A CLIMBER from Bridport has scaled new heights after climbing one of the largest vertical rock faces in the world.

Waldo Etherington, 27, from Bridport, was one of six people to complete a first ascent of the north west face of the Mirror Wall in Greenland last month.

He succeeded in climbing a new route on the main face of the 1,200m peak, battling illness, difficult terrain and severe weather.

The group even had to prepare for the threat of polar bears but luckily none crossed their path.

Waldo and four others were led by experienced climber Leo Houlding and took part in the expedition on behalf of Berghaus.

The team were dropped off on the Edward Bailey Glacier in June, spending the first few days establishing a base camp and finding a safe approach to the base of the wall.

Over the following weeks, Waldo and his team free climbed 23 of the 25 pitches and spent 12 nights on the wall. Finally, last month, the team came through an upwards snow storm to reach the summit at the break of dawn.

Waldo said: “When the snowstorm came it was pretty intimidating. We pushed on. It really came out of nowhere – the summit. We didn’t realise it was so close.

“The clouds parted just enough for us to get a 360 degree view from the top.

“It’s probably the largest unclimbed face of that style in the world. It’s about four times the height of the Shard.

“There have only been about a dozen exhibitions there throughout its history.

“The Wall stands out from all the others. It looks like a big tombstone that sticks out from all the mountains. It was hard.

“We got hit by rocks. We fell in crevasses. We were ill. There were avalanches and there were blizzards. It was pretty wild.”

Waldo, who has been climbing for nine years, said it was an ‘incredible experience’ to climb in such a remote place.

He said: “It was quite anti-climatic. It was thirty seconds of blissful happiness at the top and then we realised we have got to get down. I feel privileged to have seen it and been there and to have worked with such an extraordinary team as well.”