Ascent Passport
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Rocky ridge; Classification section № 2.8 96
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Tbau East (2832 m), via the Eastern edge of the Southeast bastion.
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5B category of difficulty
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Route type: rock
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Route height difference: 912 m (by GPS)
Route length: 1550 m. Length of sections with 5–6 category of difficulty: 150 m. Average steepness: — main part of the route: 75° — entire route: 65°
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Pitons left on the route: total — 4, including bolted — 0
Pitons used on the route: stationary bolted — 7 (including TCO: 0), total TCO used — 19.
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Team's walking hours: 30 hours, 3 days
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Leader: Dorfman Lev Vitalievich, Master of Sports.
Participants: — Guryakov Sergey Andreevich* — 1st sports category — Barabanov Georgy Alexandrovich — 1st sports category — Vershinina Olga Igorevna — 1st sports category — Klimov Maxim Andreevich — 1st sports category
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Coach: Dorfman L.V.
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Start of preparation: 15:00 March 9, 2008.
Start of ascent: 6:00 March 10, 2008. Reach the summit: 14:00 March 12, 2008. Return to Beslan: 17:00 March 13, 2008*
PHOTO #1 General view of Tbau East summit. View from the approach to the route. March 9, 2008. The first ascent route is shown in red, the variant of the first section taken by the team is shown in green.
PHOTO #2 Technical photograph of the route. The route line (visible part) is superimposed on the photo, section numbers, heights (by GPS), and overnight stay dates are indicated. The photo was taken from the road at 9:00 on March 9, 2008.
PHOTO #3 Passage of the upper part of section R0–R1
PHOTO #4 Movement on fixed ropes in the chimney of section R2–R3
PHOTO #5 Passage of the local overhanging inner corner of section R4–R5
PHOTO #6 Movement on fixed ropes in the upper part of section R12–R13
PHOTO #7 Start of section R13–R14
PHOTO #8 Middle of the key section of the route. R16–R17. Photo taken from the shoulder of the Eastern ridge.
PHOTO #9 Passage of the key point of section R17–R18. Photo taken from the shoulder of the Eastern ridge.
PHOTO #10 Passage of the "cork" in the upper part of the chimney. Section R24–R25.
Conclusions and recommendations for the route
The route taken by the team corresponds to 5B category of difficulty. According to the judging methodology for assessing relative complexity within a subcategory: 5B is above average.
The character of climbing is similar to the Crimean type, despite dry rocks, the use of TCO was necessary. Anchor pitons and friends were actively used, all piton placements were left on the route. An ice tool was used to traverse the summit ridge, crampons were not required.
When preparing for the ascent, the following should be taken into account: — lack of water on the route — extremely small amount of snow (March) Thermoses were used to collect snow.
Cellular communication (MTS, Beeline, Megafon) on the route is unstable.
Rescue service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of North Ossetia: — City: Vladikavkaz — Address: 273 Kosta avenue — Phone: (+7 8672) 74 41 03
*Note Guryakov S. tragically died on March 12, 2008 after descending from the summit to the overnight stay (2480 m, R16). Wanting to retrieve lost equipment (hook), he clipped a piece of spare rope (L=15 m, d=10 mm) into a bolted piton of category 2 (2006) and rappelled down to the bend of the terrace-shelf with a steep couloir. At the bend, when the rope was loaded, the bolted piton flew out, and Sergey fell into the couloir for 50 m. He died from his injuries 4 hours later. Sergey's body and the group were delivered by helicopter to Beslan on March 13 at 16:40.
Due to the emergency, pitons from section R15–R16 and a rope on the 2nd rappel of section R11–R12 (1st category of difficulty) were left on the route, left by the group during the ascent. The note in the 1st category of difficulty was also not replaced (it was planned to be done during the descent).
All materials on the emergency were sent to the STK FA and S, Moscow, at the time of writing the report.