Greenland Expedition 2009

The Glasgow Academy East Greenland Expedition 2009 spent four weeks exploring the remote peninsula of Gåseland at 71 degrees north. The group of twelve pupils and four instructors made successful ascents of three mountains which are all expected to be first ascents.

The mountains have been named by the pupils as Mount Glasgow, Tiraluin and Academy Peak. The expedition also made a collection of botanical samples.

The Glasgow Academy has a strong history of mountaineering and exploration with the list of Academicals including Sir James Wordie, who was a member of Shackleton's epic Antarctic Expedition, and WH (Bill) Murray, the acclaimed Scottish Mountaineer and Writer.

The expedition was led by Biology Teacher and Head of Outdoor Education, Neal Gwynne and three voluntary instructors: Alan Halewood, Sally Ozanne and Nigel Williams. The Patron of the Expedition was Stephen Venables. Stephen was the first Briton to climb Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen, doing so by a new route and summitting alone. Stephen delivered a public lecture to a packed hall at Glasgow Academy to raise funds for the expedition.

The expedition was supported by HRH The Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, The Gino Watkins Fund at the Scott Polar Research Institute, The Mountaineering Council of Scotland, The Scottish Mountaineering Trust, The Cray Trust and The Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

Click here for the pupils' account of the expedition.