I met a climber from Zurich intent on summiting it––he’d already been partway up to test the rock and drop off some gear. Nevertheless it’s really beautiful, and the light constantly toys with its colors. Made of colorfully banded gneiss, the peak is pretty unusual compared to others I saw in Greenland––it looks better suited to the Andes. mountain at the island’s far end ends up being the backdrop for every view of (and from) town. I probably shouldn’t have gotten this far without mentioning Uummannaq’s most distinctive feature. Every time I go inside one I expect it to be dank and dark, and every time I’m pleasantly surprised. They look pretty rough from the outside, but every one I’ve been in––almost a dozen––has been unfailingly clean, bright, and sweet-smelling, like the citrusy moss that grows everywhere here. A quick note about the turf houses: nearly everyone in Greenland lived in them until the forced consolidation/public housing boom of the 1950s.
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