on solid rock. The dogs worked hard to pull us off the rock, through wet fields and up rough hills, with the drivers frequently jumping off the sleds to reduce their weight as they yelled at the dogs to keep pulling. We made it to the edge of the fjord in about an hour, with less than 25 percent of that time spent on snow and ice.
As we waited out the full day it would take for the arrival of another pilot to fly us to Swiss Camp and bring back a crew of National Geographic journalists stranded there, we realized we would have reached there by now had we traveled by dog sled. The only problem would be getting to the edge of the ice cap from Ilulissat with no snow on the ground.
Dog sledding over rocks and melted snow. Photos by Bob Strong, Reuters.