North America, Greenland, East Coast, Milne Land, Correction, Hermelintop

Publication Year: 2009.

Milne Land, correction, Hermelintop. The 2007 AAJ, pp. 198, reported a circumnavigation of Milne Land by a three-member British team. This team began its kayak journey from Hekla Havn, which was the 1891-2 over-wintering base used by a Dane, Carl Ryder, and the crew of SS Hekla, who mapped most of the interior of Scoresbysund, the largest fjord system in the world. It was this survey that proved Milne Land to be an island.

The peak referred to in the report as “Hergelintop,” the south face of which was climbed by the British trio, is more properly called Hermelintop. Two weeks prior to their ascent, my own group had climbed the main summit, two of the team continuing across a deep notch to a previously unclimbed subsidiary summit to the north. On the main summit stands a large cairn, possibly dating from Carl Ryder’s explorations. This summit offers a superb viewpoint for the little known Paul Stern Land mountains and the gigantic glacier of Rolige Brae descending from the main icecap into the tidal waters of inner Scoresbysund.

Jim Gregson, Alpine Club