“Psychological” New 5.12 on Remote Greenland Big Wall

The elite Italian alpinist Matteo Della Bordella is no stranger to remote and committing expeditions, but this summer he took his new-routing to a new level. Alongside Symon Welfringer, Silvan Schüpbach, and Alex Gammeter, Della Bordella made the first ascent of a 1,200-meter big wall in a rarely visited corner of Greenland’s east coast. To keep things sporting, the team kayaked all of their equipment a total of 280 miles (450 km), fending off polar bears (seriously), dangerously large waves, and their own inexperience in such lightweight boats.

Their 45-day expedition can be summed up simply, with the first ascent of the north face of Drøneren (a “psychological” 5.12b; 1,200m), but I knew there was much more to their story. After all, posts from Della Bordella hinted at vicious Arctic storms, sections of impassable pack-ice, and, yes, that curious polar bear. I also knew that a 5.12 bigger than El Cap in the middle of nowhere would be far from a clip-up, demanding serious run outs and a lot of willpower.

So I reached out to Della Bordella when he returned to the small fishing village of Tasiilaq, Greenland, where he was taking some deserved rest before a flight back to Italy. He was exhausted, but happy to talk more about this awe-inspiring expedition.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

The Interview

Climbing: Where did you get the idea for this expedition? And what preparation did you do as a team—did you all have kayaking experience?

Della Bordella: The idea for this expedition comes from a long way back. Several years ago I identified this area of ​​walls through satellite images, then I discovered that the American Mike Libecki had already been (still the only climber I know of) so after various searches I identified the north face of Drøneren as a possible objective, 1,200 meters tall and never climbed by anyone. It was attempted only by Libecki in 2017.

I immediately proposed the project to Silvan and then to Symon. We wanted to go there in 2021, but due to Covid we changed plans and headed to the Mythics Cirque further north. So, after several postponements, in 2024 the right time had come. Alex Gammeter joined the team, and though Symon and I didn’t know him, we immediately got along very well.

Climbing: You had to wait a lot through bad weather, both at the start of the expedition and once you arrived beneath the wall. Tell me about that.

Della Bordella: This was my fourth climbing expedition with a kayak approach and I have accumulated some experience. However, this was definitely a new level for the distance and for the fact that nearly all our travel was directly exposed to the ocean and not in a fjord (a huge difference in weather and wave size).

We trained individually and then as a team on three-meter waves for a few days in Lerici, Italy, under the guidance of the Italian master of sea kayaking, Guido Grugnola.

This year the amount of pack ice present on the sea was enormously higher than average. Everyone told us that we had chosen the wrong year for this project, that there was too much ice and we would not make it to the wall. We postponed the expedition by a week, then by another four days…then we tried despite the thousands of doubts. We are stubborn!

On the third day of kayaking, it took us six hours to travel just 9 kilometers (5.5 miles), zig-zagging between big ice blocks in constant motion.

Of my four expeditions to Greenland this one had without a doubt the worst weather. On the journey to the wall, a 60-hour storm kept us locked in the tent. That wasn’t such a big problem, but the three-meter-tall waves in its aftermath were.

Once we finally made it to the wall we made four attempts that all ended due to the weather: two due to rain, one due to snow, and another due to the Piteraq wind, with gusts of over 100 km/h that caused spontaneous rockfall including a scary one that cut the rope Symon was actively hanging from. After that episode I said to myself, “Damn, this wall just doesn’t want to let us pass.”

Climbing: What was your strategy on the wall? Tell me about the route itself, and the descent.

Della Bordella: On the wall, all four of us took turns leading. Sometimes we all free climbed, other times only the leader did to be faster. The crux pitch was notably harder than the rest: a 5.12b (7b) slab protected by really precarious Pecker pitons. Silvan opened it, I followed it, and then Symon led it again, flashing it. The rest of the route has many pitches up to 5.11d/12a of beautiful cracks opened onsight. Nothing was left on the wall except the belays made with pitons and nuts.

Climbing: Your return trip sounded problematic, running out of food and having to fish with your ice axes. How did that turn out?

Della Bordella: The return to Tasiilaq was a race against time and against the food supplies that were running out. The expedition was completely autonomous and as a result we only had food for 32 days. On the way there, we kayaked 300 kilometers, but on the way back we made it only 150 until our food fully ran out (and another Arctic storm came in). Thankfully a passing boat of hunters came to pick us up. Surely with less bad weather we could have returned without problems, but the unexpected is part of the adventure. We also met four polar bears, one of which at a very, very close distance! Despite attempts to deter him he kept trying to get close to us. So we started keeping a look-out each night, which was stressful.

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