Lavigne Brothers Go Big on Baffin

The brother-duo of Joshua and Delano Lavigne made a quick trip from July 16 to August 2, 2013, to Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island. During a trip to Mount Asgard in 2012 Joshua noticed the imposing 900- metre wall on Mount Turnweather, making a mental note to get more information about the free climbing potential on the wall. After seeing photos of the route, Dry Line 5.10/ A2, established in 1996 by Jia Condon and Rich Prohaska, they decided to return with the intentions of free climbing the route. They ferried their gear to the base of the two-kilometre wall and set up a camp on the glacier. After arriving they quickly realized that the wall would need more time to dry after a snowy and cool spring. They waited as the weather continued to be unsettled, but still managed to climb a short and esthetic line on Gauntlet Peak they called Violet Ridge, 5.9, 400 metres, and climbed an unnamed peak further up valley.The route Dry Line never really dried, so the team changed their objective and climbed 600 metres of new terrain with impressive freeclimbing up to 5.12R. But listening to their intuition and ignoring the forecast, had them descending a couple hours before a surprise storm rolled through. The rain and warmer temps saturated the Northwest face, making free-climbing very unlikely. They adapted to the new conditions and focused on a different climbing objective: a beautiful ridge on the east side of Turnweather. The route Butter Knife Ridge, 5.12, AI3, climbs a 500- metre couloir to a col, which then continues to the summit for 400 metres of quintessential Baffin granite, golden splitters with sculpted face holds. The weather once again turned wet and cold, which finished the trip.–