Why Climb Mount Gunnbjorn in Greenland

0 ft

Elevation

Greenland

Country

Days

2A

Difficulty

Early May

Start

Late June

End

About the Mountain

WHY CLIMB IT?

For the adventure of a lifetime, you can’t do much better than climbing the highest mountain in the Arctic, Mount Gunnbjörn (12,119 ft) on Greenland. Situated in the Watkins Mountains, Mount Gunnbjörn requires basic mountaineering skills and crampon use but is otherwise fairly accessible. Much of the journey is traveled in snowshoes, while patches of hard-packed terrain are traversed in crampons. If you attempt the climb in the summer, you can even witness the midnight sun on Mount Gunnbjörn’s slopes. That also helps with the weather, as the “night” isn’t as bitterly cold as it would be without the sun’s lingering rays.

“At 68 degrees north we had 24 hour daylight, but it got chilly at night when the sun dipped behind the ridges of Gunnbjørn.”

- Eric Simonson

Greenland is comparable to Antarctica in its purity and remoteness, especially on its eastern coast, where giant mountains appear as islands in a sea of white snow. The best way to arrive there is via a ski-equipped plane from Iceland, both because it’s the only practical option and also thanks to the awe-inspiring views from the window seat. It’s an experience unlike any other to land amid all those frosted peaks, especially knowing what adventures await you as you attempt to reach the top of one of them.