This, being my third Bedstone College Expedition, I decided to target an area that could honestly be said to be my first love as an expedition destination. Another powerful stimulus for my choice of this area was the fact that, for the first time, I would be taking my daughter, Anna, on an expedition. Anna had grown up with Greenland featuring very firmly in her life and was understandably keen to experience all that she had seen and heard of, over the previous fifteen years.

I had already led three school expeditions to East Greenland and had also visited the area myself once prior to this. It is definitely an area in which prior knowledge and contacts help enormously, particularly when considering a school group. This group being small, it was only possible to take a small main leadership team of two together with an assistant leader and this is obviously a major consideration in any mountain and wilderness area and probably more especially so in East Greenland.

Taking school trips, in today’s climate, is not exactly easy. I was incredibly fortunate to be able to call upon the help of Paul as the other leader. Although Paul had not been to East Greenland before, he is a very experienced leader of school groups in his role as Head of Outdoor Pursuits at Trent College, Nottingham. He is also an expert mountaineer and holder of the coveted Mountain Instructor Award. His expertise on snow, ice and rock is such that I had, throughout the trip, absolutely no hesitation in agreeing that he took part of the group on an ascent even though the requirements of the rest of the group meant that I could not always be present with the summit team. Most important of all, he is an old friend of mine and one in whose judgment I have the utmost trust. This is absolutely vital in areas like East Greenland, especially when you are responsible for trying to give a group of young people, an adventurous (and hence exciting) yet ultimately safe, experience.

I would like to record my thanks to Paul for giving his time, experience and expertise to the venture and for the effortless way in which he fitted into the group, starting with the final practice weekend in Snowdonia in April and throughout the main Greenlandic venture itself.

The expedition proved to be a tough challenge – both mentally and physically. I know that the group would mirror these sentiments wholeheartedly. There were, as always, highs and lows during the course of the month and undoubtedly the group was in many ways pleased to get home but I feel sure that they will all have gained much from the experiences. When the pain and worry has been forgotten there will remain just a series of amazing memories and distant dreamlike feelings.

As always in Greenland, things did not always go as initially had been planned sitting at home in the cool, wet English winter, and it is necessary to have a flexible approach and to not adhere rigidly to pre-planned arrangements. Thus we tried to formulate a series of plans and this multi-layered approach served us well. Patience is also a required virtue in Greenland in that travel is not easy and the weather can make it even more of a potential problem. Time can seem to drag as you wait for a boat or for the mist to lift – however it makes you slow down and to move away for that western disease of wanting everything here and now! Not for nothing is the Greenlandic travel motto “Imaqa” or “maybe”. However, as can be firmly gauged in the travel and planning appraisal section, rearrangements were made as and when required without negatively influencing the flow of the expedition experiences. Indeed in some ways they actually enhanced these experiences and certainly mirrored the “real world” of East Greenland.

We were blessed with the weather. We experienced a few days of mist and drizzle and the odd dull day but the rest was dominated by the sharp, brilliantly sunny weather that only the Greenland ice cap and its attendant anticyclone can ensure. The “worst” weather dominated our trek from Tasiilaq Kuua over the glacier into Tuunup Kuua and down towards the coast – a route where progress dominated and the need for clarity of views, to reward any hard–earned ascent, was not extant.

The superb sunlight did have one downside; the insects! Unfortunately mosquitoes enjoy warm, sunny weather as much as we do - and they did. The Greenlandic population is certainly a healthy one and the incidence of bites that some people suffered certainly mirrored this. We carried head nets and repellent, whilst also liberally distributing courses of anti-inflammatory medicines such as “Piriton”.

Research now seems to indicate, not that some people are less likely to swell up when bitten, but that some people are far less likely even to be bitten. Research is now ongoing to establish exactly why this is the case. I am lucky – I am totally unpalatable to mosquitoes!

The presence of mosquitoes does limit people socializing outside the tents, except in exposed windy sites next to the sea or high on the ice, and this is a shame. However this is a small price to pay for the opportunity to live and explore in one of the last great wildernesses.

Our chosen Final Objectives as detailed in the Ethos, Objectives and Area section were:
FINAL OBJECTIVES

A. Cultural and General
1. To gain an insight into the survival, over the last thousand years, of the Thule Inuit culture in East Greenland.
2. To gain an insight into the hunting society of the Inuit in East Greenland, past, present and future.
3. To go whale watching in the loose pack off East Greenland.
4. To travel, cooperate and live self-sufficiently in the
East Greenlandic wilderness.

B. Mountain and Trekking 1. To ascend glaciers in Dodemansdalen.
2a. To explore glaciers towards the Karale glacier above Dodemansdalen.
2b. To explore Dodemansdalen as far as Ningerti in Sermilik fjord.
3. To trek back from Tasiilaq fjord to Kuummiit.
4. To ascend peak 1019 behind Kuummiit.
5. To explore the mountains around Niniartivaraq east of Tiniteqilaq

Objectives 2a. and 2b. were formulated such that if conditions did not allow the former to be attempted then the latter would automatically be substituted. In fact we were able to attempt the first of these two objectives even though, as we shall see later, the snow and ice conditions were far from ideal.

The first two of the cultural objectives I felt were completed most ably. The combined influences of our museum visit, of living within the East Greenlandic environment, of travelling with the local hunters in their boats and of interacting with the local population in the settlements of Tasiilaq, Kuummiit and Tiniteqilaaq allowed us to gain some sort of insight, however incomplete, into the hunting society, past, present and some perception into the future. These experiences also allowed us to gain a real feel for what survival in East Greenland over the last millennia had involved. Clearly the development of the hunting culture of the Thule Inuit culture had been an integral necessity in allowing this and even then survival had been “on the brink” with complete extinction only narrowly being averted in the late nineteenth century. The museum, in particular, is an evocative place. This is due especially to the incredible collection of black and white photographs depicting the life of the Inuit in the years immediately after the establishment of the Danish presence in 1894.

At the end of our time in Greenland we arranged to travel on the necessary journey back to Kulusuk (for our flights to Iceland) but with a detour out into the Greenland Sea. The day was overcast and the frigid waters were overlain with an enveloping blanket of cold, dank mist. The waters were also very open; very few icebergs being present this year. Freshwater ‘bergs attract nutrient upwellings below them and these in turn attract powerful assemblages of plankton thus forming the basis of the food chains that, at their peak, support the larger Cetaceans. Thus the lack of whales in this area may have been due to a lack of surface ice. Anyway whale-watching can be a fickle pastime, in terms of guaranteed success; however it did give us the opportunity to experience the mind and limb-numbing cold of the East Greenlandic current – memorable experiences can indeed be negative as well as positive!

Although we did, as a group, go whale-watching in East Greenlandic waters it would have been nice to actually see a whale!

The group did travel, co-operate and live self - sufficiently in the wilderness. As I mentioned earlier the group found, as expected, the experience to be demanding. However the standard of co-operation was overall very good although certain individuals were far more adept at thinking of their team mates than others, as is invariably the case. The group certainly bonded well and this will be accentuated in the aftermath of expedition lectures, presentations and writings. It is a special time – being in a wilderness area like East Greenland with your friends prior to moving onto the wider adult world, post-school. A very special time indeed.

The group proved to be a good one to work with. They have involved themselves in the expedition experience and in the culture of East Greenland itself. In the field, interactions were positive and the only source of mild friction being the incredibly slow speed at which one or two of the group members prepared themselves for the day – especially the backpacking ones. I was very pleased with the levels of integration shown by the group as a whole. This certainly had a most positive effect on group morale throughout the trip. Sammie, in her position of assistant leader, provided a valuable “bridge” between the group members and the two main leaders. Having been on an expedition with me, whilst still at school two years previously in North Iceland, then she knew exactly how things should pan out and thus was in a position to contribute extremely positively to the overall success of the venture.

Looking at the trekking and mountaineering objectives that were formulated. We certainly managed to ascend glaciers in the area. We ascended the first glacier in Dodemansdalen twice, once as a practice session (on glacial travel) and the second time to complete our ascent to the mountain hut. We also managed to ascend the second glacier in Dodemansdalen – an incredibly beautiful sérac-dominated torrent of ice! For some this was the highlight of the entire trip. Our route took us through a labyrinth of ice pinnacles with the ice alternating between azure blue and brilliant white all contained below a blue-upon-blue sky. Paul put in protection in a number of places to aid our descent and the group gained noticeably in confidence and technique as the day progressed as they gained valuable experience. This glacier proved to be an excellent photographic opportunity.

We explored the glacier to the north of the mountain hut above Dodemansdalen on a memorable day. The snow conditions were to quote Erwin Reinthaller, who we met in the mountain hut, “the worst in the last seventeen years”. The snow resembled sugar and provided a tiring substrate to wade through, together with providing very limited support indeed on the snow bridges that spanned the crevasses. The weather was warm and sunny and clearly had been so for a considerable amount of time. The lower glacial area had effectively a river running over the ice surface and we were forced to wade continually through this on the descent in the warm afternoon. The upper reaches of the glacier were substantially crevassed and although the crevasse lines were fairly easy to identify Mike managed to fall down a deep crevasse. He was easily extricated by Paul and we continued to almost reach the col looking down on the Karale Glacier. However the terrain unnerved the group and we decided to turn round and descend to the hut. I think that, although it is always disappointing to turn round before reaching the objective identified it was, under the circumstances, the correct decision.

A real bonus was the successful ascents of the peak of Hütten Kogel towering above the mountain hut itself. Paul led two ascents of this peak on two separate days and, in total, seven of the group managed to successfully ascend this peak. They experienced amazing views and an ascent that was a grade three scramble but with a good deal of exposure near the summit itself. Again for some this was the highlight of the trip.

The mountain hut proved to be a fantastic base for our activities. It occupied an excellent position on a rocky ridge above the glacier and stood at the gateway to the glaciers that snake their way towards the inland ice cap. The ascent to the hut needed care, especially with full packs, but it did not represent a difficult route. The snow conditions on the glaciers above the hut were not good and this clearly influenced what we, as leaders, felt the group could achieve. The views from the hut were amazing and the position of the verandah meant that it acted as a suntrap – often until late in the evening. Our thanks go to Hans Christian Florian for the use of the hut and for allowing us, as leaders, to use his private room. We shall certainly be back.

The return journey from Tasiilaq fjord to the settlement at Kuummiit was accomplished over a four-day backpack. This was the one section of the expedition in which the weather was not as good. The cold front had been moving in for a number of days and we had been able to monitor this in the distance from the mountain hut. By the time of our descent from the hut, the glacier below was shrouded in mist, although the valley in which our tents were left was bright and clear. Once we began our journey down the fjordside the day was dull and overcast and once we reached the glacial crossing in Tuunup Kuua the mist and rain had firmly set in. The weather only improved by the time we reached the fjord Tuno to the south.

We decided not to attempt the peak 1019m behind Kuummiit; it fitted into our plans better to attempt a peak to the east as we journeyed towards Kuummiit. The approach to this peak was quite difficult and we actually ended up on the wrong glacial approach and so we decided to attempt another peak above the glacier we were actually on. This glacial approach was fine and, after transferring to the rocky ridge above, one group successfully achieved the summit ridge, descending after an exciting traverse of this ridge. The other rope team found the approach on the ridge quite demanding and a prudent decision was made with them to abort the final summit push. They were able to enjoy the excellent views from the top of the glacier itself.

We had achieved two summits on the trip thus far however we had not, as yet as an entire group, managed to successfully climb a summit. On transferring in phase two to the mountain area around Niniartivaraq both Paul and I felt that it was very important for us to identify a potential summit that everyone had a realistic chance of achieving. We noted a long ridge approach to a peak at 1214m in the Niniartivaraq group that looked distinctly possible. On establishing our camp below this ridge our positive thoughts were duly confirmed. The actual ascent was superb, steep but steady and eminently passable. The summit itself was scrambly and a little exposed but Sammie and Charlie successfully led the entire group to the overhanging summit massif itself. The views were stupendous with fabulous glacier-dominated peaks to the north and east, the beautiful sound of Ikaasatsivaq to the south between Angmagssalik Island and the mainland and the majestic ice fjord of Sermilik to the west. Truly an amazing place! Again for some this was the highlight of their trip. As leaders both Paul and I took a great deal of satisfaction that everyone had achieved this ascent to benefit from the vistas on offer.

Judged by the objectives completed then the expedition was undoubtedly a success but this is a somewhat glib way of measuring success and I would hope that any “success” is better measured by the effects, of the venture, on those who took part.

If the individuals concerned view themselves and the world around them in a slightly different, more enlightened way then that is “success”. East Greenland certainly has the ability to stimulate in this way; that is why it is one of the planet’s special places.

Undoubtedly I will return and so I suspect will Paul; as for the rest some may, many will not but for all it had been a truly amazing month – one never to be forgotten.

Personally there were many highlights and challenges but I received immense satisfaction from our journey along Sermilik, the ice fjord, by boat. I have backpacked along much of the length of this particular fjord and my favourite place to camp, in the world, is in the northern recesses of Ningerti where the 5km ice front of the Midgaard glacier is to be found calving its offspring into the dark waters below. However the opportunity to travel through the lower reaches of the ice fjord out into the sea and around Angmagssalik Island to Kong Oscar’s Havn was absolutely special. The icebergs were gigantic with some touching 200 feet above the waterline and travelling through these at speed with the intense cold and driving wind freezing any exposed extremities was a life-defining experience!

Experiences like this one define most precisely why I return, time and time again, to the special world that is East Greenland.

Nigel Bidgood – Leader East Greenland Expedition 2007

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