Mount Friga, West Face, and “Watchtower,” Northwest Ridge, Baffin Island. In July and August, 1976, Phil Bartlett and I made numerous ascents, including two new ascents. “The Watchtower,” as we christened the peak, is a rock tower (c. 5500 feet) which lies above a glacier which drops to the Weasel valley just south of Tyr Peak. On our second attempt we made a 2000-foot rock route up the northwest ridge in 23 hours. The lower and upper thirds were of sustained UIAA V and V+ with 60 aid points. Tremendous slabs and crack climbing (IV) were encountered in the middle section. We did a new route on the long and previously unclimbed west face of Mount Friga. The 3000 feet of climbing took 8½ hours and had considerable objective dangers. There was little difficult rock but the ice and mixed climbing were up to Scottish Grade IV.

Steven Parr, Alpine Climbing Group