Asgard and Friya, Baffin Island. Mike Pelchat, Jeff Tirey, Jack Corbin ...

Asgard and Friya, Baffin Island. M ike Pelchat, Jeff Tirey, Jack C orbin and I flew to Pangnirtung on April 22. By A pril 26, Base Camp was established at the intersection of the C aribou and Kings Highway G laciers. The Swiss Route on M ount Asgard was climbed on A pril 27. W e ascended the north pillar from the col via a traverse of a shallow snow-filled cirque. This snowfield was very unstable and prone to slab avalanche. W e gained the col by 80 feet of steep mixed climbing. Above the col, despite cold tem peratures, climbing was m oderate and on good rock. Round trip was 22 hours from Base Camp. On A pril 30, Pelchat and I climbed a new route (5.8, A 1) the west face of Friya, opposite the Kings Parade Glacier. This route ascends a steep broken ram p to the right of the summit. We had m oderately difficult mixed climbing for two pitches followed by a short ice-filled dihedral ( A 1). Eight pitches of snow and ice, broken by three rock bands, led to the fourth-class sum m it ridge. Round trip was 18 hours from Base Camp. On the same day Corbin and Tirey retreated from below the summ it of M ount A dluk due to very unstable snow conditions. J a m e s S e v ig n y ,

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