Scottish Expedition to Tasermiut Fjord, South Greenland. A University of St. Andrews party returned after an eleven-year interval to the mountainous shores of Tasermiut inlet at 60° N. In six weeks a total of 34 peaks were climbed, 32 of which were first ascents, and our canoes logged over 200 miles under poor conditions. Our party was composed of John Shade, Bob Mutch, Mike Jacob, Chris Greensmith, Pete Biggar, Andrew Stevenson, Richard Yound, Iain Walton, Tony Shaw and me as leader. We flew from Glasgow via Iceland to Narsarssuaq and went by the weekly coastal boat to Nanortalik. Three weeks of waiting for our shipped equipment and food were spent in perfect weather. It was mid-July before Base Camp was placed near Taserssuaq Lake on the east shore of Tasermiut. Once supplies had been ferried up the lake, one party slogged through the birch scrub of Qinguadalen and the other party went eastward towards Ilua Sound. Mixed rock and ice peaks with up to 5000 feet of ascent were climbed in the brief fine spells, but being benighted in storms of driving rain and sleet under low cloud were frequent and unpleasant experiences. At the halfway stage we regrouped for new objectives south of the lake, a low-level party climbing on glaciated summits and a high party on spectacular rock spires. In mid-August a five-day storm plastered all the ridges and walls with fresh snow above 2500 feet; with the best peaks out of condition there was a brilliant spell of clear sunny days and crisp still nights under the glow of the aurora. Two of the more memorable days were the ascent of Middle Teepee and the traverse of the Madman’s Tower: the first involved 900 feet of up to Grade V (UIAA) followed by a chill benightment and a dawn descent, abseiling down a gully that had become a watercourse of rain and gravel sludge; the travel had some intricate route-finding in exposed situations and included a descent down an unknown gully in gathering darkness in the first squalls of an approaching deluge. Both took more than 24 hours. The gradings for the mountains climbed were 7 Is, 16 IIs, 9 IIIs and 2 IVs. We returned to Scotland by the same route on September 1.

PHILIP W. F. GRIBBON, Scottish Mountaineering Club