Mike Libecki, Ethan Pringle, Angie Payne and the 3 String Productions crew hit the road and waterways to the remote Kangertitivatsiaq Fjord in Greenland late last year. A habitual expedition climber, Libecki introduced remote big wall climbing to Pringle, who spends most of the year at competitions and better-established sport climbing and bouldering areas.
Upon their arrival, Libecki and Pringle both noticed a route on Ataatap (aka Daddy’s) Tower that looked like it could go to the top. It would end up taking the two of them over 60 hours to finish what they are calling Built Fjord Tough (V 5.12 A2, 1060m).
They worked themselves through essentially every discipline of climbing including a heinous offwidth on Pitch 3. “I was glad I had spent time climbing in Yosemite,” Libecki jokes. They encountered wet and loose rock and would ultimately had to aid 15 feet of A2 through “wet rotten mayhem.”
When Libecki and Pringle roped up together, they had known each other for little over a week. “Sometimes big climbs can create friendships and partnerships that can last a lifetime (or not),” says Mike Libecki. “We walked away good friends.”
Later this year, they will be going to the border of China and Kyrgyzstan, making it their second trip together since Greenland.