Staunings Alps. The Italian Greenland Expedition, led by Guido Monzino of Milan, last summer visited the Staunings Alps on the east coast at 72° North. In 1963 Monzino had led another expedition to the same region, which visited the area of the Bersaekerbrae (glacier) on the eastern side of the range. This year the aim of the expedition was the Viking Glacier and the surrounding area which we reached from the Alpefjord. We landed by chartered plane in Mesters Vig, where there is a small Danish meteorological station. We spent one week in Mesters Vig, waiting for the ice in Kong Oscars Fjord to break. Alpefjord, one of the most interesting in Greenland, was reached by sailing in small inflatable boats with outboard motors. Base Camp was near the snout of the Viking Glacier on the seaside. Camp I was placed halfway up the Viking Glacier; from this camp two groups climbed for the first time two interesting rock peaks of about 8000 feet. A second camp was placed on the upper plateau of the Viking Glacier and from this camp six climbers, guided by Jean Bich and including Monzino, climbed Dansketinde (9679 feet), the highest peak in the Staunings Alps, climbed only once before by three Swiss in 1954 from the other side. In the following days the weather changed for the worse and the expedition sailed back to Mesters Vig despite great difficulties caused by wind and rough seas.

Piero Meciani, Club Alpino Italiano