Na Grenlandiji je bila med 26. in 28. julijem 2026 v steni Rdeče gore (nad Aappilattoq / Rødførde) preplezana nova, zahtevna smer Sila (7c/A2+, 600 m), ki jo je splezala mednarodna ekipa plezalcev v sestavi Jernej Kruder, Silvan Schüpbach, Filippo Sala. Hugo Vincent je deloval kot podpora in snemalec. Smer poteka po izrazito strmi, kompaktni steni nad fjordom, dostop pa je bil zaradi vremena in logistike eden najzahtevnejših delov odprave.
Ekipa je do stene dostopala z majhnim čolnom, v dežju in slabem vremenu, večkrat spreminjala načrt, nato pa izkoristila kratko tridnevno okno stabilnega vremena tik pred Kruderjevim odhodom. Vzpon je bil časovno tesen, tehnično zahteven in logistično kompleksen, a je ekipa uspela doseči vrh in zaključiti smer.
Ime Sila v inuitščini pomeni povezanost človeka, narave in vesolja — idejo, ki jo je ekipa močno občutila med prehodom od morja do strmih sten in med izkušnjami v fjordih, kjer so se morali večkrat prilagajati, improvizirati in dobesedno preživeti. V slovenščini sila pomeni tudi »moč«, kar se je izkazalo za simbolno ustrezno ime.
Filippo je v zapisu poudaril, da je bila odprava veliko več kot plezanje: eksperimentiranje, neuspehi, prilagajanje, ponovni poskusi in izpostavljenost odprtemu morju so bili stalnica. Zaradi bolezni je moral član odprave Benjamin Bosshard Grenlandijo zapustiti takoj po prihodu; ekipa poroča, da je zdaj v dobrem stanju.
Fotografski del odprave je dokumentiral Hugo Vincent, ki je posnel serijo izjemnih fotografij vzpona in dogajanja v fjordih.
Sponzorji ekipe
Jernej Kruder: @scarpa_world @karpos @illusion.holdsandvolumes
Silvan Schupbach: @scarpa_de @karpos @petzl_official @expedint
Filippo Sala: @mammut @ski_trab @samaya_equipment @sarcisport @grupporaiffeisen
Poročilo Greenland 2026
AO Celje Matica: Za Jernejem Krudrom je še ena plezalna odprava. Na Grenlandiji je bila med 26. in 28. julijem 2026 v steni Rdeče gore (nad Aappilattoq / Rødførde) preplezana nova, zahtevna smer Sila (7c/A2+, 600 m), ki jo je splezala mednarodna ekipa plezalcev v sestavi Jernej Kruder (AO Celje Matica), Silvan Schüpbach in Filippo Sala …
Jernej Kruder: Summer was knocking on the door, and my shoulders were not ready for hard climbing in the Alps. I took some days off to take advantage of the good weather, but I mostly wondered what would be a reasonable compromise for a summer trip. A few friends from Slovenia asked me to join their expedition to Kyrgyzstan, while another group of Swiss friends invited me to Greenland. I wanted something less demanding climbing-wise, but more adventurous. I checked the flights to Greenland, found a good connection, and did not hesitate to book it immediately.
The idea that Silvan, the expedition leader, had in mind was to use a small Zodiac boat (20 HP) that he had sent with cargo to Greenland. We were to travel 230 km from the airport village (Qaqortoq) to our final destination. Since there were five of us, the small Zodiac did not seem capable of carrying everyone, so I booked a ferry to Aappilattoq and back.
Things changed when we arrived in Qaqortoq. The flight was delayed, Benji—a member of our group—got very sick, and the weather turned pretty bad. We had to stay in a hostel for a few nights. After Benji had to turn back home, a spot opened up for me on the dinghy. We nervously waited for good weather so we could finally leave town. On the only decent day, Silvan and I did some bouldering near our hostel. After four days in Qaqortoq, we finally caught a calm sea to start traveling toward our first stop. The 180 km journey to the village of Nanortalik took us a full day. The eight hours on the dinghy were interrupted by a pleasant three-hour stop at the hot springs halfway there. We were all cold and tired, so we ate a burger there and spent the night in tents.
The next morning, the sea was rough, so we had to spend another night in Nanortalik. We booked a small room for two (even though there were four of us) and met new American friends who were sailing the same way the following day. We kindly asked if they would mind taking two of us onboard to lighten the load on our dinghy. They warmly accepted our offer, and early the next morning, we were on our way to Aappilattoq. Filippo and I took the sailboat, which was slower but much more comfortable than the small dinghy. After reaching the town, we said goodbye to the Americans and immediately continued the remaining 20 km to our final destination. We reached it after two hours, set up base camp, and fell asleep in no time.
The weather was not on our side. We spent another day at base camp, fishing and preparing for the approach to the distant wall we wanted to conquer. Arctic char with rice gave us enough energy for the next day’s six-hour walk through wet grass, bushes, swamps, and slick rocks. Our 25 kg backpacks sent us to bed early on the portaledges we set up at the edge of the glacier.
The wall we wanted to climb looked magnificent, but also intimidatingly wet. We continued our way up the glacier. After three hours tied to a rope with heavy loads, we reached a perfect bivy spot for the night. Unfortunately, continuous bad weather forced us back down to base camp. Since I only had four days left, we had to find a quick alternative to our project. Luckily, we spotted a good wall in the last fjord we had come through. The way down was probably the most exhausting walk of my life. Continuous rain, low temperatures, a lack of trails, and heavy loads squeezed the very last atom of energy out of my body. Soaked to the skin, we found shelter in our sleeping bags and fell asleep immediately.
The night was interrupted by a nearby rockfall. When we woke up, we had to start packing quickly to catch the high tide. Sun and a bit of wind helped us dry off, and the sunshine restored our spirits. The boat ride was calm, and we pulled our dinghy onto a magical beach beneath a huge, steep wall. We set up a new camp and enjoyed a nice dinner with a great view.
July 26th was finally the day to start climbing. An easy 45-minute approach brought us under the wall, where I immediately began leading the first pitch. I pushed through some slabs and dihedrals to reach a ledge, where things finally became more serious. Our progress was interrupted by an existing belay in the lower section, so we spotted a new line on the main wall. I continued upward. A pitch with difficulties no greater than 6c gave me a case of “disco knees” due to the poor rock quality. While Filippo leveled the ground on the ledge for our tents, Silvan and I pushed our line higher. When Silvan took the lead, he decided to leave the second half of the pitch to me, knowing I had the nerve to do it without placing a bolt. He was not wrong. I summoned all my physical and mental strength to pull off a long runout on a crumbly slab, likely graded between 7b and 7c. I set an anchor for the static line, and we all headed back down to base camp.
Daylight lasts late into the night, so we didn’t rush too much in the morning. Day two on the wall was assigned to Filippo and me. We jummared up to the previous day’s high point, and Filippo started a new pitch, which proved just as scary as the one from the day before. Because his last protection points were unreliable, he decided to place a bolt before committing to the rightward traverse across the slab. I managed to free-climb it while following and continued up a logical crack. I set up an almost-hanging belay, where I spent the next four hours belaying Filippo on a hollow pitch that I was unable to free-climb afterward. Here, we finally reached an obvious crack that appeared to lead all the way to the summit. I opened two more pitches, and we finished our day before even reaching halfway up the main wall.
On the final day, we had to move fast. After a good sleep on the ledge, we jummared up the fixed lines early in the morning. Silvan pushed upward through logical, beautiful cracks. We freed all the pitches, and I had the honor of leading one of these amazing sections. The day slipped by, and we drew closer to the summit. The second-to-last pitch turned into a nightmare for Silvan. He spent a long time finding gear placements and cleaning out the cracks, considering the pitch extremely difficult, which did not boost my confidence to free it. However, he cheered me on, and I managed to find a unique solution for every crux. We reached the summit at 19:30. We grabbed a quick snack and began our descent, rappelling down the route and stopping a few times to take photos and videos. Without headlamps, we navigated back to base camp and crawled into our tents at 01:00.
Although we were thrilled with our achievement, we could not rest for long. We had to catch the high tide again at 7:00 AM to make my ferry back to civilization. I bade farewell to my Swiss friends, who were staying for a few more days. Everything else went according to plan, and I reached Qaqortoq by late afternoon, checking into the same hostel once again.
Just as I was getting excited to go home the next day, I received bad news from my airline: my flight was delayed, forcing me to stay in Qaqortoq for another two nights. An even bigger surprise was the heatwave awaiting me back home.
Looking back at all our bad luck, I am happy we took advantage of that short weather window to establish a route we named “Sila.” Sila comes from the Greenlandic language and expresses the idea that humans, nature, and the universe are inseparable; weather is not just a physical phenomenon, but a reflection of the living world that people belong to. It also means “force” in Slovenian. I am proud of my team, who acted reliably and rationally throughout the trip. They also gave me the chance to lead most of the pitches and realize where my skills and strength truly shine.
Sila – potovanje v Grenlandijo (prevod)
Jernej Kruder: Poletje je trkalo na vrata, moje rame pa še niso bile pripravljene na resno plezanje v Alpah. Vzel sem si nekaj prostih dni, da bi izkoristil lepo vreme, a večinoma sem razmišljal, kaj bi bil razumen kompromis za poletno odpravo. Nekaj prijateljev iz Slovenije me je povabilo v Kirgizijo, druga skupina Švicarjev pa v Grenlandijo. Želel sem nekaj manj zahtevnega v plezalnem smislu, a bolj pustolovskega. Preveril sem lete v Grenlandijo, našel dobro povezavo in brez oklevanja rezerviral karto.
Vodja odprave, Silvan, je imel v mislih zanimivo idejo: uporabiti majhen čoln Zodiac (20 konjskih moči), ki ga je že poslal s tovorom v Grenlandijo. Od letališkega naselja Qaqortoq naj bi se z njim odpravili 230 kilometrov do končnega cilja. Ker nas je bilo pet, se je zdelo, da majhen čoln ne bo zmogel prepeljati vseh, zato sem rezerviral trajekt do Aappilattoqa in nazaj.
Ko smo prispeli v Qaqortoq, se je vse spremenilo. Let je zamujal, Benji – član naše ekipe – je hudo zbolel, vreme pa se je poslabšalo. Nekaj noči smo morali ostati v hostlu. Ko se je Benji moral vrniti domov, se je zanj sprostilo mesto na čolnu, ki sem ga prevzel jaz. Nestrpno smo čakali na dobro vreme, da bi lahko končno zapustili kraj. Na edini spodobni dan sva s Silvanom plezala balvane blizu hostla. Po štirih dneh v Qaqortoku smo ujeli mirno morje in se odpravili proti prvemu postanku. Pot do vasi Nanortalik (180 km) je trajala ves dan. Osem ur na čolnu je prekinil prijeten trirazni postanek pri toplih vrelcih na pol poti. Bili smo premraženi in utrujeni, pojedli burger in prespali v šotorih.
Naslednje jutro je bilo morje razburkano, zato smo morali ostati še eno noč v Nanortaliku. Najeli smo majhno sobo za dva (čeprav smo bili štirje) in spoznali Američane, ki so naslednji dan pluli v isto smer. Vprašali smo jih, ali bi lahko vzeli dva od nas na svojo jadrnico, da bi razbremenili naš čoln. Prijazno so privolili, in zgodaj zjutraj smo se odpravili proti Aappilattoqu. Filippo in jaz sva se vkrcala na jadrnico – počasnejšo, a veliko udobnejšo od našega Zodiaca. Ko smo prispeli v mesto, smo se poslovili od Američanov in takoj nadaljevali zadnjih 20 kilometrov do končnega cilja. Po dveh urah smo postavili bazni tabor in zaspali kot ubiti.
Vreme nam ni bilo naklonjeno. Še en dan smo ostali v baznem taboru, lovili ribe in se pripravljali na dostop do oddaljene stene, ki smo jo želeli preplezati. Pečena arktična postrv z rižem nam je dala dovolj energije za naslednji dan – šest ur hoje skozi mokro travo, grmovje, močvirja in spolzke skale. Nahrbtniki, težki 25 kilogramov, so nas hitro spravili v spanje na visečih platformah ob robu ledenika.
Stena, ki smo jo želeli preplezati, je bila veličastna, a zastrašujoče mokra. Nadaljevali smo po ledeniku. Po treh urah hoje, privezani na vrv in obteženi z opremo, smo našli popolno mesto za bivak. Žal nas je vztrajno slabo vreme prisililo v umik nazaj v bazni tabor. Ker sem imel le še štiri dni, smo morali poiskati hitrejšo alternativo. Na srečo smo v zadnjem fjordu, skozi katerega smo pluli, opazili dobro steno. Spust do tja je bil verjetno najbolj naporna hoja mojega življenja – neprekinjen dež, nizke temperature, brezpotje in težka oprema so iz mene iztisnili zadnji atom moči. Premočeni do kože smo se zatekli v spalne vreče in takoj zaspali.
Noč je prekinil bližnji skalni podor. Ko smo se zbudili, smo morali hitro spakirati, da bi ujeli visoko plimo. Sonce in rahel veter sta nam pomagala posušiti opremo, sončni žarki pa so nam povrnili voljo. Vožnja z ladjico je bila mirna, pristali smo na čarobni plaži pod ogromno, strmo steno. Postavili smo nov tabor in ob večerji uživali v razgledu.
26. julij je bil končno dan za plezanje. Kratek 45‑minutni dostop nas je pripeljal pod steno, kjer sem takoj začel voditi prvi raztežaj. Preplezal sem nekaj plošč in kamine ter dosegel polico, kjer se je teren zares začel. Napredovanje je prekinila obstoječa sidrišča v spodnjem delu, zato smo poiskali novo linijo na glavni steni. Nadaljeval sem navzgor. Raztežaj težavnosti okoli 6c mi je zaradi slabe skale povzročil “disco kolena”. Medtem ko je Filippo izravnaval polico za šotore, sva s Silvanom potegnila smer višje. Ko je Silvan prevzel vodstvo, mi je prepustil drugo polovico raztežaja, ker je vedel, da imam živce, da ga speljem brez svedrovca. Ni se motil. Zbral sem vso fizično in psihično moč ter preplezal dolg, krušljiv raztežaj, verjetno med 7b in 7c. Postavil sem sidrišče za statično vrv in se z ekipo spustil nazaj v tabor.
Ker je dan na severu dolg, se zjutraj nismo pretirano mudili. Drugi dan na steni je bil moj in Filippov. Po vrvi sva se povzpela do prejšnje višine, Filippo pa je začel nov raztežaj, prav tako strašljiv kot prejšnji. Ker so bili njegovi varovalni klini nezanesljivi, je pred prečko v desno namestil svedrovec. Raztežaj sem uspel prosto preplezati in nadaljeval po logični razpoki. Postavil sem skoraj viseče sidrišče, kjer sem štiri ure varoval Filippa na votlem raztežaju, ki ga pozneje nisem mogel prosto preplezati. Tu sva končno dosegla izrazito razpoko, ki je vodila proti vrhu. Odprl sem še dva raztežaja, dan pa se je končal, preden sva dosegla polovico glavne stene.
Zadnji dan smo morali plezati hitro. Po dobrem spancu na polici smo se zgodaj zjutraj povzpeli po fiksnih vrveh. Silvan je nadaljeval po logičnih, lepih razpokah. Vse raztežaje smo preplezali prosto, jaz pa sem imel čast voditi enega najlepših delov smeri. Dan je hitro minil, vrh se je bližal. Predzadnji raztežaj se je za Silvana spremenil v nočno moro – dolgo je iskal mesta za varovanje in čistil razpoke, raztežaj je bil izjemno težaven, kar mi ni vlivalo zaupanja. A me je spodbujal, in uspelo mi je najti rešitev za vsak ključni gib. Ob 19.30 smo stopili na vrh. Pojedli smo hitro malico in začeli sestop, se večkrat ustavili za fotografije in posnetke. Brez svetilk smo se vrnili v tabor in ob 01.00 zlezli v šotore.
Čeprav smo bili navdušeni nad dosežkom, počitka ni bilo veliko. Ob 7.00 smo morali ujeti visoko plimo, da bi jaz ujel trajekt nazaj v civilizacijo. Poslovil sem se od švicarskih prijateljev, ki so ostali še nekaj dni. Vse je potekalo po načrtu in pozno popoldne sem se znova znašel v Qaqortoku, v istem hostlu kot na začetku.
Ko sem se že veselil povratka domov, sem prejel slabo novico: letalska družba je sporočila, da je moj let prestavljen, zato sem moral v Qaqortoku ostati še dve noči. Še večje presenečenje pa me je čakalo ob vrnitvi – doma me je pričakal vročinski val, ki je bil popolno nasprotje grenlandske hladne pustolovščine.
Ko zdaj gledam nazaj na vse zaplete, sem hvaležen, da smo izkoristili tisti kratek vremenski okno in odprli novo smer, ki smo jo poimenovali Sila. Beseda Sila v grenlandskem jeziku izraža idejo, da so človek, narava in vesolje neločljivo povezani; vreme ni le fizični pojav, temveč odsev živega sveta, katerega del smo tudi ljudje. V slovenščini pa pomeni tudi moč.
Ponosen sem na svojo ekipo – delovali smo zanesljivo, razumno in z veliko mero poguma. Dali so mi priložnost, da plezam naprej večino raztežajev in da resnično spoznam, kje se skrivata moja moč in moje znanje.
