PASSPORT

I. Category of first ascents 2. Caucasus, Eastern, Yarydag 3. Peak Yarydag, through the center of the Western wall via "feathers" 4. Assumed to be 5B category difficulty (first ascent) 5. Elevation difference of the wall part of the route — 530 m, length of the wall part of the route — 740 m (including traverses). Length of sections with 5–6 category difficulty — 390 m. Average steepness of the main part of the route — 70°, including 6 category difficulty — 92° (95 m) 6. Pitons hammered in:

* — use of previously hammered pitons

7. Team's travel hours: 20 hours and days — 2
8. Overnights: 1st — four people on a rock shelf.
9. Team leader: Fylonov Yury Vladimirovich — Candidate for Master of Sports

Team members:

• Volkov Andrey Evgenyevich — Candidate for Master of Sports
• Koshcheev Vladimir Nikolayevich — 1st sports category
• Martynov Alexander Ivanovich — 1st sports category

R0. Coach: Chernov Lionel Alexandrovich — Master of Sports

R1. Start of the route: July 30, 1984 summit: July 31, 1984 return: July 31, 1984

Communication with observers was carried out via the "Vitalka" radio station at 10:00, 14:00, 18:00. Emergency listening time was 12:00.

Movement on all sections of the wall was visually observable from below.

Thus, thanks to:

1. the team's high physical and technical preparation;
2. the correctly chosen tactical movement scheme on the route;
3. the use of carefully and specially selected equipment;
4. passing the rope rails with top-rope climbing, the route was completed safely and at a high pace.

Fig. 6. Photo of the central part of the 3rd wall of Yarydag. — overnight stay; — control tour; — top of the wall part of the route; 40 — location of the shot on the route and the number of the photo illustration. July 30, 1984, 15:00, Lens 37a (F=130), distance 1000 m, height of the shooting point 3170 m.

During the ascent, the team members formed the following rope teams: Fylonov Yu.V.—Koshcheev V.N. and Volkov A.E.—Martynov A.I.

On sections R1, R2, R3, R5, R9, R11, R13, the Fylonov–Koshcheev rope team worked first. On sections R4, R6, R7, R8, R10, R12, the Volkov–Martynov rope team worked first. According to the tactical plan, Fylonov Yu.V. and Volkov A.E. (both Candidate Masters of Sports in sport climbing) worked as the first in the rope teams.

Movement on all sections of the route was carried out as follows:

• Sections R2, R4 (15 m), R7 — simultaneous movement of independent rope teams. (1, 2 category difficulty)
• Sections R6, R9 (40 m), R13 — alternate movement of participants in rope teams. (4 category difficulty) The second rope team follows, using the pitons and chocks of the leading rope team.
• Sections R1, R3, R4 (105 m); R5 — movement along the rope rails. Leader — on a double rope (R8, R9 (20 m), R10, R11, R12) of different colors, other participants (5 category difficulty and higher) — on rope rails with top-rope climbing.

July 29, 1984. The Fylonov–Koshcheev rope team conducted preliminary processing of the lower part of the route and hung 80 m of rope (R1–R3). After that, the rope team returned to the base camp.

July 30, 1984. Leaving the base camp at 4:00, the group, reaching the start of the route, began moving along the previously processed section at 5:30. At 20:00, the group gathered on a shelf, which ended the second "feather", where an overnight stay was organized (R9). The overnight stay was lying down.

July 31, 1984. The group began further movement along the route at 8:00 and reached the top of the wall at 13:20. At 18:00, the group descended to the base camp, via a previously scouted path.

During the ascent, there were no deviations from the tactical plan. There were also no falls or injuries.

On the route, homemade chocks and titanium pitons, boxes, and wedges were used.

The weather during the ascent was good; sunny during the day, no precipitation.

Fig. 2. Photo of the profile of the 3rd wall of Yarydag on the right. — overnight stay; — control tour; — top of the wall part of the route July 30, 1984, 14:00, Jupiter 37A lens, distance 500 m, shooting point M2, height of the shooting point 3300 m.

Fig. 3. Photo of the profile of the 3rd wall of Yarydag on the left. — overnight stay; — control tour; — top of the wall part of the route August 28, 1984, 19:00, Helios 44M lens (F=58 mm), distance 1 km, shooting point M3, height of the shooting point 3060 m.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ROUTE BY SECTIONS*

The route passes through the convex part of the Western wall of Yarydag to the right of a dark streak with a completely smoothed relief (waterfall) through pronounced "feathers" and begins with an exit to a wide gentle shelf with earth and grass.

Section R1 (coincides with the start of the Polyakov route) is a 30-meter monolithic wall (slightly overhanging at the top), but climbing is not extremely difficult. The first person climbed the section using free climbing on a double rope.

Section R3 (40 m). Similar in rock structure (monolith) to section R1 (good holds, sufficient footholds for free climbing).

Section R4 — long, diverse, and not equally difficult throughout. Characterized by an abundance of large cracks, chocks go well (hexes, stoppers). The left wall of the inner corner is steep, and on the right, it is possible to search for a convenient path and method of passage within 1.0–1.5 meters in width.

Section R5 — is climbed using ladders — it is a steep wall with cracks for pitons.

The next difficult section is R8. Here, climbing is tense. The rocks are less monolithic, and there are few cracks for hammering pitons. There is a small cornice on the section, which is climbed using free climbing.

Section R10 starts from the top of the second "feather" and represents two steep monolithic walls with difficult climbing.

However, a small shelf under them, convenient for reliable belay organization, reduces the psychological tension when passing this section.

Section R11 — similar to section R10, but here the first wall (15 m) is actually vertical, and the second has an even negative slope (overhanging). Moreover, it is dusty, making it extremely difficult to climb.

Section R12 — an overhanging chimney, which is climbed with tense climbing along the left part of the negative wall.

* Since the section of the route from the upper point of the 3rd wall to peak Yarydag is not of mountaineering interest (elevation difference 150 m, length 1.5–2 km, not higher than 1 category difficulty), therefore, this section is omitted in the report and only the description of the wall part of the route is given. The last section R13 does not present a problem. Good holds, the presence of a large number of cracks for belay organization make it possible to move independently in rope teams.

Thus, according to the team members:

1. the saturation with difficult sections on the route is not lower than on the Shchedrin route, although it is inferior to the latter in length;
2. a visual comparison with the Polyakov route shows that the route climbed is similar in difficulty, length, and average steepness to the Polyakov route;
3. with worsening weather, the complexity of the route increases sharply, and its passability decreases significantly.

All this shows that the route climbed, without a doubt, corresponds to the 5B category difficulty.

General photo of the Yerydag summit (3925 m). 1 — team's route through the center of the 3rd wall via "feathers" 5B category difficulty (Samoded's route) 2 — Dubovikov's route through the 3rd well of the 3rd wall 5A category difficulty 3 — Nezamtdinov's route along the 3rd wall 5A category difficulty 4 — Polyakov's route along the left edge of the 3rd wall 5B category difficulty 5 — Nikhaylov's route along the right part of the NW wall 6A category difficulty. Taken from the top of Shalbuzdag (4060 m) in January 1992.