JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
One of the first things tour operator Jan Cortsen tells me when we meet is that I'm not wearing enough layers.
(SOUNDBITE OF ENGINE CHUGGING)
SUMMERS: We are in a working boat yard in Ilulissat, a small town north of the Arctic Circle. Cortsen's going to take us out on his boat to explore the icebergs that lure many tourists to Greenland. And even though it has been unseasonably warm during our 12-day trip here, he warns that the wind will be biting. He shows off a plastic bag with two freshly caught cod. He'd been out guiding a fishing trip earlier in the day.
JAN CORTSEN: Fresh.
SUMMERS: Fresh cod - caught it this morning?
CORTSEN: Yeah.
SUMMERS: Nice. Two whole cod in a bag. A little...
CORTSEN: I will eat the liver and the stomach with the fish.
SUMMERS: To reach the boat, I take cautious steps across the frozen blue sea ice.
It's incredible. We're walking past all of these boats that are literally sitting on top of the ice, which is - feels pretty firm under my feet, fingers crossed.
(SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS)
SUMMERS: I notice that some of the ice is splattered with fish blood and seal parts. Someone has left a frozen shark carcass on top of the ice.
The terrain is not level. There are little jagged pieces of ice that pop up and down.
Cortsen's boat is tied up at the edge of the ice.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHIPPING ICE)
SUMMERS: He chips off the thin edge he says is too dangerous to stand on. Cortsen kicks on the engine, and we set off.
(SOUNDBITE OF ENGINE STARTING)
CORTSEN: We will sail quite close to the icebergs. They're mountains, like, in the water - that we only can see the top of the icebergs. Then the rest, 70- to 90%, is down under.
SUMMERS: Wow.
CORTSEN: Some of these can be up to 100 meter high and be very, very dangerous. They can break off without warning.
SUMMERS: Wow.
CORTSEN: These big ones, yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)
SUMMERS: At one point, Cortsen pulls the boat close to this massive outcropping of ice and uses a hook to pull the boat closer. I reach my hand out.
So we just pulled a chunk off. This is from the very beginning of the ice fjord. Holding it in my hand, it's a little bit bigger than a softball.
CORTSEN: Just remember they are - these are 60,000-year-old ice.
SUMMERS: 60,000-...
CORTSEN: Yeah.
SUMMERS: ...Year-old ice in my hand?
CORTSEN: Yeah.
SUMMERS: It's pretty incredible.
As we speed toward the glinting white and sapphire-blue icebergs, Cortsen tells us his story. He was born in this small city of fewer than 5,000 people. He tried other careers, but says his love of the outdoors and of traditional Inuit culture led him to start working as a tour guide.
CORTSEN: Yeah. I was working with big machines, and every time I stopped in a good view, then I looked and relaxed and say to myself, in the future, I want to be in the water and working with my guests in my own company.
SUMMERS: The water is a little choppy, and I hold onto one of the guard rails with a gloved hand.
CORTSEN: Just remember, you are extreme. You are sailing in wintertime in Greenland (laughter).
SUMMERS: We are extreme.
CORTSEN: Yeah.
SUMMERS: We are sailing in wintertime in Greenland.
CORTSEN: So you - now you can call yourselves extreme tourists.
(LAUGHTER)
SUMMERS: Do you get many tourists during the winter? Do you get many extreme tourists?
CORTSEN: I want many extreme tourists in the future (laughter).
SUMMERS: Soon, Greenland will be more accessible to tourists than ever before. Greenland has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the industry in recent years. There's a new airport in Nuuk, opened a few months ago, that will bring international visitors directly to Greenland's capital. When those flights start this summer, American tourists will be able to fly from the East Coast to Greenland in about 4 hours. I asked Cortsen whether he worries about the risks of over-tourism. An influx of tourists could put strain on the island's limited infrastructure, and the remote nature of Greenland is part of its draw. Cortsen says he's not concerned.
CORTSEN: I'm welcoming people because I want to show my beautiful country to other people. We have only one life. And we have a big country and we are only 56,000 people, so I'm not worried.
SUMMERS: In 2023, foreign tourism added nearly $270 million to Greenland's economy. That's according to Visit Greenland, the national tourism authority. Cortsen is a part of a collective of Inuit tour operators. The group wants to make sure those tourism dollars go back into the local economy.
CORTSEN: We want to be together because we want to be stronger, because we want to show what we local can do in our own country, because we know where we can catch fish or seals or something like that. We know what we are doing. And it's about to show the real Greenland with other cultures.
(SOUNDBITE OF ENGINE CHUGGING)
SUMMERS: At one point, Cortsen kills the engine. We're floating, surrounded by ice. He looks at us and tells us...
CORTSEN: Just enjoy the moment.
(SOUNDBITE OF WATER LAPPING)
SUMMERS: The only things I hear are the water lapping at the side of the boat, the breeze and the sound of my own breath. On reporting trips like these, with so much to explore, there often aren't many moments of stillness.
(SOUNDBITE OF WATER LAPPING)
SUMMERS: I want to memorize the way this moment feels.
I mean, this is - we're essentially standing in one of your offices. This must be so fun for you, to take people out to see these icebergs. Do you enjoy it?
CORTSEN: Oh, my God. I choose this lifestyle instead of being inside an office. I enjoying life in the water. It's my second home.
(SOUNDBITE OF SUME SONG, "UPERNAAQ")
SUMMERS: On tomorrow's show, we meet a Greenlandic chef who teaches us about traditional cuisine.
UNIDENTIFIED CHEF: This is the whale blubber from the narwhal.
SUMMERS: From the narwhal?
UNIDENTIFIED CHEF: Or you have from a young - a teenage narwhal.
SUMMERS: From a teenage narwhal. Wow.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UPERNAAQ")
SUME: (Singing in non-English language). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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