At the VIMFF, I ran into Rob Wood who made the first British ascent of the Nose of El Capitan in 1968. He asked me to publish the movie of their historical Baffin Island Expedition in 1971. Here it is with some background info.
1971 Climbing Expedition to the Baffin Island
Rob and Mick just climbed the Nose in Yosemite in 1968. Before them this kind of climb was kind of reserved to hard core Californian climbers. They paved the way to a new generation of big wall climbers. Flocks of new climbers arrived in Yosemite.
In 1971, this is the first petroleum crisis, a major choc that leads many people, especially youngsters, to question the meaning of the then triumphant technological society.
At that times, two climbers met in a pub in Aviemore, in the Cairngorm mountain of Scotland: Rob Wood, the first British El Cap ascender and Doug Scott, the legendary and driving force of the Nottingham Climbers’ Club, soon to become one of the most famous British Mountaineer. They want to find unclimbed Yosemite type walls, far from modern cities and crowds
“Where on earth is this place?” write Rob in his “Toward the Unknown Mountains” book. “As we stared at each other across the tops of our beer glasses, there occurred one of those amazing synchronicities that make you wonder what is really going on in the unconscious world. At precisely the same moment, we both stammered excitedly: Asgard, that’s it. Baffin Island!”
So they gathered the perfect climber team. From left to right in the following picture: Steve Smith, Ray Gillies, Dennis Heneck, Guy Lee, Phil Koch, Doug Scott and Rob Wood (Mick Burk was taking the picture).
Photo from Mick Burk
Extract from 2008 Mark Synnott topo “Climbing, Trekking and Skiing Baffin Island” about their historical expedition:
“On a recommendation from Pat Baird, the legendary British alpinist Doug Scott led two expeditions to Akshayuk Pass, in 1971 ans 1972. These expeditions essentially introduced modern big-wall climbing to Baffin Island, and naturally they has a huge impact on the area’s rise to prominence as one of the pre-eminent big-wall climbing areas in the world. The first year, Guy Lee and Phil Koch climbed Breidablik Peak’s north buttress. It required 18 pitches of hard free climbing, nailing and a bivouac in hammocks to complete the route. Doug Scott, Dennis Hennek, Rob Wood, Steve Smith, Mike Burk and Ray Gillies later scaled the 1200-metre-high east face of Mount Killabuck.”
Photo from Rob Wood
Photo from Rob Wood
