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July and August 2001 saw a private
expedition to Greenland. We sailed from Stornoway to Nanortalik on the
west coast of Greenland. This took 14 days and some 1,463 nautical
miles. Ice permitted us to proceed to the Augpilaqtoq region through
the inner fjords, to explore and climb Sangmissoq island, before having to
leave by the end of August to avoid the new ice build-up. Open access
in the waterways off Greenland has a very limited period of time. |
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(Left) Our first sight of Sangmissoq
Island
The team members were Janice Fennymore,
Andrew White, Davie Frame, Tim Rogers and Tony Pointon.
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| We were kindly
funded by the Gino Watkins Memorial Fund, The BMC and The Mount Everest
Foundation. Full copies of our report can be
obtained from The Mount Everest Foundation or The BMC, if interested in
planning a trip to Greenland yourself. |
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We had a successful trip, gaining the
summit of 12 peaks from 370m to 1306m. We also achieved a height of
1360m whilst attempting the island's highest peak, before having to retreat. |
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All summits had previously been
unclimbed. We found the rock to generally be of poor quality and
loose. Most of the peaks were walking and scrambling peaks, rather
than full mountaineering peaks. Tim and Davie were forced to snow-hole
whilst attempting peaks 1060m and 1306m, while the rest of us sat out a gale
on the boat with winds exceeding 70 knots. Fortunately our two anchors
kept the boat steady. |
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We were all very disappointed at the lack
of wildlife both in the fjords and on the islands. However, while
sailing we were accompanied by Fulmars, Gannets, Puffins, Skuas and Great
Shearwaters. Also White Sided Dolphins, a few Minke whales and Pilot
whales in the ice pack. There were small numbers of Grey Seals on the
ice floes. We saw a few Arctic Foxes on Sangmissoq and a few small
birds but otherwise it was barren, foliage being restricted to Creeping
Willow, Birch, Juniper and Lichen, all low shrubs. We found the Inuit
multiple grave (right) exposed to the elements. |
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The sail home to Stornoway was memorably
started with a visit to the weather station at the east end of Prins
Christian Sund. The small team of 5 warmly received us and provided us
with great hospitality. We left there on 16 August straight into the
North Atlantic fog, navigating round the large ice bergs by radar. We
were aware of a large weather front coming across the Atlantic, getting
updates on its position and scale through Satellite C. |
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Through a friend we managed to get
detailed positioning from the Met Office in order to set a different course
to avoid the worse of the brewing storm. In the end we endured a Force
9, narrowly missing the Force 10. Our yacht Samen weathered the storm brilliantly, making 20 miles headway in the right
direction! The remainder of the journey was spent on an excellent
broad reach all the way to Stornoway. Total return journey 10 days. |
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An excellent adventure. We have
seen other potential goals in that area of Greenland to climb and explore in
the future, as well as pushing further north up the west coast. We will definitely be returning. |
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