North America, Greenland, Cape Farewell Region, Agdlerssakasit, East Face, First Ascent and Tragedy

Publication Year: 2001.

Agdlerssakasit, East Face, First Ascent and Tragedy. At the beginning of August, British climbers Ben Bransby, Matt Dickinson, Gareth Parry, and Ian Parnell made the first ascent of the 1347-meter east face of Agdlerssakasit (1763m) in the Torssukatak (also spelled Torssuqatoq-Ed.) Sound in the Cape Farewell region of southern Greenland. The team camped on the island of Pamiagdluk and used a hired inflatable dinghy to approach the sea- cliff, which falls sheer into the fjord. After retreating following a days’ climbing and a night of storm, the team returned to make the ascent over four days, climbing the route free (5.12c) without any drilling for belays or protection. Tragically, Matthew Bransby, a member of the support team, died while abseiling from a neighboring peak that had been climbed to watch the team summiting. A full account of this climb appears earlier in this journal.