The Most Dangerous Kayak Expedition on Earth

I'm Vincent, and this is my friend Alvin, a mountain guy and ice diving expert. As two adventurers, we have come to explore the submerged faces of icebergs, these gigantic blocks of ice carried inexorably along by currents from the Arctic Ocean. We don't really know what awaits us in this secret world, but we hope to discover some fabulous creatures. To do this, we intend to kayak between the only two communities on the entire east coast of Greenland, one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. A thousand kilometer long expedition through the ice with no human contact. It's going to flip over in front of us. End of August. This is when the ice melt reaches its peak. We know it's late in the season to be venturing here before the winter imprisons everything, but it's also the ideal moment to get up close to drifting icebergs and dive under the ice. It's a real maze. Yes. We're moving backwards, see? Yes, we're doing 10 times the distance. I'm dead. We've been paddling for 20 hours, haven't we? The countdown has begun. It's imperative we reach our destination before the end of October, or we'll be at the mercy of the storms, the newly forming sea ice and the polar night. I've no idea which way we're drifting. We'll see at daybreak tomorrow. We'll spend the night here as soon as the ice clears or... I don't know. I don't know either. We'll let you know tomorrow if we're still alive, that is. Right. Well, maybe see you tomorrow. I haven't a clue what time it is, but we're still surrounded by brash ice. Albin is hiding in his survival blanket. I'm freezing. We're still stuck, basically. I think we should start paddling to warm ourselves up. The water isn't very far away. If we manage to get out of here, we can go ashore somewhere or other. Let's beat it. Yeah, there's no point going that way. No. Hey, open water, huh? Now all we need is a storm. There's only one way to get out of here, and that's to get in the water and free our kayaks. It's 7.30 a.m. I'm trying to put my suit on in the kayak because basically we're trapped by the ice. This is pretty damn tough. For sure. God, it's got to feel good to be back in open water. Jeez, it's frozen. Will you be okay? Yay, it works. What a guy. He's gone to get the other kayak. It's hard work, but it does work. We're maybe a third of the way to the ice-free zone up ahead of us. It's still very far. Maybe a fifth of the way or maybe a tenth. Come on, buddy. Great. Yes, ice-free water. Awesome. We're going to be able to move at last. God damn it. What a hassle. I won't forget this anytime soon. I'm beat. We're dead on our feet. I can't feel my toes and my fingers anymore. We almost died. A few hours more and we'd have gotten hypothermia, the big sleep. We could easily get trapped and never make it out of here alive, seeing how much ice there is. What do you think? We've been in our kayaks for almost 36 hours now. We have to stop. We'll see about that later. It's a deal. We'll stop here. Come on, then. Let's set up camp. Vincent is exhausted. And as if we didn't have enough problems, we have to smash up the ice so the tide doesn't carry the kayaks out to sea. One, two, three. Do you want me to climb up there too? No, push it from the back. It's long. Four hours freezing in the pitch dark, wondering if we'll ever see another sunrise. I paddled all day thinking about this moment. Oh, the long-awaited moment. I'm staying put now. A night like that does wonders. Yeah, right. God, it does feel good. Yeah. I don't want to get up. Oh, me either. I'm tired. Makeshift repair. If it slows down the leak, it'd be good. I'm sick of bailing out water every hour. My feet are in the water. My ass is in the water. We'll see if that works. Things are getting seriously complicated. We're still a long way from Tasalac. Winter is setting in. Albin hasn't said anything, but our night spent in the brash ice was a pretty traumatic experience. We're not as carefree as when we set off this morning. You coming? I just have to get out of all this ice and I'll be on my way. Why am I stuck now? Sick of this. What's the problem? Ah. Oh, that's terrible. You've got nothing on the back now. Nope. Can we change it in the water or do we need to go ashore? Let's try and change it in the water. Okay. Right. I'm so bummed out. I got squashed between the two icebergs and thrown. I heard this loud, uh, crack. Yeah? That's it. I've done it. It's okay. Wow. See? See? And you only wanted to take one. We're going to make it. I have confidence in Vince. To think we should already be in the Bahamas by now. This is crazy. How many kilometers have we done today? 450 meters. We set out 90 minutes ago. Oh, that's not good. Don't moan. Look, the sun's coming out. Great. Yeah, there are two or three bits of elastic. If I remove the axle, it should be okay. I'll take out the pin. All right. The axle and the rudder. There we go. Great. Hand me the new one. The bolt is too small for the axle. Are you doing this on purpose? You've got to be kidding. It isn't the right diameter. Damn, it could have been so easy. No, the hole is too small. Yeah, we're good otherwise though, huh? Can you test it to see? Is it working? Ah, nice. You are so smart, Vince. You're my hero. Come on, let's go. Thanks a lot. What a relief. We've covered 620 kilometers since we set off a month ago. We should have already been hit by the September storms. I can't get over this anticyclone. Our little problems are soon forgotten as we make good headway in this fabulous setting. We can feel the power of nature here, and we're really lucky the conditions are so favorable. If it wasn't for them, I don't think we've ever gotten this far. See how clear the water is? It's incredible, huh? Under the icebergs, I had visibility of about 20 to 30 meters. It was amazing. I've never seen anything like it. Oh, wow. I feel like I'm gliding over an ocean of emptiness. It makes me feel dizzy. The current has carved these lines, shaped the ice, sculpted these bas-reliefs. With the cold and the winter, all life has disappeared, except for this tiny pteropod. Where has it taken refuge? These icy structures have been carved into delicate, contoured canyons, just as the wind makes its mark on the desert sand. I'd like to think this iceberg is releasing bubbles from another age, hair trapped in the ice millions of years ago. I feel like I've been swallowed up by a whale. I savor these ephemeral forms, this unique dive. At the same cardinal point, no one could ever imagine this remarkable scenery. Right, what's your verdict? We're stuck. I guess we should think about it for a couple of minutes, but, um, it's full of ice. We've done, what, 10 kilometers along this channel? Only to meet a dead end. I'm sure the way out isn't very far away. We could always try going ashore, climb a bit, see how the land lies. Yeah, just there, behind us. Or turn back. Yes. Because there's no way to get through here. One, two, three. Come on, that's it. We better be careful, because we might fall. There's a bit of open water over there, but it's hard to see. And what lies beyond it? Yeah, maybe we get through if we went along the coast, but it's hard to figure out. It's far. How many kilometers are we from the end? I think we're here. Yes. This section here between the two, which isn't very high, must be that bit we can see. That's the cape that we can see over there. Right just there. It isn't that far. We're only a kilometer from the exit. Yeah, it's worth trying to get through. Otherwise we'll have to turn back, go around via the open sea. That's an extra 30 kilometers. And right now we're only one kilometer from the exit. We've been paddling due south for 36 days, and have covered 720 kilometers. We're up against a serious dilemma. On one side, there are the fjords where the sea ice is forming. And on the other, the heavy swell of the open sea and its increasingly compact brash ice, in which it's pretty much impossible to make any headway. Want to sleep around here? I'm happy to stay here. Winter is definitely on its way. There's a telltale sign that the meltwater streams have frozen. From now on, we're going to have to melt the ice to get water. It's weird. We can't see ourselves. But if I look like you, it's scary. Do I look like you? I don't know if you look like me, because I don't know what I look like. Oh, you don't say. I know what you look like, but I don't know what I look like. That's for sure. It's hard to say what you look like. Tonight, the gribs and weather forecasts aren't very encouraging. An email from Geraldine informs us a 35 to 40 knot wind will hit us in 24 hours. What's more, the way out of the fjord is completely frozen. It's freezing. Absolutely freezing. Yeah, the entire bay is frozen over. It's minus 17 this morning. I decide to dive. The sea ice is getting seriously thick. Winter is well and truly here. Once under the surface, a whole new world opens up to me. Under this frozen sea, which is only three or four centimeters thick, the spectacle isn't down below anymore. It's up in the sky. With confinement, I feel claustrophobic. The ice is still thin, so I should be able to find my way out at any time. I'll check, though, just in case. Wow. It's amazing. Is it beautiful? It's the start of the Arctic winter, so it's great. It's really great. I can hear a clicking noise all around me. It's the sound of the ice crystallizing. A gently sloping iceberg forms flat beneath me. My air bubbles are flattened like a liquid clock under the surface. I can feel time passing, flowing through my veins. It's like diving in a cave despite the light penetrating the surface. Dead end. Then I perceive something startling associated with birth. Between muffled anxiety and heightened awareness of the self, like a vital stridency in such a confined place. The cold has frozen everything. Winter is the season when everything dies. The ice on the surface gets thicker, the water grows heavier by forming flakes, and I don't venture any further for fear of not being able to resurface. The strong winds will hit in 12 hours. We decide to pass Gustav Holm Cape on the edge of the Arctic Circle while it is still possible. The tide has broken the newly formed sea ice and brought brash ice with it. The chunks are starting to freeze together, but still not enough for us to walk on them. Vince, I need to talk to you. We're trying to get out of here to reach the other cape, right? To get to the other bay? This afternoon, as you know, they're forecasting wind. Yes. They're forecasting a lot of wind. It's vital we protect ourselves and we're not making any headway right now. I suggest we go back to where we were. We've been paddling for three hours. That means another three hours in the ice. The wind is picking up. All I know is the swell is rising and we're up ---- creek. I'm trying to resign myself to it, but it's a pain. Pain in the ass. It's better than dying. Look, it's heading this way. Come on, let's get out of here. God damn it. I don't want to get stuck here. Yes, yes, yes. See, it just broke. Ten seconds after I went by. All right. Back to square one. The fjord is definitely much more frozen than it was. It's changing every day. When we entered two days ago, the water was free of ice. Yesterday, we only just made it through. And today, there's absolutely no way. It's 15 kilometers by kayak. Yeah. And if we go on foot, it's just on the other side. I'd be into lugging our gear over there. That way, we won't have wasted the day. See? Yeah. That'll warm up, too. Yeah, it's a huge task. We can just take our time. We can always do the last stretch tomorrow. We've got much less food now. But we still have to carry some 300 kilos for two kilometers over this pass. We hope to find a less frozen and more sheltered area behind it so we can continue on our way instead of exhausting ourselves tackling impassable barriers of ice and risking smashing up the kayaks. One, two, three. It takes six hours and five return trips to get everything over the pass. As forecast, the wind is getting stronger. Completely free of ice, this small cove down below even seems to be perfectly protected. And to think I didn't want to come here. We've reached our destination. God, it feels good. The strong wind Geraldine forecast has hit. Yeah, it's a good thing we headed back and we're not at sea. For sure. We'll let it blow over. At least we've passed the cape. We passed it by land, but we still passed it. It's taken a beating. The fiberglass is exposed. Yeah, we can't paddle like this. We'll have to cut out this whole section. It's really fragile now. If you look closely, there are small holes everywhere. There, there, there. It's taking in water here. So there's the front and tons of other places that need repairing, basically. Right, I'll stick it on. It might save our lives. We're going to continue. It works. With a wind of over 30 knots, we know kayaking is not an option. It would be suicidal in these waters with all this ice. We need a more precise forecast. Hi Geraldine, it's us. Hi guys, how are you? Good, and you? Fine. We were wondering what the weather forecast was. Do you have it in front of you? It isn't very encouraging. The wind's going to be blowing all week. A head-on wind. You're in the middle of an area of low pressure, basically. Okay. There'll be rain till Friday, and on the ice chart, sea ice is forming around you. It's not looking very good. That's, uh, that's not very encouraging at all. You'd better find somewhere to hunker down and stay safe, because you won't be able to make any headway. It's going to be tough. You have to put your safety first. Take care of yourself. Try and, um, try and send us the grib if you can, so we can check out what you just told us. Yes. Thanks. Thanks a lot. Take care. Don't mention it. See you. Bye. The grib is categorical. We are in the middle of a force six to seven gale. We have to stay put in our tiny tent till the weather improves. The conditions are going to be worse in a week's time. Geraldine says the sea ice is starting to form, and we can see the channels are freezing. At this rate, we won't get to Tassilac till Christmas. Yeah. Yeah, but we will have run out of food by Christmas. Everything's frozen. It's dark. It's cold. And the kayaks are like sieves. This was a real blow. Even so, Vincent makes everything seem brighter. My dear album, we may be in deepest Greenland, but I wanted to celebrate, fittingly, your 35th birthday. No. With a few little treats to complement our freeze-dried meal, we have a little magic box. Oh, fantastic. And some alcohol so we can get drunk. Now, now you're thinking. In moderation. Wow. You had all that in your kayak? That's right. I had to bring them. Bois gras. Oh, it's fabulous. I'm so happy. Thank you. I'm a very lucky guy. How about a little aperitif then, huh? Anyway, we don't give a damn tonight. We're not driving. This is great. Right. Let's clink glasses. Thanks a million, Vincent. A serial killer's holiday. Oh, great. Nadine Monfils. And there's a little inscription inside. Enjoy every moment. And I think at the end it says, big bugs. Is that right? Big bugs. I think. Enjoy every moment. Big bugs. Maria Street. Enjoy every moment, big bugs. Big tugs. Big. But I think she still messed up the first letter. Right? Big, right? No? It still doesn't say big hugs. That's funny. I'm feeling better already. It's great. God, what crappy weather. We're definitely not improving our average. If it were just raining, we'd be able to set off again. But there's the wind and the waves too. We can't even put the kayaks in the water. They'd get flipped over by the undertow. We're gonna make it to Tasselac. Not tonight though. For sure. Right, Alvin. This is our third day of waiting. And the rain and the tent. How are you keeping busy? Actually, I found a great thing. It's just to pass the time though. I didn't like our breakfast that much. It was really disgusting. The only thing I like in it is the little chocolate chips. And they're really tiny. Picking them out isn't easy. And then, in another bag, I've got a supply of chocolate to boost my morale. I admit what I'm doing is totally dumb, but... Whatever. It should have stopped raining a day ago. But it hasn't. It's still raining just as heavy. Yeah. The end of the storm and this deafening silence bring the Dharma bombs out of our torpor. First the moon. It's a good omen. Then the Aurora Borealis appears. The spirits are with us. It's going to be fine and cold. It's beautiful, huh? Really wonderful. We'll be able to leave now. My gloves are frozen. We can't wait to hit the road and make up the lost time. There are still some 200 kilometers to cover. If all goes well, we should arrive in about 10 days. The weather is on our side now. Despite the biting cold, some channels are still free of ice thanks to the currents. Tomorrow the same spot could be completely frozen. We'll give it all we got, blazing a trail till we're beat. Tonight, before winter ice is over this magical place, I decide to go for one last dive. Do you have any tea left? Can I steal some? I've run out. Go ahead. Help yourself. Do you feel up to diving? Yes, but I think I need to warm up a little first. But I'm ultra motivated to see what night diving is like. Right. I'll keep an eye on you. Seeing this aurora filling the entire sky, I understand why the Inuit revere such phenomena. The people of this coast think they are the souls of stillborn children, the chant of the heavens. For us, it's a solar storm, a shower of magnetic particles vanishing in the atmosphere. It must be minus 20 out when I plunge under the sea ice. If by day there has been no life around for some time, the mere fact of diving under the water with powerful light soon attracts a large arctic jellyfish, Cyanea capillata. The lion's mane jellyfish might not roar, but its sting can affect your breathing and cause serious heart problems. If only Vincent could see this, he'd be enthralled by such beauty. The water is minus one Celsius and filled with zooplankton. A new ctenophore appears, an ectoplasmic phantom going by the funny name of Bolinopsis infundibulum. It looks like two twin beings, mirror image Siamese, entwined in a dance of mortal combat. Then an arctic cod, or Arctogadus glacialis appears, and this bizarre microscopic squid. There are more surprises in store, a siphonophore at least two meters long. It's a colony of jellyfish, in which each animal has a specific function, floating, swimming, eating, digesting, reproducing and protecting. Thousands of individuals forming a single organism. As I float downward, a frightening figure surges up from the depths. My heart skips a beat. So here it is, the Greenland shark. Guri shark or sleeper shark, Somniosus microcephalus, a gray-skinned monster straight out of prehistoric times. This deep water shark occasionally comes up at night to hunt or grab carrion trapped near the surface. Little is known about this shark apart from the fact it grows a half a centimeter to one centimeter a year. This specimen could be two to three hundred years old, which would make it the vertebrate with the longest lifespan in the world. This moving ton of flesh, this monolith with an icy stare, circles me. Ikelusuak is associated with the creation myth and the goddess Sedna, mother of the sea. In Inuit cosmogony, it is the goddess's urine. This shark really does have a high urea content. It's even toxic. Those who find it in their nets know they could be severely poisoned if they ate it. Even dogs that have been fed this flesh by their masters go blind and stagger about as if drunk until they die. We're a few days away from our destination. In the white day, we can't even make out the shore. The slush is slowing us down considerably. A risky idea comes to me, but there's no other way of working out our route through this maze. How about going up to the top of that iceberg? We won't hang around, though, in case it cracks or flips over. Hey, it's a goddamn shambles. There's ice everywhere, man. Too right, too right. Plus, it's really hard because we can't tell the difference between the water and the ice that's forming. Everything that's gray is ice, isn't even water anymore. There are big, big sheets of it. We're going to have to go around it. Can you get through? Is it thick? Yeah, it's thick. I could try walking on it, but I'm not sure it'll hold. No. This is thick, though. We can walk on it. Some parts are thicker than others. Okay, easy, easy. Hang on. Are you okay? Why don't you try over there? You all right? Yeah, it isn't solid enough. Yeah, yeah, I see that. I lost my boot. I've lost my boot. Got anything to eat? Yeah, a cereal bar. It's lucky we're lighter now near the end of the journey because we'd never have been able to do that at the beginning. No, we'd never have made it, that's for sure. It's a damn pain about my boot. How do you lose a boot? What the hell happened? What did you do? The first time I fell, I don't know what happened, but when I got up, I was missing my boot. You have to be extra careful on the ice. For sure. You're in the water all the time. It's a pain in the ass about your boot. It sucks. You know, you better not stay in here too long. It's freezing. See? It's getting cold fast. Yeah, that's for sure. God damn it. We're blocked. There's 50 meters of ice before it opens. Go walk on it then. I'm sick of falling in the water. You know what? Lie down. It's better when you lie down. God damn it. It isn't holding. Do you want a hand? Yeah, help me. We're not there yet. The end is in sight. Every meter takes it out of us. The sea ice isn't solid enough, and we have to make superhuman efforts to cover these last 50 kilometers. We're fighting all the way through. Night is falling earlier and earlier, but our spirits are high. We're almost there. I don't see how Tasselak can escape us now. Ah, I'm happy we found this spot. Me too. Man, I never thought today was going to end. It's long, huh? God, I look awful. Just look at me. What about me? Look at me. Hang on, hang on. I can't see myself anymore. Hold the mirror still. I need you to do my face for our arrival. Not bad. I look pretty sexy now. Apart from the smell. Should be okay. Yeah, we need to talk, Vince. You don't think I'm sexy? No, sure, of course you're sexy, but you haven't taken care of yourself for weeks. See what I'm getting at? Well, have you seen your face? No, no, I haven't seen it, actually. And I don't think I want to, either. I get the impression this is kind of bushy. When I do this, I get the feeling I look like Asterix, which isn't great. I don't know which of us reeks the most. You do. Well, I think it's you. Funny, huh? Good night, buddy. Don't make too much noise, okay? Okay. Sleep well. Tell me if the TV's too loud. One hell of a journey we've done, huh? No? So I'm alone? I guess he's asleep. Okay. Wow, it snowed a lot in the night. There's quite a thick layer already, huh? Look at this. Okay. All right. Oh my god. It's gonna be a tough day. There are 30 kilometers to go. We feared the pittorak more than anything, but we had reckoned on the negiah, the terrible northeast wind. All right. Even so, we have to move out. We can't get stuck here in the ice trap with just 24 hours to go. Let's clear all this first and then deal with the tent. Okay. It could mean dying a few kilometers from our goal, like others have died in arctic snowstorms just 10 minutes walk from their tents. Okay. We can put it down. It's lined up okay. Maybe that way. It looks better. Right. Let's get going before it gets too cold. Should we try to move forward? Minus 10 and I'm sweating. We're going to be freezing soon. We're not going to make it. Another 10 meters. This is the final battle. The last effort for our aching muscles. The wind dies down. The path becomes clearer. Unconsciously, we slow down to savor the thousand kilometers covered. Today, the 51st day of our journey, we enter Amasalik Fjord where Tasalak lies. We paddle reluctantly to the finish. Wow. Really beautiful. What a fabulous day to arrive. With all this snow, it's stunning. Yeah, after all we've been through. It's crazy. Yeah, it's insane. Want to stop here or continue south? No, I could take a break. We could kayak around the world. Let's stop for a second. We're so close now. This is it. We've done it. It's awesome. I'm... Wow. We did it, man. Hey. On reaching our goal, I realize we're far removed from the reality of the Inuit. This courageous people. Greenland isn't celebrating us as heroes. It has let us explore the heart of its secrets and kept us from harm. We couldn't have dreamt of a better gift.