Lillefjord, Peak 710m, The Last Inuit; Peak 715m, King of His Lost Empire-Nanoq. In April, Anna Boldinger and I planned first ascents in the Sylfjeldene region of Liverpool Land, 35km north of Ittoqqortoormiit. In general the rock throughout Liverpool Land is rotten and loose, the best possibility for steep climbing is on mixed terrain, and to find good conditions requires visiting the area in April and May, when it is really cold (-20°C). In July and August there is no ice on the steep walls, only rotten rock, with the risk of stonefall. Our idea was to reach the region using dog sledges and a local hunter, and ski back on our own to Ittoqqortoormiit pulling pulks.

When we arrived at Ittoqqortoomiit, the weather had been bad for a week, and there was a meter of fresh snow. We had to wait a week for fine weather, but the forecast only guaranteed a good spell for five or six days. Because of the deep snow and lack of time, we opted for the nearer region of Lillefjord, south of Heywood Berge, only 20km to the north. We climbed two peaks, which we think may have been previously untrodden. Daytime temperatures were -15°C, and we found tricky conditions, with some danger of avalanche.

Our first route was on Peak 710m, which lies northwest of Peak 770m on the east side of the southern part of Lillefjord. Peak 770m is marked on the 1:250,000 map, and in reality Peak 710m is simply a subsidiary summit. We climbed it by the pillar on the west face left of the central couloir. The 500m-high route, which we named the Last Inuit, had 60-75° ice/snow, pitches of M6, and few pure rock sections of UIAA V+. From the summit we rappeled and down-climbed the route, leaving only a few pitons.

Our second route was the north pillar and east ridge of Peak 715m, directly east of another Peak 770m (also marked on the map) on the west side of the southern part of Lillefjord. We named the line King of His Lost Empire-Nanoq. It was 600m high, 400m of which were on the pillar. The difficulties were M4/M5 UIAA V 55-70° snow/ice. We rappeled and down-climbed the east ridge.

Eduard Birnbacker, Germany