 Location: Baffin Island is in the eastern Canadian Arctic, lying between Greenland and the mainland of southern Canada. It is the fifth largest island on Earth and is located in the newly created territory of Nunavut.
Terrain: The northeast coast of Baffin Island has many deep fjords with many spectacular glacial and ice-capped mountains. There are towers, spires and pyramids of rock and ice, with sheer and overhanging great rock walls. The rock is primarily granite, which provides excellent climbing. The snowfall on the Baffin Island mountains is light, much less than in places like the Saint Elias mountains which are plastered with snow. Even at sea level, the lakes remain solidly frozen into May and June, and thus can be used as a means of transport. Geologically, Baffin Island is a continuation of the eastern edge of the Canadian Shield, which covers most of northern Ontario and Quebec. It was covered with ice until about 1500 years ago, and vast parts of it are still ice covered. Most of the finest peaks are located on the Cumberland Peninsula, at the head of the South Pangnirtung Fjord. Much of the area is included within Auyuittuq National Park, and is accessible from Pangnirtung, a small coastal Inuit settlement that is increasingly catering to tourists. From here, access to the mountains is by boat, dog sleds, float-planes or ski-planes, depending on ice and weather conditions.
History: There were Inuit (Eskimo) settlements on the rugged east coast of Baffin Island long before European contact. The first European contact is believed to have been by Norse explorers in the 11th century, but the first recorded sighting of Baffin Island was Martin Frobisher during his search for a Northwest Passage in 1576. In the early 18th and 19th century the Inuit had contact with various European exploration and supply vessels on the way to Hudson Bay, but it wasn't until the late 19th century whaling stations that the original culture was greatly affected. Although the Inuit welcomed trading and contact the population declined rapidly because of dietary changes and exposure to European diseases. Since the 1950's the Inuit have become much more sedentary, moving into communities such as Iqaluit (formerly Frobisher Bay). One of the first mountaineering expeditions to Baffin Island was in 1934 by J.M Wordie, in which two peaks called "Pioneer Peak" and "Longstaff Tower" were climbed. In 1950 there was a large expedition to the Clyde Inlet district. Clyde Inlet is a large fjord halfway up the rugged east coast of the island. In 1953, the Arctic Institute of North America organized a large expedition to the Cumberland Peninsula on the south of the island. The expedition was led by Pat Baird, the first director of the Arctic Institute of North America (AINA), and was the first mountaineering visit to this area. Although the expedition's main objective was "scientific",...more
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