As the week progressed, a very simple routine began to unfold. Each day began with a walk across vast expanses of sea ice filled with black cracks. It’s enough to get your heart racing. After walking about a kilometer, we boarded a small fishing boat driven by Captain Eli and headed out into the fjord. After choosing a safe place to disembark, we each took turns carefully lifting our feet over the side of the boat, supporting ourselves with one hand and skiing with the other, trying to keep the boat from being washed away. Ta.
Before we arrived, our guide advised us that we needed to be physically fit, but when we looked at the contour lines on the map at breakfast on the first day, I realized why. Over the course of a week, the sounds of my own heavy breathing quickly became my friend. Most days we climbed about 3,000 feet and traveled about 8 miles before enjoying a perfect spring cone to the ocean’s edge.