AMA - Boreal Zenith 2007

Boreal Zenith 2007, First ascents in Greenland

Part of the AMA 50th Anniversary celebratory expeditions

BOREAL ZENITH – FIRST ASCENTS IN NORTH EAST GREENLAND

By Sam Marshall

The wing tip of our small plane, dwarfed on all sides by steep sided mountains, seemed to almost scrape the ground. Musk Ox dashed in all directions. We made one final circuit as the pilot scanned the ground, checking it was safe to land, before finally touching down in the Grejsdalen valley. The landing was relatively smooth considering there is no airstrip…

After three years of planning, Exercise BOREAL ZENITH had finally begun. BOREAL ZENITH was one of a series of expeditions, which took place to commemorate fifty years of Army Mountaineering. It aimed to capture the exploratory nature of mountaineering that existed when the AMA formed. This was to be achieved by visiting a remote and mountainous region that had seen little or no mountaineering activity.

“A tall order” you might say, in this day and age, when almost the entire globe has been explored, mapped and written about. There are, however, still some area’s that have had little or no attention. One such area is Andrees Land. At 73⁰35’N, 26⁰00’W and 500 miles North of the Arctic Circle, inside the North East Greenland National Park, Andrees Land is both mountainous and remote. First visited by mountaineers in 1950 there had been almost no activity in the area, except for some geological surveying. The best mapping of Andrees Land had been drawn with a crayon in 1932 and no other documented evidence of mountaineering visits could be found.

So, with limited information about the area to be visited, I set about planning an expedition and convincing the risk averse powers that be, that visiting an area so remote would be ‘safe’. Getting to Andrees Land was the first hurdle to be overcome. The one charter operator capable of getting us there advised me that once we got to Constable Point he would be able to fly us in using his specially adapted Twin Otter. Constable Point is the most northerly commercial airstrip in northeast Greenland and it is possible to fly into it on scheduled flights from Iceland. Based on this and the load capacity of the Twin Otter, I concluded that the trip could accommodate eight mountaineers for about a month.

The wheels were in motion, a team of eight mountaineers were drawn from the membership and all logistical necessities were forwarded to Constable Point. Everything was in place and on the 3^rd July we left Stansted, headed for Reykjavik and then Constable Point. We never arrived at Constable Point. Fridrik, the charter manager, changed the plan at the last minute and we were diverted to Mestersvig. This posed a small problem. All our food, med kit, ice screws etc were in Constable Point which is roughly 100 miles south of Mestersvig in a country where there are no roads. After consultation with Fridrik, an exorbitantly expensive meal in Mestersvig and a few hours waiting around, our stuff turned up, except for all our med kit. Another call to Fridrik and an extra wait resolved this issue and eventually we were ready to go.

The plane was unloaded and gone before any of us could blink an eye. The scale of the place quickly rushed upon us; everywhere we looked there were mountains, all steep and foreboding. We quickly established a base camp and took stock of our position. There didn’t appear to be any easy way to gain the high ground. Steep sided, loose mountains surrounded us and the only breaks were ugly looking glaciers, guarded by huge piles of terminal moraine. To our south the peaks had extra protection in the form of a fast flowing, wide and cold looking glacial melt river.

After a brief conflab, we decided to mount a reconnaissance on the closest glacier, just to the north of our camp. A pleasant walk lead to steeper ground and this in turn lead to fairly nasty broken moraine. Eventually we gained access to the glacier and made good progress up its centre. No peaks were to be ascended on this day; the exit from this glacier was steep, loose and un-appealing. The next day we crossed the river, it was cold, deep and difficult and no one relished the prospect of the return trip. Gaining the glacier involved crossing the loose rubble that was to become characteristic of the trip. After a straightforward glacier plod, we split into two teams of four and made the first ascent of and the first traverse of the Jœttehorn.

Arriving back at base camp, elated from our first achievement, we wasted no time analysing what went well and came up with a plan that was to set the foundations for a further 32 ascents, 28 of which were first ascents. Our modus operandi was to operate as two independent teams of four. One team undertook long days with a clear mountaineering objective. This saw them climb a number of peaks in the area, spending anything from 15 to 24 hours out on the ground before taking a rest and contemplating the next objective. My team deployed from base camp with up to five days worth of food and established a high camp upon the glacier plateau. From this high camp, it was possible for us to fan out and climb all the peaks in the immediate vicinity, sometimes making up to five first ascents in one day.

The expedition was out on the ground for 28 days and in that time we made a total of 34 ascents, 29 of which were first ascents. The nature of the routes varied enormously, as did the nature of the peaks. Some routes were straightforward PD snow plods summiting on rounded snow domes. There were interesting mixed ridges at AD which turned steep gendarmes, ending in small rocky summits. And a healthy mix of steep north faces and rock routes (VS/HVS and Alpine D) added to the fun. In terms of mountaineering, it was probably one of the hardest, but most rewarding trips I’ve been fortunate enough to go on. The weather was generally fair, cloudless skies and low winds helped with navigation and exploration as did the 24 hour day light.

BOREAL ZENITH only scratched the surface of what might be possible in an area the size of Andrees Land, mountains rear up in all directions, the majority unclimbed. The opportunity to climb new routes and make first ascents is not easy to find these days, but with a little imagination and a healthy dose of determination, it is still possible. If anyone out there is interested in planning their own trip to the remote mountains of north east Greenland and would like some advice, feel free to get in touch. Otherwise, keep your eyes on the AMA website for details of the next trip…

Originally from the article for the AMA Journal, the 'Army Mountaineer'.