I had been travelling for two days on a ferry, only moving my body a few times a day to get off on the short 15-minute stops. But when we got to Qaqortoq, the largest village in South Greenland, I finally had time to do something active! We had a three-hour stopover, so instead of “just” exploring the city, I decided to do both that AND climb a mountain. I know it sounds crazy! Three hours for mountain climbing!? I was certainly in a battle with time, both for the ferry departure and for the sunset which I could tell was going to be amazing because of the clear blue sky.
When I first got off the ferry in Qaqortoq, I didn’t actually know that I was going to climb the mountain. I knew it was an option as I’d seen the trail on my map, but I never thought I would have enough time. I spent the first half an hour dilly-dallying around the village, looking at the pretty colourful houses and taking my time to look through the Pisiffik supermarket. Then I decided to walk to Lake Tasersuaq and that’s when I looked at my map and realized how close I was to the beginning of the trail.
I checked the time from my point to the top of the mountain, and according to maps.me it would only take 34 minutes. Well, I knew that couldn’t be true, but still.. In my guide book it says that the round-trip climb takes 3-4 hours with photo stops, so there was no way I could make it according to that. But looking at the mountain in front of me, it didn’t look THAT demanding, and so I decided to challenge myself. The mountain is “only” 319 meters high after all… I had to climb it and get back to the ferry within 2,5 hours.
I hurried up the steep streets of Qaqortoq to the trail start on Nuiariaq Street, where I was surprised to find cliffs full of icicles! It was beautiful. The trail itself was also icier than I’d thought it would be, but unlike in Nuuk, the snow was not slippery, so I tried to walk in that as much as possible.
The first part of the hike was quite steep, which had me concerned for time. I decided to set a time limit – if I was not at the summit by 5.30 PM, 1,5 hours before the ferry would depart, I had to turn around. But as you might’ve guessed, it didn’t quite go that way. I kept hiking, going as fast as I could without slipping and also taking a few photo breaks and ouch-my-legs-hurt-breaks.
At one point, I was not hiking anymore; I was using my new climbing skills to haul myself up the steep mountain side. And then something really bad happened. My coke zero bottle slipped out of the side pocket in my backpack…. And it slid and slid, halfway down the mountain. I had to leave it behind and hoped and prayed that I’d find it on the way back, but I never did. I’m so sorry for littering on you, Earth. I hope you can forgive me!
The clock turned 5.30 PM and I was supposed to head back down according to my own plan, but I could see the top and really felt like I was close. Usually when I feel like that, I still have a few hours to go. But I decided to push the time by 15 minutes and hope I’d make it within that time! I was originally following the trail, but at one point decided not to and just go directly up since I could see the top. Of course, as I probably could’ve guessed beforehand, I made a bad choice and found myself in a spot where I had to struggle to keep going. Always trust the trail, you guys.
Thankfully, I found the trail again after pulling myself up for a while and then made the wise decision to stick to it. A few minutes later, I saw them – the cairns! I was there, I was at the summit!! And the time was 5.50 PM.
I hurried to take some pictures, but it was too beautiful to not linger there for a bit. I’d gotten there just in time for the most beautiful sunset that painted the city orange and pink. Man, I was lucky!
A few moments later, it was time to head back down – and I had to hurry! The ferry was departing in just an hour, and I still had to climb down the mountain and walk down to the harbour from the outskirts of the village. But descending went much easier than the ascent! I slid down on my butt for most of the way and then ran through the snow until I got to the road. It was all downhill from then on, so it took no time to get to the ferry.
I got back at 6.35 PM, only 35 minutes after leaving the summit of the mountain (!) and with 25 minutes to spare. I entered the ferry with the biggest smile on my face. The crew must’ve thought I was on drugs or something. But I wasn’t – I was just high on life. I had just completed a mountain climb in less than two hours! Tired and happy, I went to the kiosk and bought myself a bottle of coke zero and then sat down on my bed to write this.
I can’t even describe how much I loved that climb and the village of Qaqortoq itself – despite the fact that I was under massive time pressure. I was so lucky to get a perfect sunset and I’m thrilled that I chose to climb the mountain despite only having two hours to complete it!
I had been travelling for two days on a ferry, only moving my body a few times a day to get off on the short 15-minute stops. But when we got to Qaqortoq, the largest village in South Greenland, I finally had time to do something active! We had a three-hour stopover, so instead of “just” exploring the city, I decided to do both that AND climb a mountain. I know it sounds crazy! Three hours for mountain climbing!? I was certainly in a battle with time, both for the ferry departure and for the sunset which I could tell was going to be amazing because of the clear blue sky.
When I first got off the ferry in Qaqortoq, I didn’t actually know that I was going to climb the mountain. I knew it was an option as I’d seen the trail on my map, but I never thought I would have enough time. I spent the first half an hour dilly-dallying around the village, looking at the pretty colourful houses and taking my time to look through the Pisiffik supermarket. Then I decided to walk to Lake Tasersuaq and that’s when I looked at my map and realized how close I was to the beginning of the trail.
I checked the time from my point to the top of the mountain, and according to maps.me it would only take 34 minutes. Well, I knew that couldn’t be true, but still.. In my guide book it says that the round-trip climb takes 3-4 hours with photo stops, so there was no way I could make it according to that. But looking at the mountain in front of me, it didn’t look THAT demanding, and so I decided to challenge myself. The mountain is “only” 319 meters high after all… I had to climb it and get back to the ferry within 2,5 hours.
I hurried up the steep streets of Qaqortoq to the trail start on Nuiariaq Street, where I was surprised to find cliffs full of icicles! It was beautiful. The trail itself was also icier than I’d thought it would be, but unlike in Nuuk, the snow was not slippery, so I tried to walk in that as much as possible.
The first part of the hike was quite steep, which had me concerned for time. I decided to set a time limit – if I was not at the summit by 5.30 PM, 1,5 hours before the ferry would depart, I had to turn around. But as you might’ve guessed, it didn’t quite go that way. I kept hiking, going as fast as I could without slipping and also taking a few photo breaks and ouch-my-legs-hurt-breaks.
At one point, I was not hiking anymore; I was using my new climbing skills to haul myself up the steep mountain side. And then something really bad happened. My coke zero bottle slipped out of the side pocket in my backpack…. And it slid and slid, halfway down the mountain. I had to leave it behind and hoped and prayed that I’d find it on the way back, but I never did. I’m so sorry for littering on you, Earth. I hope you can forgive me!
The clock turned 5.30 PM and I was supposed to head back down according to my own plan, but I could see the top and really felt like I was close. Usually when I feel like that, I still have a few hours to go. But I decided to push the time by 15 minutes and hope I’d make it within that time! I was originally following the trail, but at one point decided not to and just go directly up since I could see the top. Of course, as I probably could’ve guessed beforehand, I made a bad choice and found myself in a spot where I had to struggle to keep going. Always trust the trail, you guys.
Thankfully, I found the trail again after pulling myself up for a while and then made the wise decision to stick to it. A few minutes later, I saw them – the cairns! I was there, I was at the summit!! And the time was 5.50 PM.
I hurried to take some pictures, but it was too beautiful to not linger there for a bit. I’d gotten there just in time for the most beautiful sunset that painted the city orange and pink. Man, I was lucky!
A few moments later, it was time to head back down – and I had to hurry! The ferry was departing in just an hour, and I still had to climb down the mountain and walk down to the harbour from the outskirts of the village. But descending went much easier than the ascent! I slid down on my butt for most of the way and then ran through the snow until I got to the road. It was all downhill from then on, so it took no time to get to the ferry.
I got back at 6.35 PM, only 35 minutes after leaving the summit of the mountain (!) and with 25 minutes to spare. I entered the ferry with the biggest smile on my face. The crew must’ve thought I was on drugs or something. But I wasn’t – I was just high on life. I had just completed a mountain climb in less than two hours! Tired and happy, I went to the kiosk and bought myself a bottle of coke zero and then sat down on my bed to write this.
I can’t even describe how much I loved that climb and the village of Qaqortoq itself – despite the fact that I was under massive time pressure. I was so lucky to get a perfect sunset and I’m thrilled that I chose to climb the mountain despite only having two hours to complete it!
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