Exploring the Wilderness Armed With Just a Photo, Co-ordinates and a Sense of Expectation.
EOCA is very excited to announce that one of its ambassadors, Austrian climber Hansjörg Auer is departing for adventures unknown to open big wall routes in a previously unexplored valley on the east coast of Baffin Island, Canada.
After two months of preparation, architect of the expedition Hansjörg, along with Spanish climbers Eneko
and Iker Pou and their small team of guides will be dropped off by skidoo and set off on ice to explore virgin territory in the untouched and aptly named ‘Perfection Valley’ on the east coast of Canada’s largest island, Baffin.
Only ever visited by polar bears and a handful of scientists, the team will journey over ice and rugged terrain to locate a suitable base-camp near the Clyde River on the approach to a wall first seen by Hansjörg on Google Earth.
Not knowing what they will encounter, the whole expedition will be treated with radio silence until their return in two months’ time when the ice breaks up in late July. The dangers are a reality with a high chance of encounters with polar bears; the closest rescue helicopter will be more than 600km away, making rescue difficult if not impossible. Temperatures will range from -5°C to +10°C.
Speaking on how he came up with the expedition, Hansjörg explained: ’Last summer, whilst traveling
around Baffin I came across a beautiful image on Google Earth showing an amazing wall along with
its coordinates – and decided to set off to find it. The caption read ‘Perfection Valley’. There seems to be some incredible walls in this stunning valley. For us, it will be all about the climbing and the story of our adventure unfolding.’
