Russian Mountaineering Championship 2024. High-Technical Class

Report on the Ascent of Kara-Kaya (3646 m) via the Central Counterfort of the Southwest Wall, 6A cat. compl. (E. Poltavets) by the Voronezh Team from September 11 to 14, 2024

I. Ascent Passport

	1. General Information
1.1	Full Name, Sports Rank of the Team Leader	Lomara A. Maksimova, Candidate for Master of Sports
1.2	Full Name, Sports Rank of Participants	Alexey Yu. Gagarinov, 1st sports rank
1.3	Full Name of Coach	Mikhail V. T. Torshin
1.3	Organization	Voronezh Regional Public Organization "Sports Federation of Alpine Climbing"
	2. Characteristics of the Ascent Object
2.1	Region	Caucasus
2.2	Valley	Bezengi Valley
2.3	Section Number according to the 2013 Classification Table	2.5.226
2.4	Name and Height of the Summit	Kara-Kaya Central (3646 m)
2.5	Geographic Coordinates of the Summit (Latitude/Longitude), GPS Coordinates	43°16′01″ N 43°14′47″ E
	3. Characteristics of the Route
3.1	Route Name	Via the Central Counterfort of the SW Wall (E. Poltavets, 2010)
3.2	Proposed Category of Difficulty	6A
3.3	Degree of Route Exploration	High
3.4	Relief Characteristics of the Route	Rock
3.5	Height Difference of the Route (Altimeter or GPS data)	712 m
3.6	Route Length (in meters)	1151 m
3.7	Technical Elements of the Route (Total length of sections of varying difficulty with relief characteristics)	I–III+ cat. compl. rocks — 480 m, IV cat. compl. rocks — 40 m, V cat. compl. rocks — 190 m, VI cat. compl. rocks — 441 m
3.8	Average Steepness of the Route, (°)	68
3.9	Average Steepness of the Main Part of the Route, (°)	1st bastion — 76 2nd bastion — 81 3rd bastion — 87
3.10	Descent from the Summit	Rappelling down from the control cairn 100 m west of the saddle between Kara-Kaya Central and Kara-Kaya Western.
3.11	Additional Route Characteristics	Water is absent
	4. Characteristics of Team Actions
4.1	Time in Motion (Team's walking hours, in hours and days)	35 hours; 4 days
:--:	:--:	:--:
4.2	Overnight Stays	Platform, haul bag
4.3	Route Processing Time	-
4.4	Start of Ascent	11:30, September 11, 2024
4.5	Reach the Summit	18:20, September 14, 2024
4.6	Return to Base Camp	16:00, September 15, 2024
	5. Weather Conditions
5.1	Temperature, °C	−5…+10
5.2	Wind Speed, m/s	10 m/s
5.3	Precipitation	Snow, rain, sleet, hail
5.4	Visibility, m	2 m – 10 km
	6. Report Responsible
6.1	Full Name, e-mail	Alexey Yu. Gagarinov, ymahaster@gmail.com

Panorama of the Area Route Line Technical Photograph of the Route Area Map Drawn Route Profile

Route Characteristics

Section #	Route Diagram in UIAA Symbols	Section Difficulty (UIAA)	Section Length, m	Steepness, α°
R23–R24		II	130	50
R22–R23		VI A1, II, III	8 15 20	90 50 50
R21–R22		VI A1, II	8 15	90 50
R20–R21		VI A2, II	40 10	90 45
R19–R20		VI A1	35	90
R18–R19		VI A1, VI A2	20 25	85 95
R17–R18		III	25	90
R16–R17		I	30	50
R15–R16		VI A1, II	15 25	95 50
---	---	---	---	---
R14–R15		VI A1	15	90
R13–R14		VI A2, IV, III	25 15 10	85 60 60
R12–R13		VI A2, V+	20 10	90 80
R11–R12		VI A3	30	95
R10–R11		VI A3, VI	15 15	100 80
R9–R10		V, VI+ A2, VI	15 20 15	60 90 85
R8–R9		IV, II	15 20	60 30
R7–R8		III	25	60
R6–R7		V+	25	80
---	---	---	---	---
R5–R6		IV, VI A2, V+	10 20 20	70 90 75
R4–R5		V, VI	25 25	75 80
R3–R4		III, VI A2, V	15 40 10	65 90 80
R2–R3		VI A1	50	85
R1–R2		III, V, V	15 15 20	60 90 75
R0–R1		V+ A1, V	35 15	80 90

Route Description

Section #	Description	Photo #
R0–R1	Start of the route — a characteristic inner corner 10 meters to the left of the edge of the scree couloir. Up the inner corner. 35 m V+ A1. Up the crack to the right 15 m. 35 m V+ A1; 15 m V	1
R1–R2	15 m through simple rocks to a vertical wall. Up the wall to a ledge under the cornice 15 m. Up the corner to a large ledge. Station under the cornice. Bolt (not found) 15 m III; 15 m V. 30 m V.	2
R2–R3	Through a destroyed, partially overhanging crack to the right and up. Enter the chimney. Live rocks! At the base of the chimney, a bolt. 50 m VI A1.	3
R3–R4	Avoid the plug, exit the chimney. Through a steep, overhanging wall to the right and up to a ledge. Station on a large stone. 10 V, 40 m VI+ A2. Here, further under the cornice, a good overnight stay is possible. (After exiting the chimney, we went up and left along the wall and reached the "Finger" ledge. The option is complex in climbing and has poor protection; we do not recommend repeating it.)	4
R4–R5	Along the ledge, traverse left under the "Finger" ledge. Station on the ledge to the left. 15 m III.	-
R5–R6	Up the left edge of the ledge along the wall. Up the wall 25 m. Uncomfortable station on an oblique ledge with a bolt. 25 m V; 25 m VI.	-
R6–R7	Up to a comfortable ledge. To the right to a bolt, then through a steep, destroyed wall to the right and up to an inner corner. 10 m VI; 20 m VI A2; 20 m V+.	5
R7–R8	Enter the inner corner. Up the corner to a ledge. Exit to the ridge. Comfortable overnight stay on the ledge at the top of the first bastion. There is a bolt. 25 V+; 25 III.	6
R8–R9	Along the ridge, approach under the second bastion "Iron". Along the slabs, approach under the overhanging wall. Station on a large stone. 25 m II; 15 m IV.	7,8
R9–R10	Difficult traverse along an oblique ledge to the right to a bolt (behind the bend, not immediately visible). Traverse to the right to an overhanging crack, up it, then along the wall to the right and up to a bolt (loose rock, points may be unreliable). 15 m V; 20 m VI+ A2–A3; 15 m VI.
R10–R11	Difficult climbing to the right and up into an overhanging inner corner. Up the corner (there is a bolt), overcome the cornice, further difficult climbing up to a ledge. 15 m VI A3+; 15 m VI.	9
R11–R12	Up the corner 10 m, then difficult climbing along a slab to an overhanging corner. There is a bolt (visible not immediately, climb along the right boundary of the black streak). Up the corner through the cornice 15 m. Station is uncomfortable. There is a local piton. 30 m.	10,11,12
	VI A3+. The bolt misled us. It is worth either ignoring it or immediately after clipping, moving back to the left into the corner.
R12–R13	Up, under the cornice. Overcome the cornice and exit to a ledge with a bolt (to the right). 20 m VI A2; 10 m V+.	13
R13–R14	Up and to the right into an inner corner, along the corner to a ledge (higher, under the overhanging "bald head" a channel with a carabiner is visible — do not climb there!). Along the ledge, carefully traverse left onto the counterfort (top of the "Iron" bastion). Overnight stay is possible here. Up 10 m to a ledge, station is uncomfortable. 25 m VI A1; 15 m IV; 10 m III.	14,15
R14–R15	Overcome the wall and along gentle rocks to the left onto a ledge to an inner corner. 15 m VI A1; 10 m III.	16
R15–R16	Through an overhanging inner corner, pass the wall, exit onto gentle, destroyed rocks. Further to a comfortable ledge in the middle part of the scree going from the base of the third bastion. On the ledge — a comfortable and safe overnight stay. 15 m VI A1; 35 m II.	-
R16–R17	From the overnight stay site, up under the base of the third bastion. 30 m I.	17
R17–R18	Along a narrow ledge, careful traverse to the right to an overhanging inner corner. Station at the base of the corner. 25 m III.	18
R18–R19	Up through the inner corner, further to the right along blocks to an inner corner closed by a cornice. Overcome the cornice and further move to the right and up to a ledge with a bolt (driven low). 20 m VI A1; 25 m VI A2.	19
R19–R20	Up the wall to a ledge. In the lower part of the ledge, traverse to the right to a fragment. Bolt. 35 m VI A1. Did not find the bolt. Climbed between the fragment itself and the wall. There was no possibility to organize good protection points. Station on top of the fragment.	20,21
R20–R21	5 m to the right into the corner. Up the corner under the cornice. Overcome the cornice and move up, bearing left under a large cornice (live blocks, very rockfall prone!). This cornice is passed in the left part. Further up 8 m through a vertical wall to a scree ledge. 40 m VI A2; 10 m II.	22,23,24
R21–R22	Overcome a short, difficult wall and along the scree, approach under the next rise of the counterfort. 8 m VI A1; 15 m II.	-
R22–R23	To the right around the corner. Along the ledge, approach to an inner corner. Up the corner, then along strongly destroyed rocks to a monolithic wall. 15 m II; 8 m VI A1; 20 m III.	-
R23–R24	Move up along simple, strongly destroyed rocks. Sometimes there are short, steep walls. Exit to the summit ridge. 130 m II.	25

Characteristics of Team Actions

Initially, the group planned to climb a more complex route but decided to postpone and eventually abandon the planned ascent due to a participant's prolonged illness. Kara-Kaya was chosen for the following reasons:

The route has been repeatedly climbed as a first 6A;
The route has many ledges, reducing the speed requirements;
The rock climbing route best suits our preferences and technical skills.

On September 10, 2024, the team arrived in Nalchik. We gathered equipment: 12 cams and 12 pitons, and also brought 9 liters of water. The food consisted of freeze-dried packets and isotonic drinks.

On September 11, 2024, at 6:00, we departed from the Bezengi office. The total weight of the backpacks was approximately 38 kg. At 8:00, we began walking from the pass under the Kara-Kaya peak. We started working on the route at 11:30. At 18:40, we reached the "Finger" outcrop (section R4), to the right of which there is a comfortable overnight stay site. Pure climbing, Maksimova led.

On September 12, 2024, we began working at 7:30. We reached the top of the first bastion relatively quickly. Then the weather deteriorated slightly. On the second bastion, the relief becomes significantly more complex. The leader moved on aid climbing, sometimes switching to free climbing. On section R11–R12, when it was necessary to climb along the right edge of the black streaks, the leader encountered an overhanging wall with almost no relief. (If passing this section on aid climbing, it is better to climb directly to the inner corner, along the center of the black streaks, to the left of the bolt). After spending a lot of time attempting to pass this section, we decided to set up an overnight stay right there, on a small "ledge". We set up several stations and hung a haul bag between them and slept sitting on it. Thanks to the external slings, we organized protection from the rain for the night. Surprisingly, it was a comfortable overnight stay. Gagarinov led, pure climbing up to section R10.

On September 13, 2024, we began working on the route at 8:00. Reached the top of the second bastion at 13:00. We mostly used aid climbing. The weather worsened. Snow and hail. We waited under a tarp on a ledge. At 14:40, we continued moving. After 1.5 hours, we reached a large ledge under the 3rd bastion. We set up a tent, waited out another charge of rain with hail. At 18:00, we went to process the 3rd bastion. We placed 1 rope: straightened the traverse and climbed a bit above R18. At 19:00, we were in the tent. Gagarinov led.

On September 14, 2024, we began moving along the processed section at 7:00. Maksimova led, pure climbing, we moved quickly. On section R19–R20, we did not find the bolt. Many live rocks, poor protection. Under the overhang of section R20–R21, hail started, followed by snow. Maksimova descended to a ledge. We waited out the bad weather: fog, close thunderstorm. After the thunder subsided, Gagarinov led in the rain. He passed the remaining part of the wall using aid climbing. The rocks were wet, in snow. Sleet was falling. After overcoming several more small walls, we moved simultaneously along the scree to the summit. We reached the summit at 18:20. We were very wet. In conditions of bad weather and zero visibility, we decided not to descend on an unfamiliar route that day. We set up a tent, warmed up. The only dry thing we had between us was a sleeping bag rated for +4 °C, but we could stop conserving water.

On September 15, 2024, we descended via the saddle with Kara-Kaya Western. The descent route is well described in Kananykhin's report from 2019. We began descending at 9:00. We reached the scree slopes by 13:00. Then we walked. We reached the road at 16:00. Everything was covered in clouds, there was no connection, so we walked another 8 km to the Bezengi settlement on foot.

Summary

We accomplished our minimum plan — climbed 6A for Alexey. It was not possible to move according to the Krasnoyarsk simultaneous scheme due to a stable lack of protection points, however, the second always had top-rope protection via Grigri when climbing on a rope. This is Gagarinov's first 6A, and Maksimova's second 6A in the high mountains.

The route was generally liked; it is diverse and logical. There are no pronounced keys, it keeps you in tension. For most of its length, there is no feeling of monolithic rock, which creates discomfort during climbing.

The group contacted the Bezengi alpine base and registered with the Ministry of Emergency Situations. However, during bad weather: