Tasermiut Fjord

Tasermiut Fjord cuts some 70 km into the mountains of southernmost Greenland, and few places on the island pack so much vertical granite into a single view. Walls and spires stand on both sides of the water, the fjord ends at a retreating glacier, and in its valleys grow some of the very few stands of low trees anywhere in Greenland.

The fjord runs from north-east to south-west and opens into the Labrador Sea of the North Atlantic. It separates two long mountainous peninsulas. On the western side rises Napasorsuaq at 1,590 m; on the eastern side stand Ulamertorsuaq at 1,858 m, Nalumasortoq at 2,045 m and Ketil at 2,010 m, whose sheer faces have made the fjord a famous destination for big-wall climbers and the site of many new routes. The glacier at the head of the fjord has been retreating, a recession that has been well documented in recent decades, as has the glacier in the neighbouring Southern Sermilik Fjord.

The green floors of the side valleys give Tasermiut a softer counterpoint to its rock. The Qinngua Valley and Tiningnertoq valley hold rare growths of dwarf trees, among the very few in the country. Kayakers and trekkers use the fjord as a starting point for long routes across the surrounding coast, to places such as Kangikitsoq, Kangerdluk and Stordalen Havn. The fjord belongs to Kujalleq municipality, and the town of Nanortalik, the southernmost sizeable settlement in Greenland with about a thousand inhabitants, lies on an island near its mouth.

Getting there

The fjord is reached by a short boat journey from Nanortalik, about 30 km from its central reaches. Nanortalik Heliport (JNN) has helicopter connections to Qaqortoq Airport (JJU), about 89 km away in a straight line, which handles the region's fixed-wing flights.