British expedition conquers Greenland big walls

GREENLAND RESIZED
A British expedition have climbed a series of new routes on big walls close to the region of Uummannaq in north west Greenland.

Tom Codrington, Jacob Cook, Ian Faulkner and Peter hill of the Oxford University Mountaineering Club, established the lines during an expedition to explore the west coast of the island this summer. In just over a month the team made ascents on five remote big walls including the Horn of Upernivik Island (1700m), Uummannaq NW peak (1170m), Ivnarssuaq Great Wall (1170m), Umanatsiaq Mountain (824m) and Nugssuaq (986m).

Codrington and Hill made a 42 hour Alpine style ascent to establish ‘Choss, the Unverse and Everything’ on Horn of Upernivik Island, while Cook and Faulkner bagged a first ascent of the mountain’s main face, naming the route ‘Cosmic Rave.’

Jack, Tom and Peter then followed suit, claiming ‘Islands in the Sky’ on NW peak, via a scree gully and headwall, while a further first ascent of a previously unknown face on Great Wall, dubbed ‘The Incredible Orange’ saw a 72 hour Alpine push from Tom and Ian (above) as they negotiated the vertical face. Finally, Peter and Jacob established new routes on Umanatsiaq and Nugssuaq accompanied by Ian, with the loose rocked ‘Flake or Death’ and unclimbed face ‘That Sinking Feeling’.

RELATED LINKS:
www.oxfordgreenlandexpedition.com

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