Middle and Big Mountains of Kyrgyzstan: Karakol Gorge and Lenin Peak. Ski base "Karakol" Hiking trails and mountain trekking
Briefly about the essence
... The upper shelf of the reserved seat compartment - perfect place poke around in your thoughts. The Division Bell of the beloved "Pinks" brutally provokes such an event.
Suddenly, the understanding comes that now, when the whole past month is irretrievably and inexorably creeping into the past, what remains in the present is not events, not this, in general, indifferent sequence of completed actions, but something else, more valuable, incredibly voluminous, but eluding helpless verbal description, and therefore contained in just one word. If you have read this unthinkably long sentence to the end, have not lost the essence of what is being said and understand me, then you already know the continuation.
They remain inside - MOUNTAINS.
And everyone for whom this short word is not just a four-letter word finds their worlds on their palms.
Maybe next time I don't want to write about travel. There will be other people, other Mountains, other events before and after the Mountains, but that will not change them, standing there forever. They are as close to us as at first it seems that they are far away. And it's not about the peaks, not about (oh, this is a wrong and inappropriate word for the Mountains) conquering them. The fact, how The mountains fill us and how we return from them. And in my worlds, this is the most valuable thing.
Part one, descriptive.
Karakol Gorge. Tien Shan, Mt. Terskey Alatoo.
The commander's general plan was as simple as a rake: acclimatization - advanced - Mountain - advanced - excursion program with decaying inclusions. Standard seat acclimatization in front of Lenin Peak (as well as in front of Khan-Tengri, Pobeda, etc.) - the Ala-Archa gorge near Bishkek - disappeared immediately, as soon as the leader heard the word "Karakol". The dialogue was short:
— I have already been to Ala-Archa so many times that I want to explore some other place. And you haven’t been anywhere, so it doesn’t matter where you go to acclimuha, right?
“Yes,” we answered in unison.
If we now look at all our movements in Kyrgyzstan, then the tracks will resemble those of a rabid cockroach dodging a fateful slipper.
In Alma-Ata, at the train station, we were met by a friendly Neofit travel agency based in the city of Karakol (aka the former city of Przhevalsk). Having successfully crossed the border in the Karkara region (the border is a metal arch on the road in the middle of the steppe), having stocked up on honey in a mobile apiary in the gorge, in the evening we ended up in Karakol. Since everyone was impatient for the mountains, the excursion program was squeezed into the same evening.
Karakol is a very small town, standing at an altitude of 1774 m. Everything around is green, only silvery pyramidal poplars are worth something. And day and night they sparkle with rows of white smooth trunks. There is a shipyard on the artificially excavated Przhevalsky Bay in Issyk-Kul and, imagine, there is a navy in Issyk-Kul! Here, of course, there is no one to defend against on the water, they just experienced the launch of torpedoes before, and for this we already need warships.
Among the attractions in the city, the Przhevalsky Museum is worth noting in the first place. This is a small quiet park with alleys of coniferous trees, in the middle of the park there is a museum building and a monument on the grave of Nikolai Mikhailovich. From here the bay opens great view. The Dungan wooden mosque, built in 1910 by the Chinese without a single nail, looks more like a Buddhist pagoda - the corners are also bent, there are Buddhist symbols, dragons and wood carvings on the facade. We did not have time to get into the Orthodox wooden Holy Trinity Cathedral, because it was late, we had to be content with the view of the church because of the lattice fence. The next day, after purchasing food and talking with a local instructor, a trip to the gorge was planned.
On July 20, 2007, Sergei from Neophyte dropped us off in an unforgettable UAZ of the “goat” type to the end of the road, that is, to the mouth of the Teleta River (the left tributary of the Karakol River). And this is no less than 25 km. We agreed to meet in 10 days there.
The trail along Karakol, at first trampled down and "fat", over time turns into a weak and thin one. Every morning, an independent herd of the most excellent well-groomed horses passes through it, and every evening they return back. After 3 hours of walking we find ourselves in a wide flood of the river, which is a bunch of branches in the morning, and a solid lake in the evening. The principle of movement in this area is the same: despite the water, go straight, sometimes ankle-deep or knee-deep in water. This is the fastest and least labor-intensive option - this fact has been found out empirically. Bypassing the "lake" to jump with sacks on the rocks and "suitcases" of the slope - an occupation for inveterate optimists and grasshoppers. This section lasts about half an hour. Then after another half an hour we get to the tongue of the glacier. It is much more pleasant to walk along it - evenly and not wet.
In the process of digging on the Internet for information on the Karakol Gorge, not much was dug up. There are zero “human” maps that you can walk on, descriptions of ascents are literally 2-3. In Karakol it was possible to acquire topographic map, not quite an accurate ridge map, inconsistent advice from a local instructor and read the descriptions of the first ascents of the 70-80s. Having collected all this in a heap in our heads, having analyzed it, we found many inconsistencies between the four three sources of information. "We'll figure it out on the spot" - we decided and started playing scouts.
First impressions of entries-passes-exits in the Karakol Gorge:
- Very powerful glaciation. Ice of all kinds in bulk: glaciers creeping, hanging, falling and lying in caps on the peaks. Some of them quite often collapse and fall with loud sounding.
- The scope of the gorge is more suitable for mountain tourists, and not for climbers. The entries are long and "high". This, of course, allows you to gain a decent height, go through acclimatization like “moose” and “horse” even before climbing, but still for mountain tourism it is just a Mecca. Wind your kilometers through ice and rocky passes and don't blow your mustache.
- All is well with the weather. Out of 10 days of stay, there was no precipitation from the sky for 2.5 days. Great weather was 1 day. Either the proximity of Issyk-Kul affects, or the local climatic feature. They say September is the “driest” time, but they didn’t check it themselves.
- The gorge, which seems to be well-known among the climbing environment, is not particularly popular for some reason. Or did not use it this year and at this particular time (the last decade of July). The people were met a couple of times: some were standing at the very bottom on the tongue of the glacier, at the so-called “Skazk overnight stays”, others in the floodplain of the river below the glacier. At the top, where we lived for 10 days, moving from one corner of the gorge to another, we did not see anyone. Although some of the participants met went to Dzhigit. We saw the remains of their tracks at the top of the Dzhigit ridge.
Incredible things were happening here at 4100 on the glacier. First, it was raining. Have you often seen at least rain on a glacier at such a height? Exactly! Our leader claimed that there was no rain on the glacier (although in Aktra, I remember, I already got into such an incident), he was very surprised, watching from the tent how streams, cutting channels, run down the glacier.
The transfer to the first parking lot took place in two stages, so the remaining three participants, after waiting for a window in the wet heavenly outpourings, went down “in the green” for the second part of the transfer. The outpourings overtook us on the way back. But the thought that acclimatization was in full swing from such loads consoled us and added strength.
The next item on the program was going to “something easy” and next to gain more heights for the body. In turn, after climate, geography came as a surprise. Delone, it turns out, is not only a peak and a pass in Altai, but also a peak in Karakol. Still, one of the three pre-revolutionary professional climbers was very much loved in our former vast country. For what, by the way.
Climbing up a very "scree" scree to the ridge (approximately 4500), the tactical plans of our reconnaissance group were divided. Pasha and I climbed to the top and then traversed to the next nameless "poke". Ruslan and Lekha were supposed to sit on the ridge for an hour to lull the vigilance of a potential enemy and go back. Such a knight's move like "we went back" was supposed to confuse the enemy forces and give Pasha and me a window of good weather. Lyokha covered Ruslan on the way and did not give him a chance to fall from enemy bullets (the plastic boot still pressed on the recently stitched wound).
The enemy forces did not fall for the trick. The weather is wonderful: fresh, throwing snow, visibility is so-so, but climbing the ruined ridge is a pleasure. After reading on both peaks the notes of two Tomsk residents who made this traverse in reverse side, came to the conclusion that the card in this part we came across is correct.
By gen. According to the plan, we had a minimum program: Dzhigit peak (5170 m) according to the classic 4A through the ice “shovel” and a maximum program: Dzhigit and Karakolsky (5216 m) according to the classic 4B along the northwestern ridge. These are the two highest points in the region. Both routes, according to the descriptions, go with an overnight stay on the ridge. Calculating and estimating, we decided that such garish lads and maidens as we Dzhigit can go in a day. According to the descriptions, the overnight stay takes place on the ridge, 1-2 hours from the camp site in a hanging "pocket" under Dzhigit. The thought of walking for 2 hours with sacks on the loose did not warm us. We decided to break through the battle and engaged in a tactical plan.
If we could say anything about our pace of movement along the scree and double rocks that we were supposed to meet on the route, then on the part of the ice we really didn’t have anything in reserve. Ruslan and Lekha walked together on the ice in Altai, Pasha alone, I generally where and how I need to. Having doubted the expediency of training according to the Brazilian system, we decided not to show off, and went to train on the ice slope in walking three. Timed the passage of one rope. It turned out pretty decent. The tactical plan in theory completely grew together. While climbing down, a cloud with hail covered us. The enemy launched medium-heavy artillery - hailstones the size of peas loudly banged on the helmet and hurt on open areas of the body. Peas gathered in flocks and rolled down the ice slope like foam plastic crumbs in small streams and avalanches, falling asleep on our knees. Visibility is completely gone. We stood steadfastly in the trenches, occasionally shooting and retreating with the help of descenders. Then the Higher Powers interceded for us, the sun came out, and the holiday came. We have won another victory.
During three days of reconnaissance, we learned one simple truth of this gorge - you can walk here only if there is at least some kind of weather. And we hunted down, waited for her, reshaping our strategy for her.
From below, it seemed that the promised 9 ropes were not on the shovel, a maximum of 6-7. However, in reality there were really 9 of them (even 9 and a half). True, they lied to us with steepness, intimidating us with 80-degree shiny ice. 45-60-degree ice with firn on top, turning into knee-deep porridge during the day. However, the leader Pasha was our constant leader, so we, by and large, did not care - we were tied.
We crossed "around the corner", into a hanging pocket from the southwest, where the route begins. The place is excellent - behind the slope of Dzhigit and Festivalnaya (wow, how she constantly "festival" with stones both day and night), a magnificent view of the gorge. On the stones of the glacier, several flat grounds for tents were pleasantly found - thanks to the predecessors.
The three of us left at 4 am. I safely forgot the camera that I had prepared with me in the evening, remembering this in the middle of the storm. Therefore, the pictures and "testimony" to them are all "from the side" when we walked near Karakolsky. A brief technical layout with a photo description of the route is possible.
In the evening, already at dusk, we went down to the camp to Ruslan for his “overnight stay of observers”. It's so nice when someone is waiting for you and preparing tea for the arrival. The minimum program was completed.
The transition to the next location, as usual, was carried out under the cover of fog and light rain. We went down almost to the end of the On-Tor glacier to the “overnight stays Skazka” (it is interesting that it is not a “parking lot” like ours, but an “overnight stay”) near two moraine lakes. It is strange that the lakes are nearby, but one is blue and the other is a hazy yellow.
The ascent to another "corner" of the gorge along the Karakol glacier is quite picturesque. Past powerful ram foreheads with waterfalls, along a steep and then more gentle glacier. Parking, that is, “overnight stays” are located near the right side of the glacier in the direction of travel, not reaching 20 minutes before the Jety-Oguz pass.
The sun is shining, sometimes it rains for half an hour, but this does not prevent the group from courageously poring over the cards, thinking and considering options. Half of the notebook is already filled with the score, one game replaces another, the “thousand” saves us from stupid recumbent rest, training our memory and honing our mind.
Then winter came. It started in the evening, and at night we had to go out to shake off the snow from the tents. In the morning, the remnants of winter covered the sun, and everything around became surreal. Avalanches rolled down the slopes, large and slow, swift and whistling. At first, Lekha grabbed the camera every time to film the process, and then stopped. We sat in the center of a huge deserted arena, the only spectators of a natural performance, realizing all the worthlessness and pettiness of our existence.
If Dzhigit Peak looked like a soldier from afar - tall, sharp, piercing clouds constantly attacking him, then Karakol Peak looked like the Master. Huge, powerful, all covered with ice, having placed a bunch of ridges and buttresses around it, it really grew into the center of the gorge and looked down on everything from its venerable age and centuries-old wisdom. Its sloping summit bastion was softly wrapped in a blanket of clouds, like a scarf around the neck of a proud gray-bearded old man.
They also go there overnight. We understood right away that if we go without spending the night, then we need to break through for real. For some reason, all descriptions end with a place to spend the night on the ridge, and then there is no information. Even the instructor, who claimed to have walked him, did not say anything sane about the route after spending the night. "Okay, let's see," we decided. Lekha stayed with Ruslan, we had to advance together with Pasha. The weather promised to be perfect, which was extraordinarily pleasing.
As there, in a climbing proverb: “We got up early, left quickly ...” So, we left at 2.30, to be sure. The day before, Pasha made his way under the Jety-Oguz pass (2B) in order to see the route to it, at the same time he took a backpack with some equipment there. In the dark we approached for half an hour under the pass rocks. There are several ways up, but this became known later. We climbed the most difficult (as, again, it turned out later). But in the dark it seemed the most logical. The first rope is unambiguous in direction, however, everything is crumbling around, there is little to insure for. Everywhere there are some terrible rusty hooks pulled out by hand. The second pitch along a narrow icy couloir with slick ice on the rocks. At the end of the rope we see an overhanging rock plug with sinter ice. She persuaded Pasha to take off her backpack before climbing on it. Not in vain. With ice tools, Pasha really struggled with cork, with spacers, with a redistribution of the center of gravity, etc. Very, very technical area. With Pasha's level of climbing on rocks and ice, he turned out to be a worthy opponent. The action did not take long, but it was impressive. Then turn around the corner into the ice trough on the saddle. Also everything pours. I, like a real climber, take the jumar and lead. We are at the saddle at about 5 am. plate dead person. Instructor Valera said that often someone stays on this pass. The main reason is the stones falling from under the ropes, people and just like that on their own. Willingly believe. Bad place.
Further on, the ice slope of 40-50° seems not so big, but while we are walking along it, we realize that we are visually deceived - a drop of 400 m, although this is absolutely not visible in the photo and with our eyes. Then along the ridge, which turned out to be not at all smooth as it seemed from below, but camel-shaped, with deep descents and ascents.
"Humps" are replaced by a ridge with fragments of double rocks and lead to the Sportivny pass. This pass, I tell you, from below from Karakol, not a single normal person will go. Most likely, no one walks when there is an opportunity to bypass the traverse through Dzhety-Oguz. The saddle of the "Sportivny" is a snow-firn plateau at the junction of the ridges, blown by all the winds. “To go here with the sacks from below - this is for real horses,” we thought. 10 am, let's see what awaits us next. And then the glacier, sprinkled with snow, with cracks in the upper part. We figure out the path and move forward. Again, there is a very large difference. We pass under the seracs of a detached piece of glacier and crawl out onto the ridge on the front teeth of the crampons. Why is it so hard for me to crawl out, and it’s not very easy to go further along a rather sharp scallop? Duc! The ridge at an altitude of over 5 thousand already ...
12 a.m. We sit in a warm trough, drink tea and make a simple consultation in a narrow circle. From the ridge you can see the top tower of Karakolsky. She looks like a bulwark. Another 200 meters in height, with ice, and possibly rocky ropes, then on foot to the top. I pick at the ice with a cat's prong, my eyes downcast.
How much more do you think it takes to get to the top?
- Offhand, four hours, if you walk as I see it. Perhaps crawling up the rampart is harder than I think.
— ...
- Decide. If you go down, I go with you.
- ... Pash .. I'm not sure .. Most likely, I will go upstairs, but downstairs .. Do I have enough strength .. We went to Dzhigit for 18 hours. Everything was fine. Here you get at least 22 ... And I don’t feel the strength in myself for so much time.
- Let's go down then. (deep breath) The first time I turn from the top down. But sooner or later it had to happen.
- Sorry...
“Yes, you should have guessed that you couldn’t do it in a day. Now I’m going under the bastion behind that hump to see how it is there and I’ll be back.
“I’m terribly sorry .. But who would have known that the route would be so long, and you won’t be able to drag me when my strength suddenly runs out here .. (It’s a shame that I let the person down! .. Well, let..)
We arrived at the camp at half past eight in the evening. It's almost dark.
It took a lot of time to descend. Much more than we thought. Firstly, because the rocky ridge on the descent remained a rocky ridge, without turning into a “pedestrian”. Secondly, the firn on the ridge became limp during the day, and we constantly fell through, in places along the “waterline”, and it was exhausting. Thirdly, the descent from the pass was not fast - carefully so that the rope does not get tangled in the bends and the stones under it do not fly off (after all, a stone hit me on the elbow, it hurts very much). And fourthly, the height + accumulated running time still make themselves felt.
At the debriefing, it was decided that walking this route in 2 days is not an option - so much energy will be spent on walking with sacks upstairs that it may not be enough for the next day to the top. You just need to walk with a prepared, physical strong bunch. For example, as Pasha said, “if I had been walking with Dan Kutsak, I would have contacted him the first time not on the section of the ridge with rocks, but on the ascent to the summit bastion.”
Maybe it is so. Perhaps I am not the kind of person who can go up that Mountain in a day. But I really want to still go to Karakol once. Do they go to him ordinary people albeit in two days. Beautiful, strong and powerful Mountain.
Didn't get much sleep. At three o'clock we got up and galloped down, because at 10 am Sergey was supposed to be waiting for us in an UAZ at the mouth of the Teleta River.
Tien-Shan fir-trees rest against the blue sky with candles, the clear, clear, sonorous river Telety runs along the rocky bottom, the tart smell of pine needles tickles the nostrils, and the sun smiles at us with its wide, warm smile. I never thought that I missed the forest so much in 10 days!
Then the film of our journey was rewound very quickly and what happened over the next 12 hours takes up more text on the screen than time. So, at 11 in the morning we were already in Karakol at the cozy Neophyte base. Soap-ryl procedures and lunch did not take very much time. We jump into the Delica and drive along the sparsely populated southern coast of Issyk-Kul towards Bishkek. Along the way, we sharpen apricots for 35 rubles a bucket (they don’t sell them in smaller containers) and quickly swim in a transparent, slightly salty lake. At 11 pm we arrive at the office of Ak-Sai Travel company, already familiar to Pasha (and now to us). There we are told that at 5 am the plane, the tickets are bought, so we need to repack our things and go to the hotel. Rest between the mountains "on the plain" was covered with a copper basin.
Of course, we are unhappy with such a combination of circumstances, but there is nothing to be done. A small private hotel "Grand Hotel" is unusually comfortable and cozy. Here we meet a group of Spaniards who will also fly to Osh with us tomorrow.
Sleepless again. The airport. Aircraft An-24. 50 minutes of flight over the mountains, and we leave in the 30-degree early morning of the city of Osh. Here we are met by KamAZ with a passenger booth and a completely missing suspension from this booth. More people from Alma-Ata are loaded, and we go to the market to buy food. For everything about everything 2 hours. Running around, packages, found a supermarket with "quickies", did not have time to eat. We sharpen pistachios and grapes along the way.
Nine hours of driving through the most picturesque gorges and terrible serpentines through 3-4 thousandth passes. Kamaz trucks don't drive around corners, they wait for each other. Along the way, the villages smoothly pass from the inhabited ones into incomprehensible clay buildings with polyethylene instead of windows, supported by walls so that they do not fall or simply yurts, where people do not live, but exist. The poverty is terrible in places.
At dusk we descend into the Alai Valley (about 3000 m), a lifeless expanse of scorched steppe without trees, but with huge, giant white peaks on the horizon. We arrived at the Achik-Tash base camp at 11 pm.
In the next few posts, I will talk about the main attraction of Kyrgyzstan - the Tien Shan gorges. Especially rich in South coast Issyk-Kul, or rather the Tereskey Ala-Too ridge, the rivers of which run into the great lake. We are with darkiya_v in three days we visited five different gorges, which I will now show from east to west. To begin with, we go to the Karakol Gorge - it is very close to the city of the same name, no further than the shown Pristan-Przhevalsk, but only from the opposite side.
Initially, the Karakol Gorge was not even included in my plans, but someone told us that Khan Tengri (6995m) is visible from there. I dreamed of seeing this mountain (and better than the "real Khan-Tengri" - Pobeda peak, in which 7439m), whose name means Lord of the Sky, I dreamed for a long time, but as it turned out, it is almost impossible to do this from Kyrgyzstan: the massif, on which both peaks are located, hangs over the surrounding plains, and the peak of Pobeda is better visible from China, and "our" Khan-Tengri (actually Kantau) - from the Kegen valley of Kazakhstan, from the side of Kyrgyzstan, the mountains rise gradually, and the distant seven-thousanders are closed by not so high nearby peaks. Frankly speaking, I did not really hope that it would be visible from the Karakol Gorge, but you never know? A trip to the mountains for a person from the plains cannot be a waste of time in principle.
On the square near the hotel, we walked around several taxi drivers, and one of them agreed to take us where we needed, I think, for 500 soms (about 300 rubles). At the upper exit from Karakol there is a small thermal power plant, and our goal is already visible ahead: the ice peak of Przhevalsky (4272), below which is a brown-green hill - we are going to it.
2.
As it turned out, the driver's fee does not include an environmental fee - in some place the road is blocked by a barrier, behind which Karakolsky begins nature Park(not to be confused with the namesake in Altai), and another hundred soms had to be paid for the car. At the entrance there is a memorial sign to the local hero of labor forester Mukay Dabaev:
3.
However, you can’t immediately say that there is a natural park here - some houses along ravines, mini-hotels under construction and unfinished ... in short, a normal landscape of a spontaneous post-Soviet resort.
4.
Broken primer, along a winding road, we climbed to the ski base:
5.
At the gate of which they took the driver's phone and went out the gate. The ski base looks very decent, and, apparently, it is in great demand in winter. In the summer, it is quiet and deserted here - only guards and workers.
6.
And - the cable car going to the very hill:
7.
In winter it works all the time, and sometimes in summer: it is run for groups of more than 15 people, and we hoped that we would be lucky. No luck - the cable car turned out to be motionless, and the cost of launching it personally for us (I don’t remember the exact figure) motivated us very well to walk - to that peak:
8.
We passed the first section calmly and joking out of habit, I looked at the mountain and consoled myself (out loud) that it would probably take a couple of hours to climb it, no more.
9.
But then .... Then a steep slope began, and in general it became clear that we acted too presumptuously. The mountain turned out to be elementary higher and steeper than one might think "by eye". In addition, we walked almost knee-deep in fallen leaves and weeds, picking up long sticks, but in general the path from post to post seemed unbearable. After all, we are not climbers, not even hikers, and how experienced I am on city streets, I am just as naive in nature.
10.
At some point, we decided to go in a zigzag. In principle, the climb itself would have been an easy walk if we had 3-4 hours left, but we managed to come here almost at sunset, so the task was not just to get to the top, but to do it FAST.
11.
12.
At the same time, a UAH road for servicing the cable car passes along the mountain, coming from somewhere on the side, and it was a great success to come across it - it became incomparably easier to go:
13.
There are already the teeth of Przhevalsky Peak peeking out from behind the hill:
14.
But at some point it became simply clear that if you go further along it, you won’t have time to climb up before dark! So - ahead, along the slope, in short zigzags, getting wet and out of breath. But the tree climbs up for years ...
15.
The top is nearby. By the way, can anyone from those who find it all funny to read explain - why are such pyramids stacked in the mountains?
16.
Here we are at the top! Read about this climb - a couple of minutes, post - 10-20 minutes (meaning not the entire post, but only the section of the rise), but we were rushing upstairs for two hours or more. And only at home I found out that the real height of this hill is 3040m, that is, we overcame about 700 vertical meters.
17.
Having dressed warmly (because I was sweating to the skin), I sat down on a cable car chair, resting and admiring the open space below. And also half-jokingly-half-seriously thinking what would happen if the cable car suddenly went for some kind of preventive purpose and got up in the middle.
18.
19.
Although, of course, if she went straight to the base, it would be nice - long shadows, crawling brains and the setting Sun left no illusions that she would have to go back in the dark.
20.
And on the other side...
21.
22.
On the left is the Przhevalsky peak, which is like a stone's throw from here ... But no, in fact, only the vertical difference here is 1230m, it's like from the Crimean beach to the top of Ai-Petri. In relative proximity, the mountain is not at all the same as seen from Karakol.
23.
To the right - some more mountains and the Karakol Gorge itself, dark and deep. The Karakol River itself winds along its bottom - this name does not mean “black lake” (there would be “Karakol” there), but “black hand”, and where it came from, I won’t even dare to guess (according to local legend, robbers were operating in the gorge, and this is the nickname of their leader).
24.
The perspective of the gorge is generally the same as in the title frame. It is probably better to come here in the morning or in the middle of the day, at sunset the gorge is filled with darkness. It is no coincidence that Terskey Ala-Too means Shadow Mountains - they are almost always in backlight. But even in the dark, you can see how the mountains, like bare bones, break out of the skin of the forests.
25.
And the gorge is closed by a certain peak, which could be mistaken for Khan-Tengri ... if not for the direction - the Lord of Heaven from Karakol in the east, the gorge goes south. As I found out later, this is the Karakol peak (5216m) - the highest point of Terskey Ala-Too and the most high mountain what I have seen before.
26.
Textures of lifeless slopes:
27.
Looking there, I can only imagine how the wind howls there ... I am not a climber and will never climb such peaks.
28.
Let's look at the city - it is about a kilometer below us, and only the pipe of that CHP will stand out from here:
29.
Here you can see the buildings of the Soviet center - the White House, the theater, the university. The accumulation of large buildings among the private sector. So, a little to the left of them - , and a little higher in the frame (that is, lower along the slope) - , but it is impossible to see them in the haze. And at the top, the Przhevalsky Bay, to the left of the center, a group of trees is visible - somewhere under them the great traveler rests, and even more to the left, the Pristan-Przhevalsk crane is visible. And somewhere at the left edge of the frame, not noticeable from here - the base of the Soviet, and now the Russian torpedo range "Lake":
30.
In the sunset rays you can see an open lake and a second bay, where the Nestorian monastery once stood with its legend about the relics of Matthew. The Karakol River comes out of the gorge, theoretically even crosses the city along the outskirts, but I don’t remember it at all. The Przhevalsky Bay is, in fact, its estuary.
31.
And the sun, meanwhile, went behind the mountains:
32.
33.
We went down the same dirt road straight to the base, called an already familiar taxi driver, but he drove after us for about forty minutes. By that time it was completely dark and a nasty cold had crept in. For some time I warmed myself with the Dance of the Watchman in the cold, and then we knocked on the door of the real watchman and warmed ourselves there. Finally, the driver who arrived took us to the Fakir cafe (I wrote about him in one of the two Karakol posts), where we celebrated a safe return from this not very smart trip.
In the next part - about the Jety-Oguz gorge, more accessible on foot and more beautiful at the same time.
KYRGYZSTAN-2013
. Trip review.
Background.
Western wall of Przhevalsky peak.
I continue to present the nominees of "Crystal Peak-2011".
This time it Denis Urubko and Boris Dedeshko. With a story aboutWestern wall of Przhevalsky peak!
Route information
Przhevalsky Peak (6240 m, Central Tien Shan), Western Face. Estimated category of complexity 6A.The route belongs to the category of high-altitude and technical. The beginning of the ascent from the bergschrund at an altitude of 4760 meters. The height difference is 1480 meters. The length of the route is 2427 meters. Exit to the ascent on July 22 at 03:00. Summit July 25 at 12:00 pm. Descent to the foot of the mountain on July 27 at 20:00.
On the first day, we worked 21.5 pitches (1225.5 meters) on ice up to 60 degrees with a steepness. Second day 2 pitches (114 meters) of ice up to 45 degrees steep and 3.5 pitches (192.5 meters) of rocks M4 F5b-6a. Third day 6 pitches (330 meters) rocks M5 F5b-6b. Fourth day 3 pitches (165 meters) of rocks F5b M4 and 400 meters on a snowy ridge up to 50 degrees.
The first day was hard physically, because I had to climb the ice for a very long time and quickly.
The pieces were difficult on the second day, where we had to climb with traverses, but there was a reliable insurance. Dangerous on the third day were sections of mixed terrain above the AID section, when the hammers' beaks were loaded only by 5-7 mm, with unreliable and rare insurance. The beginning was hard fourth day, when immediately from the tent I had to climb a steep short wall without working, tired after the previous part of the path. And the logical and simple way to the top in the final part of the route became brilliant in beauty. We were relatively lucky with the weather, there were no heavy snowfalls. The temperature during the day was up to + -0, at night it did not fall below -15.
Boris Dedeshko answers questions website
The impressions are the most positive. A very difficult and fast ascent at the limit of one's physical and mental strength. But not a single mistake. I remember how everything went, and I think - there is not a single detail, not a single trifle that I would want to change if I knew everything in advance. Beautiful views of Khan and Pobeda from an unusual angle. Sunsets and sunrises - just a fairy tale! Even the bad weather was great. In the snowfall, they worked up the ice, being in a continuous stream of snow grains flowing down, evenly filling the entire surface of the ice couloir from one rocky edge to the other - as if trying to swim against the current of a stormy river. And it is impossible to describe in words the feelings experienced at the top, especially when I took out a note from Boris Solomatov, carefully packed in a tin can, which had lain there for 37 years!
- Were there any sharp moments during the ascent?
First of all, these are traverses. They are so scary! There were several of them on the wall and one on the descent. Tried to impersonate as much as possible. Once, having removed a point in the middle, he flew 8 meters back and down. Dan laughs. He says that he launches a snake like that. The descent from the summit was like the descent from Cho Oyu. It was avalanche-prone up to the pass, then the wall hung and threw back until the exit to the ice.
What are you guided by when choosing a line for climbing? Whose idea was the route - yours or Denis's? Or was it a collaboration?
The line of ascent should be logical, beautiful and complex. It should draw attention to itself and leave no doubts like - why exactly, and not here, for example? By the way, we named our route "Lightning!". The idea of passing this line belongs to Denis. Together we worked out only the details of the ascent.
- Is Denis Urubko an "easy" person and partner? Is it easy to work with him on the route?
Of course, he is an easy partner. We are separated by 10 kg of live weight. Therefore, when, God forbid, the breakdown of the first one, it is much more logical for me to be in the place of the insurer.
And as a person, in my opinion, he is heavier. Like all strong extraordinary personalities, Denis has a complex character. Sometimes, offended because of the nonsense. But we've been walking together for a long time. And we are not just partners in a bunch, but also friends. It is often easier for me to extinguish the conflict in the bud than to quarrel, although this does not always work out. The ability to compromise is one of the main qualities when working in a team.
On the route with him easily and confidently. For me, the presence of Den next to me is already a guarantee of success and safety of the ascent. That's just for the arrangement of sites for overnight stays had to argue and compete with its minimalism. Den is ready to go to bed on any crooked little shelf with sharply protruding stones. However, he actually sleeps there. I need to bring it to mind in order to sleep and rest.
- Do you have any special system of communication on the mountain during work?
During work, we are not verbose. Traditional commands - issue, select, secure, work, insurance is ready, etc. Although it should be noted that after dozens of joint ascents, if Den is in sight, I often already know what command will come now, a couple of seconds before it is given. Denis also. Therefore, we use “repeat” mainly if you can’t see or hear your partner.
What is the concept of "light style" for you? Do you manage to live up to these ideas during the first ascents? Did you climb Przhevalsky Peak in the style you wanted?
About the light style, I can’t say it brighter than Aleksander Ruchkin did, so I’ll just quote him:
“... progress moves forward, and ascents do not stand still. 100 years ago they walked like this, 50 years ago they climbed differently, now they go even further. People break barriers, as M. Erzog, V. Bonnatti, G. Buhl, R. Messner broke the barriers of the possible in their time ....
If they had said then that a couple of climbers would take 2 small cylinders of gas for an eight-thousander, cutting off everything superfluous, with a minimum of equipment, along the wall, along a new, unfamiliar route, they would have twisted at the temple. And bad weather, yes a lot of things. But when you see that two healthy guys Denis Urubko and Boris Dedeshko from CSKA Kazakhstan are standing in front of you, you understand that these guys can.”
In this ascent, everything was the same, except for CSKA - unfortunately, our army eliminated mountaineering as a sport in itself.
Very light single layer small tent. One sleeping bag for two and one puff, which was put on to warm up in turn. After the Top, for dinner we had one block of energy and 2 tea bags. The whole next day of the descent was unloading. No stock of gas, food and equipment. Definitely, this is fully consistent with my understanding of light style. And the speed of passage speaks for itself.
For you, climbing in a pair is an ideal alignment in terms of the number of participants? Was such a number of participants optimal on this mountain?
In principle, for a light style, the three is more optimal. Almost the same amount of weight is divided not by two, but by three. The safety of the entire ascent is increased, as well as the speed of descent - after all, one more rope is added. But in this particular case, it was more logical to go in a pair: lying overnight would turn into a sitting one, and a sitting one would turn into a hanging one. Increasing the speed of descent would give an advantage of a couple of hours, which is not important. On the other hand, the pleasure and joy of passing this route with maximum comfort was worth the risk and passing it in the Deuce!
Denis Urubko. Express interview for website
- Are there many routes on this wall and this mountain? How popular is it with climbers? And what attracted you?
There are routes to this peak, passed in 1974. This is the line of the Popenko group along the Western Face. And the path of Solomatov's team from the southwestern cofferdam, along the ridge in the Khan-Tengri traverse - the Marble Wall. Since then, the mountain has not been conquered by people anymore. Although, I know one more try. It was interesting to me that the wall is very difficult and steep. Przhevalsky Peak is very beautiful. And named after a worthy person.
- Tell us about your partner and what attracts you to climbing with him? What qualities do you value in a partner?
Boris Dedeshko, with whom we have been friends for several years, was gifted with the talent to find a common language with other people. This guy is positive. And inhumanly hardy :) With Borka, I am never afraid to work to the limit of my strength and capabilities, because I trust his reliability and skill. It is very important that Boris likes to be "on the cutting edge", he likes to take risks for the sake of an idea, and not just :) for money or other momentary values. Again, he knows how to furnish everyday life with elegant things with glamorous ease. Music player, delicacies, wet wipes - an indispensable attribute of his personal equipment on the mountain. This used to annoy me a lot. Now I look at it as pampering, fun.
What tactics did you follow during the ascent? Leading alternately? Or have you decided in advance who will climb which section first?
If the question is about the alpine style, then you can call it that, despite the fact that almost all wall routes were “walked” by the teams of the USSR in this way. They worked from dawn (and on the first day from the middle of the night) to the stop. Leading alternately - experience allowed. There was no preliminary distribution by sites - as the soul sang. Borka quickly and reliably climbed through the ice, and I got the rocks. In addition, I really wanted to work out the “combinashka” first! And Boris condescendingly did not interfere.
You write about 60m rope - why did you choose this length of rope? Was the choice random or do you just always wear that length? Is a long rope always justified?
A long rope is always better for descending. 30 meters is more humane than 25 meters. The rope is very light 9 mm single. In this case (however, in my opinion, and in the others) it was justified so that the first one could work with less restriction. There were enough safety elements, braces too. Usually the guys in our team work on ropes of 50-60 meters. The longer the rope becomes too heavy, and it can be difficult to shout to a partner from a distance.
- Aid or free climbing? Is the whole route climbing freely? How difficult was the passage for you?
There was an A2 site approximately A2, 15 meters long at an altitude of approximately 5700 meters. We climbed it on the third day of the ascent. There were cold overhangs with a good gap through them, with a slight deviation to the left. The passage is normal, the main thing was not to leave extra friends for insurance, but to work on them through the gap.
Compare this climb with others you have made this season and before? On what grounds can it be classified as one of the strongest achievements of this year?
We can say that the line to Przhevalsky Peak has become a strong and beautiful independent route. I would compare it to Kali Himal's north face climb in the Himalayas in 2004. But unlike the route Himalayan mountain this path was passed without setting up intermediate camps and fixing railings. It became very important for me that the wall is located in Kazakhstan - it is “our” mountain, and there are other interesting objects around. That is, there are prospects. After climbing the wall of the Peak of the Eight Climbers in 2008, I hoped that this example would inspire other athletes to search, discover ... However, after three years I realized that I wanted to go to the Inylchek glacier again, that the line to Przhevalsky peak attracted me. Despite the fact that the area has been developed for a long time, the last ascent to this peak took place in 1974, there were only two ascents, as I have already said. Our route turned out to be easier than Popenkovsky ... but it was completed in a different style. There were two of us, not eight, we climbed for three and a half days, not eight, the line turned out to be logical and elegant in its own way.
Climbing can be attributed to the best because it is wall climbing with complex rocky (including overhanging) sections. The line is beautiful, passed with a friend Boris in a beautiful style. No perennial pumps. In a long-developed area, where an interesting discovery was made, where there was a place for creativity.
Denis Urubko sent a story about this ascent. It seems to me that they would be correct to supplement the publication!
After Boris Dedeshko and I crossed Eleven Pass (from Bayankol on foot with all the equipment to the Base Camp on Northern Inylchek), we got the initial acclimatization.
Having rested, Boris and I advanced under the wall of Przhevalsky Peak. This peak was conquered in 1974 twice, but since then no one has climbed it. The way to the glacier circus turned out to be quite long. Fortunately, we didn’t have to plow much on snowshoes, but in the icefall we wandered through the gullies. The path between the cracks was found to be simple, and after 15 hours we got out onto the flat part of the glacier. The wall soared above us at 1480 meters of drop. The sunset warmed us for a long time - the sun beat into the tent, so that it was warm and cozy. But this mass in the sky, where they had to climb, threatened with cold and uncertainty.
July 22 at 03:00 am we started our route.
I worked 7 pitches along the ice couloir, then Boris stepped forward. The pitches were long because we had 60 meters of rope. Borya worked powerfully and quickly. Sometimes he made only one gap on the rope - he kept on the slope so confidently. And I understood that this was enough, because I completely trusted. Just like he did to me. The sun shone on us in the middle of the couloir, but the stones did not fall from the wall, because the weather had been normal for several days before. By the end of the day they had worked 21½ pitches, and on a rocky scallop at the base of the lower "Triangle" they settled down in a tent on a small ledge for the night. Boris drove me into the warm interior of the tent, and he settled himself on the edge.
In the morning it was foggy, but we cheerfully started moving - two more pitches on the ice. And then we moved on to the rocks. They often had to work with traverses to the right. Because the idea was to go along the edge of this lowest “Triangle”. The rock was fragile, badly destroyed, with shallow cracks. But on the other hand, it was relatively warm, sometimes it was possible to climb with bare hands. The difficulty of the rocks is 5b-6a according to the French system. Mixed was not difficult - M4. But the final pitch went straight up and we ran into overhangs. We climbed 5½ pitches in a day.
Here we managed to find a small shelf, on which they could only fit while sitting, without a chance to stretch the tent. The night was supposed to be warm, and we nestled under open sky dangling legs in sleeping bag into the abyss.
We met the morning quite “major”. The choice was either to climb good for belay, but difficult overhanging and vertical blocks, or to try to traverse to the right without good belay on the flaky slabs. We chose the first option - straight from the shelf. Climbing 15 meters is free. Then, under the cornices, I switched to AID, since a good broken crack was found, leading far up. Friend after friend... and another 15 meters of the wall was again brought to the relief, traversable in the given conditions by free climbing. This pitch, as it turned out later, was the key to the route. The complexity of the section is A2, F6b, M5.
Boris, in general, very reliably and confidently walks routes first. Therefore, here, when he belayed, it was done so competently that sometimes I forgot that I was working on a rope. It seemed that I was walking unbound by the fetters of reality.
A smooth horizontal traverse of 60 m led from the station to the right ... at the end I even had to lower it a little. And we ended up on the ice cap of a small bastion. Then they turned right again. There were small patches of ice, but mostly there was a simple mixed M4. Difficulties arose in the organization of insurance points, because the past centuries smoothed the surface, splitting it, however, into small plates.
Already in the evening, exhausted, we saw a good place for overnight stay - a snow scallop protruding from the general relief of the wall. And in the dark they set up a tent on it. My friend, seeing that I was very tired, until the last moment continued selflessly to expand the site. Made ice for the kitchen. And then we easily heated a lot of water to drink for a crazy day. For which they worked 6 pitches.
The weather continued to pamper us with its good mood. We met the dawn on our feet, and through three M4 ropes we got to the crest of the mountain. It so happened that we passed the wall completely in accordance with the plan - along the left side of the lower "Triangle".
After that everything was simple. We left our backpacks under a small rock, and having contacted, moved under the bright sun along the white plane upwards. After 400 meters of the way, alternately plodding shallow, ankle-deep snow, on July 25 at 12:00 we reached the highest point of the Przhevalsky peak. It was cloudy from the west, but not dangerous. Boris and I spent about half an hour on the summit, enjoying the views, the feeling of safety and victory, taking pictures.
We descended to the West, to the saddle to the Shatru. There, in the evening, on a flat plateau, they set up a tent, and fell asleep without safety systems. And in the morning they began to descend along the rocky wall to the north. It would be possible to go down the ice couloir, but from above I did not find the correct entrance to it. So it turned out 14 rappels of 30 meters (half a rope) on the rocks, and then 15 descents on the ice of the lower part. Borya skillfully organized self-twisting, and I stuffed my hands, wrapping ice screws in rock chips in the ice. And in the evening, under the snowfall, we found ourselves below the bergschrund. Visibility was extremely limited, however, Boris managed to find our tracks leading to the drop. And it was good, because we completely ran out of food and gas. But now there are a lot of them. And already by the light of the lanterns, we arranged for ourselves a festive feast of crackers, smoked fish and cheese.
In the morning, putting on our favorite snowshoes, we quickly went through the icefall, and along the Northern Inylchek glacier we reached base camp. Everyone there - from the head of Uncle Khudaibergen to the waitress Regina - fed us, gave water and congratulated us.
Denis Urubko website
Przhevalsky Peak
Wild places where there are no crowds of people. Snow-capped peaks surround from all sides on the way to the foot of the peak. In this program, you will have an exciting journey to the summit (4200 m.), overcoming the pass, as well as an exciting passage through a dense forest and a visit to a mountain lake.
Day 1:
Meeting at the Manas airport, transfer to Karakol. Dinner. Accommodation in guest house.
Day 2:
Early breakfast. Transfer by car to the start of the route. The route starts at the foot of the Karakol ski base. Then follows a long ascent to the top of the base (3040 m.), from where an amazing view of the city of Karakol opens. Ahead of us is an easily passable pass (3500 m.). Lunch on the road. Setting up a camp on a glacier under Przhevalsky Peak. Dinner. Overnight in tents
Day 3:
The morning starts with breakfast. The peak is waiting for its conquerors, on this day we will climb lightly to a height (4200 m.). We take photos for memory and descend back to the camp. Lunch. We collect the camp and go to the neighboring gorge, where there are never people, and nature is in its original form. Dinner. Overnight in tents.
Day 4:
The final day of the hiking program. Breakfast. Descent to the Karakol gorge. The path passes through dense forest and bushes. On the way we will see a small Mountain Lake. At the confluence of the gorge and the Karakol River, lunch. We continue the descent, at the end of which, we will be waiting for transport to guest house. Accommodation in a guest house, dinner.
Day 5:
Breakfast. Transfer from Karakol to Bishkek, Manas airport. End of the program.
| What is included: | What is not included: | |
| Transfer Bishkek-Karakol-Bishkek | Porter (for personal belongings) | |
| Accommodation in a guest house | Sleeping bag | |
| Transport to the beginning of the route | Meals during the transfer | |
| Meals during the trek and accommodation | Backpack | |
| Taxes and fees | Ice walking crampons | |
| Tents | ||
| Karimats | ||
| Guide-interpreter | ||
| Cook | ||
| Porter (for equipment) |
| Detail Information: | ||
| Minimum Height: | 2100 m | |
| Average Height: | 2980 m | |
| Max Height: | 4200 m | |
| Distance: | 22.7 km. | |
| Climb: | 2100 m | |
| Altitude Loss: | 2400m. | |
| Max Slope: | 56% | |
| Average slope: | 20% | |
| Minimum slope: | 18% | |
| Difficulty level: | hard | |
