Gunnbjørn Fjeld

Gunnbjørn Fjeld
Gunnbjørn Fjeld
Highest point
Elevation	3,694 m (12,119 ft)
Prominence	3,694 m (12,119 ft)
Listing	Highest ocean islands 11th; World most prominent peaks 43rd; World most isolated peaks 9th; Country high point;
Geography
	Gunnbjørn Fjeld Location of Gunnbjørn Fjeld in Greenland
Location	Sermersooq, Greenland
Parent range	Watkins Range

Gunnbjørn Fjeld (also called only Gunnbjørn) is Greenland's highest mountain and also the highest mountain north of the Arctic circle.

This mountain's name refers to the mythical Norse Hvitserk, literally meaning "whiteshirt", of the Icelandic Sagas.^[1] It is a nunatak, a rocky peak protruding through glacial ice.

Geography

Gunnbjørn Fjeld is located in the Watkins Range, an area of nunataks on the east coast, which contains several other summits above 3,500 metres.^[2] Its height is often given as 3,700 metres (12,100 ft), although figures vary slightly.

History

Gunnbjørn Fjeld was first climbed on 16 August 1935 by Augustine Courtauld, Jack Longland, Ebbe Munck, Harold G. Wager, and Lawrence Wager. It is named after Gunnbjorn Ulfsson, the Viking the first European referred to in relation to Greenland.

The peak rises in an uninhabited part of the eastern coast of Greenland. The mountain is not so often climbed owing to its remote location. Access is often done with helicopter or ski-equipped plane (normally from Iceland).