Castle East — West from the Burevestnik col to Dvoinyashka, combined, 4B
Route description:
The ascent to the Castle West peak is described in the "Castle from the Burevestnik col" route. From it, descend to the saddle (cornices!). Via broken rocks and a short wall, reach the East peak. Return to the West peak via the ascent route. From it, descend to the south side of the ridge via R1–R3 ledges and traverse around a small gendarme R3–R4 and then the "Beak" gendarme R4–R5 via a narrow ledge half a foot wide (tense climbing). Via a 15-meter internal corner, reach the top of the "Beak" gendarme and rappel down to the ridge R7. From here, 50 m of difficult ridge rock climbing follows to the last gendarme, climbed "head-on" via a difficult wall (no bypass!). Then, via a 500-meter (cornices!), and from R11 steep (50°) snowy ridge, reach the saddle between the Castle and Dvoinyashka. From the West peak — 12–14 hours.
Descend from the saddle by rappelling left down a steep narrow couloir (falling rocks!) to a narrow, indistinct ledge. From it, rappel down 30 m. Then, via a steep snowy couloir, snowy slopes, and scree ledges and terraces, descend to the scree plateau under the Castle's southern slope. From the saddle — 4–6 hours.
From the plateau, via scree terraces, bypassing the Dvoinyashka and Dalar peaks from the south, ascend to the Dalar col. From the plateau — 3.5 hours.
- equipment recommendations: see the "Castle via the eastern ridge" route;
- the R4–R5 ledge is a psychologically tense section of the route.
(1) — view from the southern side
