Greenland Expeditions And Ice Cap Crossings

Founded on a love of remote Arctic mountains and driven by a desire to succeed, Tangent Expeditions has strived to develop a wonderful balance of Arctic experiences and exploratory mountaineering opportunities in one of the most remote and isolated regions on Earth. Founded in 1989 Tangent Expeditions was set up to help climbers begin to explore the many vast and unknown mountain ranges of east Greenland and survey the vast potential of this largely unknown country. In 1993 Paul Walker secured for the first time the private charter of a Twin Otter ski plane to fly a Tangent group to Mont Forel, long thought to be the second highest mountain in Greenland, and proceeded to make the first ascent of a major new 28 pitch route on the north ridge of the mountain. Since then Tangent has worked closely with the aircraft owners to develop an expedition logistics platform in Greenland to allow climbers to reach new and previously unexplored and unclimbed ranges. Central to this ambitious challenge was a small fleet of private charter aircraft which were made available to Tangent to reach the east coastal airstrip at Kulusuk. From here it was then possible to charter a combination of boats and helicopter or bring over a ski equipped Twin Otter from Iceland, refuel it, and continue on north to new areas along the east coast, landing directly on the glaciers.

From 1993 Tangent flew to many new glaciers and mountain ranges in the Schweizerland Alps and Mont Forel region before pushing further north to the Kronprins Frederik Bjerg ranges. In these areas alone over 70 new mountains, peaks and summits were identified and climbed, the vast majority of which have never been visited or climbed again. By Summer 1998/99 a secure logistics foundation had been established which could facilitate expeditions to any mountaineering area in east and northeast Greenland. The Twin Otter ski plane was by now at the very heart of their Greenland operations. A series of landmark expeditions then took place, many to new mountain ranges including rare ascents of Petermanns Bjerg and Schackletons Bjerg in northeast Greenland, first ascents in the Rignys Bjerg and Lindbergh Fjelde ranges and a winter expedition to the Schweizerland Alps.

In May 1998 their Watkins Mountains Greenland expedition became the first and only commercial expedition to reach the summits of all five highest mountains in the Arctic in a single trip, which was followed in June 1999 by the first ever British commercial crossing of the Greenland icecap. Such experience firmly established Tangent Expeditions as the worlds No.1 leading organiser of arctic mountaineering expeditions, ski-touring and ski-mountaineering expeditions to Arctic Greenland. Since then they have gone on to open up countless new mountain ranges, including Milne Land, Ejnar Mikkelsens Fjeld, Borgetinde, Srtebr ranges, Knud Rasmussen Land, Kangerdlugssuaq ranges, Camp Icefield, Martin Knudsen Nunatakker, Niels Holgersen Nunatakker, Hvidbjrns Nunatakker, Louise Boyds Land and Dronning Louise Land.

Most ice cap expedition routes cross the Greenland icecap from Isortoq to Kangerlussuaq for two simple reasons . ease of access and price. To embark on such a major polar journey is indeed a privilege and a great achievement. Some leaders continue to support, guide and offer unbiased advice to all those who wish to take part in these expeditions. However there is much more to the ice cap crossing than just one straight line route. There are numerous, alternative Greenland crossing routes across the glacier, with far more exciting starting points in remote and largely unclimbed mountains ranges further north and up the east coast.