In spring this year a British expedition, comprising members of the Eagle Ski Club and supported by the Mount Everest Foundation, made a number of ascents on the east coast of Liverpool Land in northeast Greenland.
With prior research indicating that there had been no previous ascents of peaks immediately north and south of the Storefjord, the team chose this area, which is located northeast of the commercial airport at Constable Pynt.
The mountainous regions here appear to have been largely unexplored, the only traffic being hunters and dog-sledders, whose activities have been confined to the coast, and a recent 'Ski Traverse of Liverpool Land' expedition, which moved through the main valleys.
Opting to use a local agent, Phillipa Cockman, Stuart Gallagher, Adele Long, Declan Phelan, Howard Pollitt, John Russell and team leader Dave Wynne-Jones, travelled by snowmobile from Constable Pynt to the ice-covered Storefjord and then north up a side fjord to a small wooden hut alongside thermal springs.
Being a coastal area, Polar Bears are a threat and the team took not only a rifle, but also a sled dog, to act as an alarm.
Although the team included veterans of Denali and Logan, where they had experienced temperatures down to -40°C, everyone felt the cold more than on any previous trip, despite recorded temperatures never falling below -20°C.
Technical climbing proved out of the question, but soaking cold-damaged feet in the hot springs gave some compensation.
The main mountains north of the fjord were found to be steep and rocky, and the spires of the main peak, Kirken (1,209m), would offer challenging rock and mixed climbing to future parties at a warmer time of year.
The team climbed four modest peaks in this region, enjoying fine and sometimes outstanding ski descents: a dry winter had left rock studded slopes that gave technical skiing.
The group then moved south across the fjord to the Himmerland Peninsula and together with the dog reached a 815m summit to the west of the access valley, only to find a small cairn on the top.
This was disappointing, as it was the dog's first ascent of the trip.
Unfortunately, they were unable to penetrate a major glacier system to reach the highest summit, Doppeltoppen (1,040m), so decided to move south of Himmerland to the Mariager Fjord and explore its surrounding peaks
By this stage one of the members had suffered the recurrence of a back injury, and, after slipping its tether one night in a quest for food, the dog had ripped to pieces one haul bag. A decision was therefore made to remain in the Mariager region for the remaining time and be evacuated from there by snowmobile.
During this period three of the team climbed a fine unnamed 1,100m peak in rather marginal conditions, after which the group made a spectacular journey by snowmobile down the east coast sea ice and back along Scoresby Sund to Constable Pynt.
Due to the severe cold, there were several cases of incipient frostbite, highlighting concerns that new ski boots are less well insulated. Manufacturers are producing lighter ski boots and reducing the insulation in view of warmer conditions now experienced in the Alps.
The team also found the main settlement in this region, Ittoqqortoomiit, to be a community under siege, threatened by an unsympathetic government that has closed the local high school, shipped the children hundreds of miles for entire terms at a time, and awarded transport subsidy to Air Greenland, despite this company's seeming inability to match flight access previously provided by Air Iceland.
Whilst there is huge potential for interesting climbing in this region later in the season, the timing would need to be right to avoid the unruly mosquito.
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