1. Class of winter ascents.
2. Central Caucasus, Main Caucasian Range.
3. Chatyn via "Romb" chimneys of the Northern wall (Myshlyaev's route).
4. Difficulty category — 6B.
5. Height difference — 768 m, route length — 1175 m.
6. Length of sections with 5–6 diff. cat. — 575 m.

Length of sections with 6 diff. cat. — 515 m. Average steepness of the wall part of the route — 86°.

7. Pitons driven:

8. Team's travel hours — 59, days — 7, including 2 days of processing.

9. Overnights: 3 lying on a shelf with snow drift, 1 semi-reclining on the "roof".

10. Team leader and senior coach: Pogorelov Alexander Grigorievich — Master of Sports of International Class Participants: Astakhov Mikhail V. — Candidate for Master of Sports Zaporozhsky Mikhail Yuryevich — Candidate for Master of Sports Koshelenko Yuri Vladimirovich — Candidate for Master of Sports Polokhov Vitaly Fedorovich — Candidate for Master of Sports

    Team coach: Shemenev Alexander Grigorievich.

11. Departure to the route: February 18, 1994. Summit: February 24, 1994. Return to camp: February 25, 1994.

12. Organization: Rostov Regional Federation of Alpinism and Rock Climbing.

Photo 1. General photo of Chatyn peak. The photograph is retaken from the report of the team of "Baksan" alpine camp 1984.

— Myshlyaev's route 1959 — 6A cat. diff., climbed by the team — Chernoslivin's route 1965 — 6A cat. diff. — Snesarev's route 1959 — 6A cat. diff. — Grakovich's route 1972 — 6A cat. diff.

Tactical actions of the team

The ascent was carried out according to the tactical plan. Initially, the team planned to climb Chernoslivin's route as the most technically difficult and longest route on the "Romb" and not yet climbed in winter conditions. But after being dropped off on the Chalaat glacier plateau and viewing the entire "Romb" through a monocular, it became clear that there were fixed ropes on all routes to the left of Myshlyaev's route, namely:

• on Chernoslivin's route — almost along the entire length of the route;
• on Snesarev's route — almost along the entire length of the route.

Out of the initial options considered by the team as possible ascent objects, only Myshlyaev's route was "clean".

The tactical plan for the route was drawn up directly under the route itself, which made it possible to take into account all the subtleties of the upcoming ascent. Since two other competing teams: UMTS "Elbrus" and Elbrus KSS led by Avtomonov were also present under the wall at that moment, re-registration and re-issuance of discharge documents did not cause any problems.

February 17, 1994. Our group: 5 team members + 2 observers, overnight stay together with two competing teams, was airlifted by helicopter to the Chalaat glacier plateau under the Northern wall of Chatyn.

To climb the "Romb", we had all the necessary equipment:

• specially made wall tent
• stock of ropes
• "hook-legs"
• bolt pitons
• spare pair of crampons

On the route, the team worked in two rope teams:

• Pogorelov–Polokhov–Astakhov
• Zaporozhsky–Koshelenko.

It was planned to complete the route in 7 days with 2 days of processing. The ascent showed that the assessment of the possibilities and the winter condition of the wall were made correctly.

• February 18, 1994 — 1st day of processing: from 9:00 to 15:00, the Zaporozhsky–Koshelenko rope team worked, from 15:00 to 18:00 — Pogorelov–Polokhov.
• February 19, 1994 — 2nd day of processing: from 9:00 to 17:00, the Pogorelov–Astakhov–Polokhov rope team worked.
• February 20, 1994 — departure on the route at 9:00. The Pogorelov–Polokhov rope team worked ahead, the rest were engaged in carrying loads and setting up a bivouac on the wall. End of work — 18:00.
• February 21, 1994 — processing of the middle chimney: from 9:00 to 15:00 — Zaporozhsky–Koshelenko, from 15:00 to 18:00 — Polokhov–Astakhov.
• February 22, 1994 — processing of the upper chimney: from 9:00 to 18:00 — Pogorelov–Polokhov.
• February 23, 1994 — passage of the upper part of the chimney, exit to overnight stay on the "roof": from 9:00 to 14:00 — Pogorelov–Polokhov–Astakhov, from 14:00 to 18:00 — Zaporozhsky–Koshelenko.
• February 24, 1994 — start of work at 9:00. Reached the summit of Chatyn Main — 15:00. Descent via Route 3A to the Ushba plateau.

Main difficulties faced by the team during the ascent:

• heavy snow cover on the lower and middle parts of the route, up to the upper chimney;
• limited choice of cracks (most are filled with ice and dirt) for protection and passage, which required additional time to ensure proper reliability of movement;
• very hard winter ice on the "roof" of the Northern wall and on the descent via Route 3A.

During the ascent:

• the first climber worked with one dynamic and one static rope;
• double rope or single rope with a backup was used for organizing belays;
• bolt pitons were not driven, most of the old ones were torn off.

In the upper part of the large chimney, excess equipment was dropped to observers on the Lozhny Chatyn pass.

The ascent was facilitated by:

• proper distribution of team forces;
• quality rest in a fairly spacious and warm wall tent;
• good assortment of food products.

The first bivouac on the "Romb" was organized on a shelf with a snow drift under a cornice, a rope below Abalakovskaya shelf. The bivouac turned out to be very convenient and safe, allowing:

• effective processing of the upper part of the "Romb";
• good recovery of strength.

The second bivouac on the "roof" of the "Romb" was less convenient; a large stone and an ice ridge descending from it were used to organize it. Expanding the site by using ice from the cut ridge allowed spending the night in a semi-reclining position. The canopy above the bivouac protected from possible rockfall and avalanches.

Radio communication with the camp was carried out using the "Lastochka" radio station through observers and an auxiliary group led by rescue team leader A. Shemenev, who was at Aristov's bivouac in the Shkhelda valley. There were no missed radio communication sessions.

Route scheme in symbols

Route description by sections