10/8/10
Successful race to the top
The name of the mountain is Grundtvigskirken
“We all are somehow at a loss for words, stand here close to each other; the summit has only about four square meters”, describes Roger Schäli his impressions. The Big Wall is exactly 1325, 5 meters high from top to bottom. Their route takes 40 pitches- the team could climb 39 pitches free and red point.
The team and its mission
The expedition team consists of SALEWA alpineXtrem team members Daniel Kopp (A), Roger Schäli (CH) and Simon Gietl (I), the base camp manager Jost von Allmen and the photographer, expedition leader and climber Thomas Ulrich. They have left their countries to climb a permanently vertical 1325, 5 meters high Big Wall in East Greenland.
Things to do before departure
Getting the gear ready is quite a challenge. Climbing the Big Wall requires a lot of equipment. The climbing material alone weighs 120kg. Naturally, there is no space for luxuries.
Zurich – Copenhagen - Reykjavik – Kulusuk – Constable Point
The team checked in at Zurich Airport with 200kg of luggage. Another 250kg of equipment for climbing and for the base camp had already been sent to Island. After a stopover in Reykjavik, the expedition continued their flight to Kulusuk and to Constable Point in East Greenland. Constable Point is a base with six hangars and an airstrip which is not paved. Thomas put in stream two Zodiac inflatable boats while Jost tried to establish a connection with the outside world. Simon, Daniel and Roger were busy stashing the equipment in waterproof bags.
Alpinists are mariners too
The team left Constable Point for the Big Wall. Now they were on their own. And the first difficulties were not far away. One of the Zodiacs did not work properly. After inflating some extra air and repacking the gear the Zodiac was ready to go again. The alpine mariners were soon soaking wet as their journey took them along massive icebergs. The Zodiacs need quite a lot of gas so the team had to go ashore every now and then to refill the gas tanks.
At the base camp
Because the mountain is located in such a remote area it was very difficult to find detailed maps of the region – so the team had to start their expedition without maps. After setting up the base camp at a spot 50 meters above sea level, Simon, Daniel, Roger and Thomas could not wait any longer and went off to have a good look at the Big Wall. Then they returned to the base camp and started carrying bags from the base camp to the wall. To cool down Simon and Thomas had a bath in the ice cold water.
The name of the mountain is Grundtvigskirken
The climbers did not see any tracks from previous ascents. However, news reached the SALEWA expedition that a Swedish team had climbed the mountain in 1999, but on the Southeast face in 25 pitches. The Big Wall lies on Northeast face.
Every day live from the Big Wall
Daniel, Roger and Simon share their adventures live via satellite – every day. Follow them on http://blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/outdoor/
The team and its mission
The expedition team consists of SALEWA alpineXtrem team members Daniel Kopp (A), Roger Schäli (CH) and Simon Gietl (I), the base camp manager Jost von Allmen and the photographer, expedition leader and climber Thomas Ulrich. They have left their countries to climb a permanently vertical 1325, 5 meters high Big Wall in East Greenland.
Things to do before departure
Getting the gear ready is quite a challenge. Climbing the Big Wall requires a lot of equipment. The climbing material alone weighs 120kg. Naturally, there is no space for luxuries.
Zurich – Copenhagen - Reykjavik – Kulusuk – Constable Point
The team checked in at Zurich Airport with 200kg of luggage. Another 250kg of equipment for climbing and for the base camp had already been sent to Island. After a stopover in Reykjavik, the expedition continued their flight to Kulusuk and to Constable Point in East Greenland. Constable Point is a base with six hangars and an airstrip which is not paved. Thomas put in stream two Zodiac inflatable boats while Jost tried to establish a connection with the outside world. Simon, Daniel and Roger were busy stashing the equipment in waterproof bags.
Alpinists are mariners too
The team left Constable Point for the Big Wall. Now they were on their own. And the first difficulties were not far away. One of the Zodiacs did not work properly. After inflating some extra air and repacking the gear the Zodiac was ready to go again. The alpine mariners were soon soaking wet as their journey took them along massive icebergs. The Zodiacs need quite a lot of gas so the team had to go ashore every now and then to refill the gas tanks.
At the base camp
Because the mountain is located in such a remote area it was very difficult to find detailed maps of the region – so the team had to start their expedition without maps. After setting up the base camp at a spot 50 meters above sea level, Simon, Daniel, Roger and Thomas could not wait any longer and went off to have a good look at the Big Wall. Then they returned to the base camp and started carrying bags from the base camp to the wall. To cool down Simon and Thomas had a bath in the ice cold water.
The name of the mountain is Grundtvigskirken
The climbers did not see any tracks from previous ascents. However, news reached the SALEWA expedition that a Swedish team had climbed the mountain in 1999, but on the Southeast face in 25 pitches. The Big Wall lies on Northeast face.
Every day live from the Big Wall
Daniel, Roger and Simon share their adventures live via satellite – every day. Follow them on http://blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/outdoor/
