American Dave Turner, in a solo expedition to Baffin Island, climbed only the second independent route to the summit of Broad Peak in the Eastern Fjords.
Turner was one of six nominated 'teams' for this year's Piolets d'Or in Chamonix. In 2008 the American had spent 34 days alone on a hard new route (A4+) up the centre of the East Face of Cerro Escudo in the Torres del Paine region of Patagonia.
This year he chose to practise his art in a more remote setting, taking no fixed rope, bolts or portaledge. He arrived at the Sam Ford Fjord on Baffin Island's East Coast in early April, having been taken from Clyde River by Inuit snowmobile. He hoped to suss out suitable objectives during the month, so that in the warmer temperatures of May he could attempt a new big wall route.
There were occasional passers by: hunters, who would give him fresh fish; BASE jumpers (the peaks around the Sam Ford Fjord are fast becoming well-known as prime objectives for BASE jumpers); and skiers.
However, if you were going to be visited by anyone during a 65-day solo trip, what better than the Baffin Babes: Kristin Folsland Olsen, Emma Simonsson, Vera Simonsson and Ingebjoerg Tollefsen, four women, all in their 20s, from Norway and Sweden. They were making a self-supported ski tour from Qikiqtarjuaq in the south east to Pond Inlet in the north west, with a food supply mid-way at Clyde River.
Gentleman Turner first made them pizza in his portable oven before all five skied together up Broad Peak (c1,800m). The four Scandinavians were the first women to reach this summit, which is the highest in the immediate area. They ascended the South Face, which until this year was the only established route on the mountain, first climbed in 1978 by a team from Washington State University.
Unfortunately, on this ascent Turner's ski boots were not up to the intense cold and he suffered frostbite damage to his toes. Subsequently, this would almost prevent any major new route during the expedition.
He made two attempts on the c1,300m North Face of Mt Beluga (a peak famous amongst extreme skiers for its magnificent Polar Star Couloir). On both occasions he found his damaged toes made climbing in rock boots impossible, at least for a planned alpine-style ascent. It was time for more ski-touring to allow reasonable recovery.
With one week left and toes now feeling better, he started up a pronounced arête on the c1,400m North Face of Broad Peak. After climbing the alpine ridge and then slanting right on snow ramps to reach the headwall, seven pitches of mixed free and aid led him to the summit.
Turner descended already known ground on the South Face and returned to base camp in a continuous 39-hour round trip.
The route, currently unnamed, was graded VI 5.10 A3 M5 60°.
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