70 Degrees West

Outside   
June 26th, 2012

mikebaird/Flikr

Photographer: Justin Lewis

It is said that Greenland’s Inuit name, Kalaallit Nunaat, means “The Land of Man.” To the Greenlandic natives, it is home, where the dark days and sunlit nights demand the human spirit to endure at all costs.

Spring time hits Ilulissat Greenland as the fisherman begin to venture out into the recently broken chunks of looming sea ice.

Kamik’s, Eskmio’s traditional footwear, are made from seal skin lined with polar bear fur. There are limited options for warmth in the northern arctic regions of the world.

Sled driver and dog team rest for a moment under the arch of a looming translucent blue iceberg frozen in the sea ice.

During the warmer months, chunks of icebergs break off from the glacier head and slowly drift through open water.

The life of a dog sled driver is one of patience and discipline. Seventeen Greenlandic Arctic dogs prepare for another long trek across the ice.

Thomas Martika Qujaukitsoq was born in Qaanaaq, Greenland. He wears a reindeer jacket his grandmother hand-stitched when he was a young man.

The magic of Northern Greenland’s midnight sun is filled with stunning beauty and extreme isolation. Image taken at 3 o’clock in the morning.

Sunrise spills into a fjord and reflects upon a layer of thin ice that keeps this lake frozen another month longer.

Not far from an ice cap, ice caves fill the expansive landscape. Sediments from rock and dirt color the ice with a rosy hue that glisten in the midnight sun.

Greenlandic Arctic sled dogs are only allowed north of the Arctic Circle and found no where else in the world.

“I drive my dog sled because it is my culture and my life. It will always be like that.” —Inuit hunter.

Hunting and fishing are the only sources of fresh food in Greenland. A fisherman chops up halibut to feed to his howling dogs.

When spring comes, some fisherman launch their boats into the Arctic waters, delicately navigating through chunks and sheets of sea ice.

Massive in size and stature, castle-looking iceberg formations come from a nearby glacier head.

Greenland is a place of stunning landscape and brutal isolation.

Midday sun reflects upon the newly exposed rocks along the ice edge.

Story originally appeared at: Outside

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