NEEM Camp Skiway

The closure was due to the successful completion of the scientific mission it was built to support. The skiway was an integral part of the temporary NEEM (North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling) research camp. Once the ice core drilling and related scientific fieldwork were finished, the camp was dismantled and removed from the ice sheet as planned, rendering the skiway obsolete.

The site is no longer an active facility. In accordance with environmental protocols for research on the Greenland ice sheet, all camp structures, equipment, and waste were removed upon the project's conclusion. The location at 79.45°N, 51.006°W is now just a point on the ice sheet, with the former skiway and camp area being gradually buried under annual snowfall. There are no remaining surface structures or maintained infrastructure.

The NEEM Camp Skiway was the critical logistical hub for a major international scientific endeavor. Its sole purpose was to support the NEEM project from 2007 to 2012. The skiway enabled the transport of hundreds of tons of cargo, fuel, scientific equipment, and personnel to one of the most remote locations on Earth. Operations were primarily handled by ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules aircraft, flown by the 109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard, which flew missions from Kangerlussuaq Airport (BGSF). The existence of this skiway was fundamental to the project's success, which yielded a deep ice core providing unprecedented data on the Eemian interglacial period (approx. 130,000 to 115,000 years ago), offering crucial insights into past rapid climate change.

There are zero plans or prospects for reopening the skiway at this specific location. Scientific ice drilling projects are sited based on specific glaciological objectives. The international consortium that ran NEEM has since moved on to new projects at different locations, most notably the East Greenland Ice-core Project (EastGRIP), which is located several hundred kilometers away and has its own dedicated camp and skiway.