Expedition South Greenland
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Sarah falls in love with fjord climbing, 2009 Newfoundland expedition. Photo by Kirsten Kremer.
The bags are packed, the house is clean, and the cat is pacing around nervously, clearly aware that something is going on. Jim and I are heading out this afternoon from our home in New Hampshire, starting the first of many travel legs to get to south Greenland…
Green-where?
Last week my hairdresser asked me if we were driving to Greenland. Let’s face it; Greenland is not exactly on the radar for most folks. It’s that island in the far north Atlantic that looks oddly enormous on some maps (Mercator projections make Greenland appear larger than Africa, when in fact Africa is nearly 14 times larger), and like a single giant iceberg on others. But to climbers, Greenland is more of a known entity—it has been on the dream circuit for alpine rock adventurers, and a place I’ve wanted to visit since first seeing photos of its towering walls in an early issue of Alpinist.
Thanks to support from the Copp-Dash Inspire Award (actually, the first time I even heard about climbers going to Greenland was from Micah Dash in Indian Creek probably 8 years or so ago, when he was planning his first expedition there…) and Outdoor Research, we are about to step out onto a new adventure. The fun starts with a flight to Iceland, then a flight to Greenland, then a helicopter ride across Greenland, then a boat ride to our base camp—about four days, plus or minus, to get from here to there.
Wish us luck (and some clear weather)!
Check back to VertiCulture soon for an update from Sarah upon her return. More of her stories can be found on her site www.rockclimbinggeology.com.
