North America, Greenland, Nalumasortoq, West Face, Mussel Power

Publication Year: 1997.

Nalumasortoq, West Face, Mussel Power. In July, in Southern Greenland, Silvo Karo (Slovenia), Tony Penning (U.K.) and I made the first ascent of Mussel Power, a direct line up the center of the North Tower of Nalumasortoq. The route was 800 meters long; we graded it VI 5.11 A3+. It was climbed over five days in lightweight style. We bivied in slings, and over the last 60 hours we got six hours of sleep each. We rappelled off the tower at night, in a storm, soaked and exhausted, but fairly keen to get off as our rock shoes were beginning to deteriorate. We ran out of food on this ultra-quick three week holiday and had to resort to foraging along the shores of Tasermiut Fjord for mussels, of which, fortunately there were copious supplies—hence the name of the route.

Jerry Gore, Alpine Climbing Group