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Greenland Climbing Expedition with Alpine Ascents


Greenland Expedition with Alpine Ascents

Burleson
Burleson
Cigars and Glen Livet
Saturday, June 6, 1998

Hear the Satellite Call from Greenland

Hey Mountain Zone, it's Todd. We just got back about two hours ago from a great day of climbing. We skied to the top of a peak about 3200 meters tall; we did it in about five hours. It was a really great experience. The snow is prefect conditions for skiing down, so I took a few lessons from Dierk and Bene.

Greenland
[click to zoom]
(photo: AAI)
Life is great. We lit up the barbecue tonight, and we had our lamb steaks and roasted potatoes with some fresh olive oil we've been keeping warm in the tents during the day. We have Cognac, we have cigars, and we have everything except toilet paper. So, we're getting really good at tearing thin sheets off of cardboard boxes...

Life's great out here. Tomorrow we'll go up and climb another peak, just to do acclimatization again before we go up higher. We plan to probably do Gunnbjornsfjeld, the highest peak, in about two more days. We're hoping that in about four or five days, we'll go up and attempt the highest unclimbed peak in Greenland. It looks really good, but it's just a long ways away so we'll have to do a lot of skiing and do a couple of days of camping. Off skiing today, all of us had brand new boots, so we've been taping our feet all day; that wasn't the best experience, breaking in new boots.

Life is great in Greenland! Twenty-four hours of sunshine. We actually got into a white out for about an hour today, but then the clouds moved back out, and it is beautiful now. It's definitely well below freezing, but the sun is shinning on the tents, so it's warm inside. I'm looking over at Dierk right now, and he's smoking a big cigar and drinking some Glen Livet. Life is good in Greenland, and we'll have more stories tomorrow. We'll be in touch. Bye.

Todd Burleson, Expedition Leader

EXPEDITION


Expedition Updates
Sat-Phone Bear
(original photo: Art Wolfe)

Alpine Ascents International
Greenland Expedition Updates:

ON THE LAST DAY, THEY RESTED
[June 16, '98]
Avoiding crumbly rock and hoping the plane comes.

POSSIBLE FIRST ON U-TURN
[June 14, '98]
Team climbs a possible new peak with a U on top.

THE CONQUESTS GO ON
[June 13, '98]
Dierk and Bene take on the 45° slopes of a new peak.

FURTHER THAN IT LOOKED
[June 11, '98]
Skiing for the re-supply cache seemed like a good idea.

MOUNT GUNNBJORNSFJELD
[June 10, '98]
French champagne after an eight hour summit of the highest peak.

REST DAY IN PARADISE
[June 9, '98]
The many varied approaches to communing with nature.

FIRST ASCENT MT ROBIN
[June 8, '98]
Team climbs new peak, nursing epic blisters, need more supplies.

RIDGES AND VALLEYS
[June 7, '98]
Great climbing and skiing in the arctic sunshine.

CIGARS AND GLEN LIVET
[June 6, '98]
There's nothing like a lamb barbecue after skiing at 3200m.

INTROS AROUND THE GRILL
[June 5, '98]
Meet the climbers, have a look around, and keep an eye on the chicken.

THE ONLY PEOPLE HERE
[June 5, '98]
Base camp is set up and not a neighbor to be seen.



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Alpine Ascents International: [email][website]

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