Canadian Arctic

Cape Dyer, Baffin Island. Our expedition was organized primarily for exploratory mountaineering in the Arctic, combined with glaciology and photography. I am indebted to the Canadian government and the administrators of the Department of Indian and Northern Development for their assistance, as well as to the Explorers Club. The expedition included Tony Bloeman, Cecil Grace, Phil Ritterbush, Monika Schwabe, Jane Titsworth and myself, as leader, from the USA, and Arno Dennig and Peter Kruck from Austria. We left Montreal for Frobisher Bay on July 24 on a scheduled flight, then continued 300 miles further northeast to Broughton Island in a chartered DC-3 After a few days in this

fascinating Eskimo settlement, we enjoyed a colorful voyage 60 miles south in an antique, powered Eskimo whaleboat. Our destination was the head of a fjord (66°43 ′ N., 62°20′ W.) on the northern side of the Cape Dyer region of the Cumberland Peninsula (30 miles west of Cape Dyer and 75 miles east of Mount Asgard). From this fjord, a nameless valley and glacier ran 18 miles south to their head near the Arctic Circle. On August 1, we established Base Camp eight miles inland at the junction of a side valley, which extended six miles east over a glaciated pass to Sunneshine Fjord. On the first day of relaying to Base Camp we began training what could become a new tribe of “Eskimo Sherpas.” Unfortu­nately they had little time to spare from hunting. On August 15, we avoided a 33-mile walk by crossing to Sunneshine Fjord, where the Eskimos met us in their apparently immortal boat and took us to the Cape Dyer DEW Line Site in time to catch the monthly Nordair flight to Frobisher. Considering the remoteness of the area, the total cost of transportation (c. $4000 for the group and equipment) was low. During our stay in the interior, we occupied an Advance Base Camp five miles farther south at the junction of the main glacier with another leading west. Three of us, using all available snowshoes, reached a temporary camp nine miles farther south at the source of our major valley glacier. This was in a basin formed partially by the north side of Mount Mischief and our objective, a large unnamed peak. This mountain along with Raleigh and Mischief overlooks the sea on the south side of the peninsula; it is a fine glaciated, wedge-shaped peak that may be the highest in the region. (5510 feet by aneroid). On our approach it seemed to exceed Raleigh and Mischief, but a white-out prevented observations from the summit. We suggest the name “White Wind Peak,” which is in keeping with the names chosen for our approach routes, “Southwind” Glacier and Fjord. During the expedition we traversed the peninsula by two new routes to link up with the territory explored in 1960 by Gribbon and Rothery ( A.A.J., 1961, 12:2, p. 392) as far as Mount Gilbert (northeast of Base Camp) and that visited in 1962 by H. W. Tilman (A.A.J., 1963, 13:2, pp. 501-2). The latter sailed up Totnes Road in his cutter Mischief and climbed Raleigh and Mischief from the south. In addition, we com­pleted seven first ascents of peaks of more than 4500 feet, including two traverses. Three passes were also ascended for the first time, several photographic glacier survey points were established and a movie film produced. In all some 200 square miles were explored. Names and descriptions of the main geographic features have been submitted to the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographic Names and a detailed

report completed. Though not notably difficult or of great height, the mountains have an impressive alpine appearance when approached from the north. Most can be climbed by relatively easy ridges of snow and frost-shattered rock, although difficult face routes are often possible. Travel presents no great difficulty at lower altitudes with heath near the fjords giving way to bare moraines and dry glacier up to 2000 feet. Our routes were generally designed to avoid difficult river crossings. This year we encountered a zone of slush at about 2000 feet on the glaciers. The snow up to 4000 feet and often higher consisted of layers of breakable crust that seldom froze and required either snowshoes or considerable effort. It was light enough so that we saw no stars until August 8. The tempera­tures were mild, as predicted, between 35° and 45° F day and night. Other larger unclimbed and virtually unexplored regions with some peaks exceeding 6000 feet still exist on Baffin Island. The valley of its highest peak, Asgard, has been visited by several expeditions, but many spectacular climbs still exist in that neighborhood.

G eo rg e V. B . C o c h r a n , M .D.