Arctic Circle Trail (Greenland)

Greenland

Distance

150 km

Vertical Gain

6,500 m

Greenland’s Arctic Circle Trail is often listed as one of the best long-distance hikes in the world. The trail stretches up to 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the edge of the ice cap to the fishing town of Sisimiut on the West coast. Depending on fitness levels and the specific route chosen, it can take anywhere between 7-12 days to complete hiking. Spread along the trail are a couple of basic wooden huts for bad weather, but packing a tent is recommended.

Only 300 people hike the trail every year, so while you may run into other hikers, it’s possible to go days without seeing a fellow human. The normal hiking season is from June to August.

Originally the route was from the Söndreströmfjords Athomospheric Research Facility until Sisimiut, however the route also covers the stretch of 15 km from the Research center to the airport in Kangerlussuaq. So there are now further variations to the route.

More on the route from Outdoor active: https://www.outdooractive.com/en/route/long-distance-hiking/greenland/arctic-circle-trail-most-iconic-long-hike-in-greenland/52066591/

GPS Track

Arctic_Circle_Trail_Greenland_Stage_1__0.gpx1.97 MB

Arctic_Circle_Trail_Greenland_Stage_2_0.gpx2.32 MB

Arctic_Circle_Trail_Greenland_Stage_3__0.gpx2.5 MB

FKTs

Male

Unsupported
Christof Teuscher			1d 23h 30m 0s	2022-08-18

Self-supported
Torsten Niecke			2d 4h 17m 0s	2019-06-01

Male

Unsupported
Christof Teuscher			4d 10h 15m 27s	2022-08-20

Male

Self-supported
Peter Fairhurst			2d 4h 0m 0s	2024-07-25

Comments

On Tue, Aug 16, 2022, I will attempt a solo, unsupported, single (90mi) and out & back (180mi) Fastest Known Time (FKT) of the Arctic Circle Trail (ACT) in Greenland.

More info: https://www.christofteuscher.com/aagaa/news-180mi-unsupported-solo-single-and-out-back-arctic-circle-trail-fkt-attempts

Tracking: https://maps.findmespot.com/s/V6QT

Report: https://www.christofteuscher.com/aagaa/report-unsupported-one-way-and-out-back-arctic-circle-trail-fkts

Status update (if you wondered what's going on with this FKT): I've submitted my Arctic Circle Trail FKT on Sep 1, 2022. As of today (Nov 2, 2022), the submission has neither been accepted nor rejected, despite several inquiries.

Christof,

Any update or communications from the FKT team? It seems Outside is really struggling to keep a functioning editor team. Kinda starting to make some of us wonder.

Allison is doing an amazing job trying to hold the helm on socials, email, and newsletter...but she is one human. You could try messaging her on IG though.

With stoke [and some worry],

Jason

Here's an article from 2016 about a local person who did it in 32 hours: https://sermitsiaq.ag/kl/nunatsinni-arpannermit-takinersaanneersumit-as… and https://sermitsiaq.ag/kl/kangerlussuarmit-sisimiunut-arpattoq.

Also have a look at the Arctic Circle Trail Facebook page. It seems it's not completely unknown for Greenlandic people to do this route in two days.

pstkk: Interesting. The article indicates that he did the whole 160km in 2016 in a total of 51 hours (Fri 16:00 - Sun 19:00) with 32 hours of moving time and a 10kg pack. So actually bit faster than Torsten Niecke's subsequent time of 52 hours and 17 minutes (which was for 147km).

Route: Arctic Circle Trail (Greenland)

FKTs

Comments