Two first ascents by fair means: Silvan Schüpbach, Matteo Della Bordella and Symon Welfringer successfully return from Greenland.
From July 25 to August 18, the Swiss-Italian-French team was on the road in the wilderness of Greenland. The three of them covered the 350km from Tasiilaq to Base Camp and back under their own power by kayak. The base camp was built in the so-called "Mythics Cirque": An impressive rock basin with huge granite walls. Object of desire was the untouched north face of "Siren Tower", the steepest and most compact face of the area.
Silvan Schüpbach:
Actually, we had a different destination, but due to pandemic-related difficulties we reached the starting point Tasiilaq - a settlement on Greenland's east coast - only after a week's delay. Frankly, we were quite demoralized after all the bureaucratic hurdles and our delay. But when we finally arrived at the east coast, our motivation increased immediately: the feeling of freedom and adventure was in the air - finally!
We decided on the "Mythics Cirque" because it is faster to reach than our objetive. In addition, the north face of Siren Tower seemed to be a very attractive climbing target and the summit was also still unclimbed.
Only 36 hours after our arrival in Tasiilaq we had packed the 200kg of food and equipment into our three kayaks and did what we had been dreaming of for a long time: Paddling on our own on the Arctic Ocean and heading for a great mountain.
Getting there by kayak turned out to be much easier than anticipated. The sea was mostly calm and we were able to cover 40km per day. Beautiful and wild landscapes captivated us and soon all everyday worries were behind us. After the hard kayak training we were almost a bit disappointed, but arriving faster means more time for climbing and that is our main profession.
The trip was not without surprises: When we arrived at Mythics Circque, guess who greeted us on the shore? Nico Favresse and Sean Villanueva! The Belgian climbers, who were on an expedition together with their compatriot Jean-Louis Wertz and the Swede Aleksej Jaruta, wanted to explore even the most remote and least explored areas of Greenland. At first, I didn't quite know what to make of meeting other people on the wildest possible expedition. But I immediately realized that these guys were almost soul mates with the same passion, so it was no disappointment at all for us when we learned that the Belgians also wanted to climb Siren Tower and would accomplish this before us.
Siren Tower - Forum (800 m, 22 pitches, 7c max)
After setting up base camp, we made a reconnaissance tour to the base of the imposing granite walls and we quickly agreed that we still wanted to climb the north face of Siren Tower, even though the other team was already at work there. Siren Tower, with its vertical, steep and overhanging wall, is undoubtedly the most beautiful peak in the area. We saw an elegant line to the left of the route of the Belgians and we already started climbing the next day. It was funny to climb within shouting distance of another team, considering that it was a previously untouched wall!
After five days, we stood on the summit. Since we had time, we dedicated the sixth day to climbing some pitches that we had not been able to free climb before. The key pitch is a mix of wall - and crack climbing, which we rated 7c. Overall, it is a rather psychological route to access, as there are no obvious belays, with nice vertical and overhanging pitches.
The entire route was climbed with mobile belays, keels and friends. The belays were reinforced with normal pitons. Two pitons were left along the route: one to hang the portaledge and one to belay a featureless section.
We christened our route "Forum" because we are three strong personalities and every decision about what to do, where to go and how to organize ourselves always required great discussions. Constructive moments that allowed us to reach our goal.
Paddle wall - La cène du renard (440m, 7a)
After our success at Siren Tower, we packed our kayaks again and explored the surrounding fjords for more climbing targets. 12km from Mythics Circque we found a wall that was not so impressive, but stood in a beautiful glacier landscape and promised good rock. We wanted to make the most of the days available to us. It didn’t turn out to be a particularly challenging route, but it was a good opportunity to explore the area. With a kayak you can move freely, you are not tied to one place. So we found this 400-meter sunny wall full of cracks, which we christened Paddle Wall. It was beautiful climbing. The name means in english «the supper of the fox». The only animal we came very close to during the expedition was a fox that ate our cheese and shitted in our pot the evening before we climbed.
After our success at Siren Tower, we packed our kayaks again and explored the surrounding fjords for more climbing targets. 12km from Mythics Circque we found a wall that was not so impressive but stood in a beautiful glacier landscape and promised good rock. We wanted to make the most of the days available to us. It didn't turn out to be a particularly challenging route, but it was a good opportunity to explore the area. With a kayak you can move freely, you are not tied to one place. So we found this 400-meter sunny wall full of cracks, which we christened Paddle Wall. It was beautiful climbing. The name means in english "the supper of the fox". The only animal we came very close to during the expedition was a fox that ate our cheese and shitted in our pot the evening before we climbed.
