Page 18 - 2006 AMA Summer

By Willa Straker-Smith
Ex Arctic Blue was born from Sam Marshall's desire for a serious challenge. From the planning through to the execution, the exploratory mountaineering expedition to the east coast of Greenland was just that. Having conquered all the trials and tribulations posed by the expedition, from gaining political clearance to organising transport to the remote region of Liverpool Land, three instructors
and nine students flew out of Heathrow on 12 July 05 in great anticipation.
Don’t Fall.
With an initial stop overnight in Reykjavik, Iceland, we flew on to Constable Point in Greenland - a gravel airstrip on the western edge of the Hurry Inlet, which had to be crossed to reach Liverpool Land. This was done via two open-top speed boats, but complicated by the fact that the fjord was full of pack Ice. Having disembarked from the aeroplane in nothing more than t-shirts. this was just the sort
of bracing experience we needed to remind us we
were in the Arctic Circle.
The first few days were spent in one large group, moving inland
and establishing a base camp, whilst trying to our bearings with
only some pretty poor maps to help. It took
us longer to establish ourselves at the foot
of the mountains in the Nokkedal
Valley
Nice camp site. Camping on the Hans Glacier at the base of the Tvillingerene Massif.
than anticipated, due to terrain and relief which was not conveyed by the original planning map. However, this was taken in our stride and gave the instructors more chance to assess the abilities of their groups before tackling more technical ground. The mosquitoes in the low ground were hell and the terrain in the high ground was entirely scree
and a nightmare to traverse, but the weather was fantastic and we all quickly formulated
plans for the weeks ahead.
Having split down into three groups, our first day
a long covered the land than ran along the
northern edge of the Hans Glaclbr. This involved the
negotiation of a steep, rocky ridge, interrupted
little nervous when perched over a 500m drop and the only thing to cling on to just came away in my hand.
Once over the ridge, the going became decidedly easier with typically Scottish flat hill-tops to cross, scattered with a few snow fields, from where we gained our first glimpse of the Arctic Ocean to the east. Our sights, for the day, were set on the summit at the far end of the land mass (the majority of the peaks in Greenland are
p
¡V
jjflhafc. horrifically loose and
by several buttresses which were made up of
unpredictable rock. I freely admit that,
combined with the strong north­ easterly cross wind,
the ridge took me out of my comfort zone, but I tried to console myself at
the time that it was perfectly
normal to feel a