Perriertoppen

  • Perriertoppen
  • 1712 m
  • Primary factor 587 m
  • Location: North 79:09.229, East 016:46.754 (GPS on the summit)
  • Spitsbergen, Norway
  • Climbed April 27, 2013
  • Difficulty: (YDS) class 3.

Information:

How to get there:
A more extensive trip report is also available.
An outline of our route can be seen on this map.
The point of departure for any trip into this area is Longyearbyen. This city has frequent connections by air to/from Norway.
Route description:
From Longyearbyen, the normal approach to Perriertoppen would be to ski it in April or early May. Most parties will use snow scooter transport part of the way in order to avoid a very long route. Two possible starting points for a multi-day ski ascent would be Billefjorden, then up Ragnardalen or one may start in Gipsdalen.

Approach route:
From Longyearbyen, travel up Adventdalen then through Ekerdalen to Sassendalen. Follow Sassendalen to the old trapper hut Fredheim at the outlet of Tempelfjorden. In April and early May, there is safe ice here and one may cross Tempelfjorden to the delta outlet of Fuhrmeisterdalen. Continue up on the Burn Murdochbreen to the col, then downhill on Boltonbreen to Gipsdalen. Gipsdalen is now followed up north until it ends with a nice slope that continues north-west to the saddle between Urmstonfjellet (1116m) and Minkinfjellet (1018m). From here, one can ski across Lomonosovfonna and further north to the key col named Trebrepasset (Three Glacier col).
Alternatively, one can continue (scooter transport) from the saddle above Gipsdalen back down to the sea-ice on Adolfbukta and then into the innermost part of Billefjorden. From here, one may ski up Ragnardalen and Ragnarbreen in order to continue towards Sentralishetta and further onwards to the Trebrepasset.

From Trebrepasset, ski north on the huge glacier called Veteranen in order to reach the glacier Gallerbreen. Turn left here and ski west uphill on the Gallerbreen glacier. Gallerbreen has two cols, the right one is the one in its north-west corner. From this col, location N79:06.452 E016:55.428, elevation about 1128 meter, there is a pretty steep, but skiable slope (under normal conditions), that connects with the Trygvebreen glacier about 200 vertical meter below.
One cannot really save much elevation on this route, so the best route is to descend below 850 meter staying pretty much in center of the glacier. Locate the branch of the glacier that heads north and climbs to the col directly east of the Perriertoppen summit. Gain this col at location N79:09.323 E016:49.818, elevation about 1218 meter.
Ascent route:
From the col, head uphill on the broad snow slope, possibly ascending a bit towards the left side, heading towards, but not all the way to what looks like a ridge line. Gradually, turn more directly uphill. The slope gets steeper as you get closer to the top. Depending on the snow conditions, parties may decide to protect the upper part with a rope. We protected the upper three pitches using a 60 meter rope. Two deadmans (snow anchors) and two ice screws were used (in different locations) to anchor the rope.
The summit area is pretty large and quite flat, but it is not difficult to locate the highest point.
Trip Report / Comments:
Please see my more extensive trip report.

Resources: