Mexican woman crosses Greenland from coast to coast

PrepaTec León graduate Andrea Dorantes took part in an expedition whose goal was to cross Greenland from coast to coast.

For thirty days, Andrea took on a variety of challenges like pulling a sled weighing more than seventy kilos, surviving windstorms of up to 140 km/h in sub-zero temperatures, and skiing whole days in absolute silence. 

“I feel super, super happy about the experience. Every day was a true gift, being in the middle of nowhere. I can’t explain it; I’m speechless,” remarked Andrea.

This expedition became a reality after she climbed Mount Vinson in 2023, where she discovered there was a 1,130 km route across Antarctica that only sixteen women worldwide had managed to complete. 

As part of her preparation and as a prerequisite to crossing Antarctica this coming November, Andrea decided to take on the challenge of crossing Greenland.

The route that Andrea and six companions from different countries followed was 600 km long, crossing from Kangerlussuaq in the west of Greenland to Isortoc on the eastern seaboard.

Two of the main obstacles she had to overcome were windstorms with speeds of up to 130 km/h and melting snow, which caused her skis to get stuck and made progress almost impossible.

Thirty days on ice 

They stuck to the same routine during the thirty-day expedition. They would get up at six in the morning to melt ice to make their breakfast oatmeal. 

Andrea needed to have her harness and skis ready to get back on the trail by nine. They would walk for fifty minutes and then take a ten-minute break. They would do this five times in a row before lunch. 

Then they would do it four more times, finishing at about seven in the afternoon.

“You realize you don’t need much to get by and that the moment you are experiencing is all that matters.” - Andrea Dorantes

At the end of the day, they would put up their tents and melt more ice to make a meal from freeze-dried food sachets and go to bed. Then they would repeat the routine the next day.

At the end of the expedition, Andrea said that having completed the challenge despite the weather conditions gave her great satisfaction. 

“I had mixed feelings at the end of the expedition. On the one hand, I was thrilled to have completed such a major challenge but, on the other hand, I had been enjoying it so much that I would have loved to spend more days on the ice,” she enthused.

The start of an Antarctic adventure

Andrea underwent months of physical and mental preparation to get ready for this challenge. She went to Norway on a solo expedition in February, where she pulled a sled 300 km. 

She stressed that all her experiences have enabled her to become mentally stronger.

“I’ve reached a point at which I trust my mental fortitude because of all the experiences I have been through,” Andrea emphasized.

Andrea stressed that what she found most valuable was having the opportunity to ski for so many hours in complete silence without any distractions. 

“What you value most is realizing you don’t need much to get by and that the moment you are experiencing is all that matters,” she said.

“I wanted to see where my mind would go when there was so much time for introspection. It brought on incredible feelings of self-awareness.”

In spite of having taken on so many challenges, she said they had all been very different. 

She explained that they had all been difficult in their own way, but crossing Greenland was very demanding mentally: it was an environment that couldn’t be underestimated, where any distraction could be very costly. 

Having climbed the seven highest peaks on the planet, cycled almost 9,000 kilometers across Europe, and now having crossed Greenland, Andrea concluded by saying that she would continue to look for new challenges on the road ahead. 

“Nothing is impossible. You just have to be committed to yourself and your dream.”

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