This week, five adventurous women are making history and hoping to change the future. The group, led by Nevada scientist and environmentalist Meghan Kelley, includes three professional skiers, McKenna Peterson, Pip Hunt, and Nat Segal, as well as wildlife cinematographer KT Miller, and master seas-woman Martha Hunt.

So what’s bringing such a diverse array of women together?

The global climate change crisis.

Naming themselves Shifting Ice + Changing Tides, the group will journey into the mostly uncharted territories of Greenland’s backcountry to collect samples with the help of Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation.

Known for its ice and snow, the climate in Greenland is one that is constantly changing because of the effects of global warming. Its varied conditions and terrain are what first attracted the women to the location for their trip, but it is the need to learn about environmental impacts in the area that cemented the group’s choice of this remote location.

“It’s a project close to our hearts because we see pollution changing the landscape of the world that we adventure in. Not only as skiers, but also as hikers and outdoor lovers,” Nat Segal explained.

The idea for Shifting Ice + Changing Tides was spurred, first and foremost, by the women’s shared desire to explore new places and seek new challenges. Segal, for example, is a retired mogul skier turned backcountry enthusiast. She, along with Hunt and Peterson, is always seeking the next adventure.

“I think that is what I am most excited about,” Segal said. “I’m excited for the challenge of learning while doing, because we can’t prepare for everything.”

She and Peterson crossed paths with Meghan Kelley at SheJumps’s Alpine Finishing School in Canada. The three realized they shared similar goals, and so the idea for the trip was born.

“I knew Pip and McKenna from the skiing world tour and mountain competitions,” Segal said. “When we met Meg and started talking about wanting to go on a backcountry expedition, she got really excited.

“When we first talked about the trip, we talked about traveling somewhere and skiing where we never had before. We also loved the idea of adding the sailing to it, just to make it that much more unique.”

The group decided to apply for a grant from the Polartec Challenge in hopes of funding such an expedition. In their presentation, they also described a plan to integrate a climate reality project. The committee was impressed, and in January 2013, they awarded the women a $5,000 grant.

The next year was spent planning and securing partners for the expedition. Kelley, who is leading the research and science aspect, was able to get the University of Venice on board. There, scientists will receive the samples of microplastics, ice, and snows to facilitate research in their organic pollutant study.

The women worked hard to prepare themselves for the physical demands of the trip.

“We don’t want to have to think about it too much,” Segal said. “We took courses in ice safety and reworked our normal endurance routines to prepare for the conditions. We each had to play our part. It was completely a group effort, everyone had their own role in the process.”

On Tuesday, the trip finally began, with Segal and Hunt flying out of Jackson Hole to Iceland. From there, they drove to the coast to meet up with the rest of the crew and begin the first leg of their journey. They set sail from Ísafjörður, Iceland and are bound for the coast of Greenland. Traveling by open water in order to avoid the ice sheets that litter the coast, the women will take multiple stops along the way to strap on their ski gear and ski the challenging first descents. Weather permitting, they hope to dock in Nuuk on April 19.

When thinking about the challenges they will face, Segal thinks the key is self-confidence as well as collaboration.

“I think it’s important just to believe that you can do it, and go out there and allow ourselves to enjoy every second, even when it gets stressful,” she said. “When we get out there, we will have to realign our goals. It will all come down to teamwork.”

With the help of Miller’s photography background, team Shifting Ice + Changing Tides will also be filming the expedition. They hope to compile the footage they gather into a documentary about the journey when they return.

“We are going to come back and try to spread the word about what we learned,” Segal explained. “We hope to create change [in global warming] but we also hope to inspire people to get out and do something for themselves.

“The best thing about the project is it is fueled by passion. We love the sport and we love adventure, so we made the time commitment and put a lot of effort into making this trip successful.”

To learn more about Shifting Ice + Changing Tides, visit the website or follow them on Facebook.