Where are we going, Brette? Well, we're rapping
over the edge, going back to our base
camp down by the lake. Goodbye, high camp. How many days have we
been at the high camp? Oh, 20? Over 20 days? Yeah, like 17. 17 days, yeah. 17 days and all the days we
were on the wall, it stormed. All the days we were
at camp, it was sunny. What do you say about that? [MUSIC PLAYING] My motivation to
climbing Baffin Island was really because it's a
remote and unexplored area. Accessing the Stewart
Valley is really difficult and most times you either
approach it via ice or water. We wanted to be there during
the months of June and July, which means we would
approach on ice and then leave via
the water, by boat. We approached the Stewart
Valley via the Walker Arm just as the winter season
was coming to an end, and the ice was breaking apart. We skidooed for two days. We were continually being
rerouted by major cracks in the ice called leads
that were pushing us way out into the ice pack. This was the very
last moment that we could have gone out by sled. We almost weren't sure
if we could make it in. [GRUNTS] Being at the mercy of the ice
really changes your perspective and makes you think about
the entire journey and not just the climbing. You have to go
climbing, don't you? [LAUGHTER] We were able to connect
the puzzle and make it in. And our outfitters
were able to get out within that small,
two-day time period. [MUSIC PLAYING] [ENGINE RUMBLING] We're officially on our own. Yeah. They were so helpful. That was awesome. Once we arrived, we
were stranded there until we could get
a boat to get out. Our main objective in
going to Baffin Island was to free-climb
on Great Sail Peak. Great Sail Peak is
really the crown jewel of the Stewart Valley. It's the largest,
biggest, widest wall, and it has a crowned, capped,
peak summit that inspires you as soon as you see it. When we approached
the Stewart Lake, you could see it in the
distance on the southern side of the lake. It really was the biggest
and most imposing wall from a distance. The only climbers to
the Stewart Valley prior were eight
climbers, and we really wanted to approach the climbing
there in our own style. And that was going to be
a big-wall free climbing. So we approached the objectives
with a different mindset. We knew that accessing
the walls was going to be logistically
challenging, so we really made sure
that all of our equipment was set up to be able to be used
both on land and in the water. When we arrived at the Stewart
Lake, the lake was ice, but there was a moat around it. We needed the raft
to access the ice. So we're going to move our
base camp to beneath the wall. It's kind of an approach
to get to the base. So we'll hike about
10 kilometers of ice, shuttling our gear with these
rafts across the frozen lake. And then we'll start climbing. Finding partners that
want to do a trip for an extended period of
time isn't always the easiest. But when I thought about
Brette and Marc-Andre, I knew that most likely
they would say yes. [CRUNCHING] When we got to the wall,
there was this beautiful line that appeared to go free at
least for three quarters of it. And we went for it just to
see how far we could get. Once we started on the wall,
we made progress quite quickly and established ourselves on
the main break, the main ledge, a third of the way up the wall. Just careful with
that loose block. It could kill us all. So far, we've established six
pitches at the lower wall. We've been working for
a few days, on and off, getting our gear up
and free-climbing. [CLICKING] Right now, we are on the midway
ledge on Great Sail Peak, and we hauled all three
haul bags up here. It took us a little bit to
establish the lower route. And we freed all the pitches and
then put in a big hauling day to get all of our stuff up here. And now we can commence
the upper wall. [MUSIC PLAYING] I hadn't climbed
with Brette before. I knew Brette
through Marc, but I knew that she had
talent, and skill, and super-strong free-climber. It's just having that
keen, strong morale in those desperate situations. I'm going to go for it. Watch me, Josh. Come on, Brette. Come on. Everything you got. [INAUDIBLE] Come on. Come on. Everything you got. Come on. Yeah, that's it. [SCREAMS] Is there any gear marks? Just keep going. Once your feet are where
your hands are, you're done. [YELLING] Now hand jams in the back. Boom. Marc is like the secret weapon. And when you
encounter a page that requires some funky aid climbing
mixed with free climbing, he's the one that's going
to show up and get her done. [MUSIC PLAYING] [INAUDIBLE] Got a little traction
in there, but-- [CHEERING] That was awesome. Dude, I'm so stoked. [INAUDIBLE] OK, Marc. Stick with you? We attempted the
[? quest ?] pillar, and got shut down
about 10 pitches up, and had to come back
down to the main ledge, and reset our goals. Marc climbed an epic
A4 button head copper-- well, leading into
a copperhead seam. Took a five hour lead
for Brette and Marc. We're pulling the plug. It's not going to
be free-climbable. With only a week's worth left of
food, we focused on the Turret and started
establishing a route up that slender pillar that was
going to be a route that we hoped would be a free climb. It's going to be
cold, and it's going to offer a lot of challenges
that you don't necessarily see outside of the Arctic. My toes are numb. [GRUNT] Come on, Brette. I got my foot caught
because it's so numb. This is brutal. The storm started with winds
and then a little bit of precip. And we still had hope
that it would just pass because we really
hadn't seen much bad weather up to that point. But after the first night
of pounding winds and rain, we kind of expected that the
storm was a little bit bigger, and it was going to last
longer than we expected. The weather is what it is. It's the Arctic. Waiting out weather
in a storm in a tent is definitely one of the low
points of any expedition. And that's when all
of the trickery, all of the little hacks that
you learn over the years come into play. Having good music,
having a good book, having good team members
all help to pass those days when you're just laying on your
back, looking at the ripstop, listening to wind
pound your tent. [WIND AND BANGING] Well, it's day 6 on the
wall and day 5 of the storm. It's so windy. And we brought stuff-- we brought equipment
for seven days. Tomorrow is go-time. Yeah. We'll see how our luck goes. Because of the storm that
pinned us down for five days, we really only had a
day's worth of food, once the storm had
passed, to get to the top. So our objective changed. At that point, our
objective was just to get to the top of the pillar. We just launched ourselves
at it kind of in the style that we were all used to, with
a small backpack, our supplies for the day, and giving every
pitch everything we had. [MUSIC PLAYING] Aw, yeah. [INAUDIBLE] Jerking. [GRUNT] [INAUDIBLE] flexibility
in the vortex. Thanks, dude. [WIND GUSHING] So sick. Yeah. So stoked. So sleepy. Dude. Whoop, whoop! Holy shit. You have to stand up here
and look over the edge. I will, but maybe after you. This is a base exit.
[? That's ?] for sure. I think other climbers will look
back on this trip that we did and see the potential of
free climbing in the Arctic. Climbing a wall like this
takes time and patience. And it's important to
keep in mind that you're going to-- you're not
always going to have success with the way that
you want to climb it, and it's good to be adaptive
and fit to the situation because the situation
doesn't always fit to you. [MUSIC PLAYING] I remember being four
years old and wondering what I wanted to
do when I grew up, and I wanted to be an explorer. And I imagined thrashing through
the jungle with an explorer hat or doing some kind of Indiana
Jones type mission somewhere. And an opportunity like
this is like an opportunity to be an explorer.
