Arctic Char

If you like Newfoundland Salmon as a fish then you will love the Arctic char from Pangnirtung Nunavut. Everyone in our group could literally eat raw chunks of char all day long (yes, it's that good).

During our trip to Pangnirtung Nunavut in March 2013 we had the good fortune to meet up with some hunters coming back with their catch. In the winter Arctic Char is caught in nets placed under the ice. Because of the cold temperatures and excellent ice conditions in the inlets around Cumberland Sound, the sea ice is frozen an average of 50+ kilometers offshore in mid winter. That means hunters must make a 2-3 hour journey just to get the the flow edge, where the ice meets the open water.

Arctic Char is a tasty fish. During the snowkite festival, Martin Hanzalek and I ate char whenever we got the chance to. We cooked some, but most of it we just ate raw. The Arctic Char we had was very red/pink, super firm, and a stunning example of an arctic salmonoid species.

Snowkiting in Nunavut

The Canadian Arctic is truly a snowkite paradise. You can leave the coastline and travel 75 miles straight out to sea on the frozen ocean or play on rolling snow covered hills. If you want to go further and explore more, limitless options exist, from exploring towweing fjords, kiting on glaciers, and embarking on massive cross country trips.


Snowkite Nunavut and Martin Hanzalek have been working together to promote snowkiting in the Arctic. Snowkiting and Snow Sailing are the fastest growing of all the windsports, and aside from being a lot of fun, snowkiting is a great form of non-consumptive self propelled travel. In Nunavut, you can use a snowkite to literally go anywhere you want.