A First Ascent in Greenland

As so often in the past, what started out as a crazy idea developed into a project: While Thomas Ulrich was in Greenland on behalf of Norwegian television in 2008, he spotted the 1977 meter high Grundtvigskirken from the shores of Ofjord – an extraordinary rock pinnacle towering in to the sky against the beautiful backdrop of Greenlandic fjords. Thomas, being a typical Swiss alpinist, immediately thought there had to be some way to climb that peak.

Equipped with images of the possibly unscaled peak and a fresh idea, Thomas returned back home to convince top climbers Roger Schäli, Simon Gietl and Daniel Kopp to take on the new project.

The four of them, accompanied by Jost von Allmen, set off for Greenland in the beginning of August 2010. They reach Ofjord at the head of Scoresby Sund in East Greenland by way of a zodiac boat. What once started as a wild idea turned into reality: the four climbers managed a first ascent on the 1300m high East Face of the Grundtvigskirken. The new route named «Eventyr», meaning both fairy-tale and adventure in Danish, is a 40 pitch big wall route rated up to 7a+.

Upon summiting, the climbers came across a sling, making it clear that the mountain had already been conquered however this fact did not sap the climbers’ enthusiasm. As of today, the mystery of who the first climbers were remains to be solved.