Stordalen Havn is a small, sheltered natural harbour at the northern end of Torsukattak Fjord in the district of

Nanortalik Nanortalik (), formerly Nennortalik, is a town in Nanortalik Island, Kujalleq municipality, southern Greenland. With 1,185 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the eleventh-largest town in the country. The name ''Nanortalik'' means "Place of Polar Bears ...

, in

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

. Nearby Alleruusakasiit and Angiartarfik mountains have a good reputation among alpinists.

Geography

Stordalen Havn is located at the bend in the Torssukatak Fjord, near the settlement of Tasiussaq. It is surrounded by mountains, the highest of which are Agdlerussakasit (1743 m) to the south of the river, and Angiartarfik (1824 m) to the north. Since there are shoaling problems at low tide, anchorage is best made a short distance from the shore. Access can sometimes be impeded by ice floes in late spring, summer and autumn, but the sea is mostly clear. The remains of a

Greenland Norse Greenlandic Norse is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken in the Norse settlements of Greenland until their demise in the late 15th century. The language is primarily attested by runic inscriptions found in Greenland. The limited ...

building are located on the southern side of the Itivdlerssuaq river, not far from the shore. Stordalens Havn with Agdlerussakasit on skyline

Trekking, kayaking and climbing

It can be accessed by chartered boat, or by very experienced kayakers, or overland on foot from Tasiussaq. It attracts climbers, kayakers, and trekkers. First ascents have now been made of most mountains in the area, starting with 44 first ascents by the University of St Andrews Expedition in 1975. Some of the mountains have challenging rock faces, including the famous "

Thumbnail Thumbnails are reduced-size versions of pictures or videos, used to help in recognizing and organizing them, serving the same role for images as a normal text index does for words. In the age of digital images, visual search engines and image ...

" of Maujit Qaqarssuasia, to the west of Torssukatak Fjord. There is huge potential for new climbing routes, and ascents by different ridges. In recent years, from 2000 onwards, Stordalen Havn has been visited by parties of trekkers, often accessing the area from Tasermiut Fjord. The small settlement of Aappilattoq to the east is extremely difficult to access on foot, but easily accessed by kayak. There is a trekking route to the north of Stordalen Havn over to Ivssortussut valley (difficult ground on the north side of the col) and Kangerdluk fjord, from where a further mountain pass leads to

Lake Taserssuaq A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

and

Tasermiut Fjord Tasermiut Fjord is a 70-kilometre-long fjord in southwestern Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Kujalleq municipality. Nanortalik Island is located near the mouth of the fjord. Tasermiut Fjord has some of the very few growths of d ...

. The trek west from Stordalens Havn up 'the big valley' called Itivdlerssuaq leads by an easy walking route to the settlement at Tasiussaq. Access down Torssukatak Fjord to the south is only possible by kayak because of huge sea cliffs. Copious supplies of fish such as

arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in freshwater and populatio ...

can often be obtained from Stordalen Havn to supplement food stocks.Siebe Vanhee's stay at Stordalen Havn where he caught 10 arctic char in an hour
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References

{{reflist Bays of Greenland