Upernivik Island, West Greenland. A University of St. Andrews, Scot ...
Upernivik Island, West Greenland. A University o f St. A ndrew s, S cot land, party returned to the m ountainous island o f Upernivik at 71°N in the U manak region o f west G reenland (A .A .J ., 1968, 16:1, p. 184). Two m onths were spent climbing and exploring extensively by land and sea: a record num ber o f 41 peaks were clim bed, 17 o f which were first ascents, our m otor boat logged over 250 miles while the canoes covered 100 miles in quiet voyages. The St. Andrews party was Dr. Philip G ribbon, leader, Wilf T auber, Bill Band, Neil Ross, David K irkland, Jo h n Shade, Joe McDowall, K eith Avery , Mike Heller and A ndrew Stevenson. A four-day boat journey from Sondre Strom fjord up the coast in the m /v Disko brought us to the tow n o f U m anak, and gave us our last travel on a regular service. A t U m anak there was a w eek’s delay until a suitable boat was available to transfer all the m em bers w ith their fo rty crates o f equipm ent and food to the m ain base at Iglorssuit 50 miles away. The delay gave us an o pportu n ity to climb the impressive double-tow ered rock peak over looking the tow n. This peak had no t been clim bed since the first ascent by tw o G erm ans in 1929 although other parties passing through U m anak had tried it unsuccessfully. All m em bers reached its sum m it at one time or an o ther, n o t only repeating the G erm an route but m aking three new routes o f m uch higher quality and difficulty in the process. Our Base Cam p, close to the main glacier on the west coast o f Upernivik Island, gave easy access to the centre o f the island, and by using our b o at, its other glaciers, the neighbouring islands and peninsula, and the m ain base at the Scottish Universities h u t at Iglorssuit on U bekendt Island, were w ithin easy reach at all times. Our arrival coincided w ith the start of a good w eather spell th a t was to last throughout, b u t fearful o f bad w eather the party in two groups rushed into the climbing program m e: 20 peaks were clim bed in 2 weeks. In the third week a successful attem p t was made on Q îoqe, 6100 feet, by its long sigmoidal w est ridge which rises to a slender spire close to the sum m it and is flanked by a great sm ooth slabby n o rth
face and a sheer west wall. A party o f six, Tauber, Band; Shade, K irkland; Stevenson and myself, spent 48 hours on this m ountain, the broken lower ridge being follow ed to 40 0 0 feet (4 hours) before the p arty roped up for over 5000 feet o f first-class rock climbing (24 hours). The u pper ridge gave 54 pitches w ith the issue always in dou b t. The descent was by the southeast glacier, follow ed by a crossing o f th e south ridge down to the shoreline (8 hours). This route was the longest, hardest and m ost sustained rock climb y et tackled by a St. A ndrews party and probably is at present the hardest rock route in G reenland. The second half o f the expedition was spent in a variety of activities. Climbing was done in the two m ost southern glacier system s, where tw o hard peaks, Alamo and Bastion, th at had no t been attem p ted by the 1965 Italian expedition (A .A .J ., 1966, 15:1, p. 4 0 ), were successfully clim bed by Tauber and Shade. A com bined boat voyage and canoe trip was carried o u t through the islands and shores of K arrats Isfjord, w ith a climbing diversion to m ake the second ascent o f the sym m etrical Snepyramiden by its n o rth ridge, the peak o ff which four Belgian climbers were avalanched in 1961 (A .A .J ., 1962, 13:1, p. 250). Glaciological w ork was carried o u t on Sermikavsak glacier. A m ini-expedi tion was m ade to Svartenhuk peninsula, a gentle land in m arked contrast to the rocky terrain o f U pernivik Island. Late in August we returned to Iglorssuit to find th a t since the m /v Disko had been dam aged in a collision w ith an iceberg, our departure from U m anak was to be delayed for a week, and know ing the vagaries o f G reenland travel this could have lengthened and in fact w ould have lengthened into several weeks. F o rtu n ately the “U jarak” was loading dried codfish at Iglorssuit, and w ith some persua sion, we sailed on board to U m anak. A fter fu rth er goodwill on b o th sides, we sailed furth er down the coast to Eghedsm inde, and then once m ore we were carried onw ards to H olsteinborg. Here w ith little chance o f a helicopter or a fishing b o at, and n o t to o keen on a m arathon cross-country w alk, we managed to get the local police boat to take us to Sondre Strom fjord so th a t on tim e we caught the SAS flight back to Copenhagen, and then in sequence the connections back to Scotland. P h i l i p W .P. G r i b b o n , Irish M ountaineering Club
face and a sheer west wall. A party o f six, Tauber, Band; Shade, K irkland; Stevenson and myself, spent 48 hours on this m ountain, the broken lower ridge being follow ed to 40 0 0 feet (4 hours) before the p arty roped up for over 5000 feet o f first-class rock climbing (24 hours). The u pper ridge gave 54 pitches w ith the issue always in dou b t. The descent was by the southeast glacier, follow ed by a crossing o f th e south ridge down to the shoreline (8 hours). This route was the longest, hardest and m ost sustained rock climb y et tackled by a St. A ndrews party and probably is at present the hardest rock route in G reenland. The second half o f the expedition was spent in a variety of activities. Climbing was done in the two m ost southern glacier system s, where tw o hard peaks, Alamo and Bastion, th at had no t been attem p ted by the 1965 Italian expedition (A .A .J ., 1966, 15:1, p. 4 0 ), were successfully clim bed by Tauber and Shade. A com bined boat voyage and canoe trip was carried o u t through the islands and shores of K arrats Isfjord, w ith a climbing diversion to m ake the second ascent o f the sym m etrical Snepyramiden by its n o rth ridge, the peak o ff which four Belgian climbers were avalanched in 1961 (A .A .J ., 1962, 13:1, p. 250). Glaciological w ork was carried o u t on Sermikavsak glacier. A m ini-expedi tion was m ade to Svartenhuk peninsula, a gentle land in m arked contrast to the rocky terrain o f U pernivik Island. Late in August we returned to Iglorssuit to find th a t since the m /v Disko had been dam aged in a collision w ith an iceberg, our departure from U m anak was to be delayed for a week, and know ing the vagaries o f G reenland travel this could have lengthened and in fact w ould have lengthened into several weeks. F o rtu n ately the “U jarak” was loading dried codfish at Iglorssuit, and w ith some persua sion, we sailed on board to U m anak. A fter fu rth er goodwill on b o th sides, we sailed furth er down the coast to Eghedsm inde, and then once m ore we were carried onw ards to H olsteinborg. Here w ith little chance o f a helicopter or a fishing b o at, and n o t to o keen on a m arathon cross-country w alk, we managed to get the local police boat to take us to Sondre Strom fjord so th a t on tim e we caught the SAS flight back to Copenhagen, and then in sequence the connections back to Scotland. P h i l i p W .P. G r i b b o n , Irish M ountaineering Club
