TIMING OF THE ROUTE: START: March 24, 1992 END: August 13, 1992

TEAM: PHIL THORNHILL, GREAT BRITAIN — SOLO.

A. Start of the route. 2 hours

B. Dawn.

I quickly traverse the slope on easy terrain to bypass the icefall line. This traverse takes just under 1 hour.

C. First technical difficulty:

• Loose, shallow snow on rocks.
• I have to pull my backpack behind me.

D. Camp #1.

E. I bypassed the main serac barrier from the right-hand side, but ahead lies a complicated bergschrund. I skirt around it by climbing to the top of a serac at an angle that bypasses it. This is cat. diff. 4B (ice and snow, according to the Scottish classification). I try to pull my backpack behind me, but it gets stuck. I have to "plow" a trench in the snow and pull it out.

F. Camp #2.

I keep traversing несложный (easy?) terrain, but between me and the предвеrшинный (pre-summit?) ridge lies a large crevasse and a serac barrier. By evening, the weather and visibility deteriorate.

G. Difficult bergschrund. Heavy snow — "deep sugar". I have to dig a lot. It's too loose for climbing. Even my ice axe shaft doesn't help. Eventually, I manage to climb out of my own "vertical rut" and make my way through the snow to the предвеrшинный (pre-summit?) ridge. My backpack gets stuck again when I try to pull it behind me. I have to free it again, but this time, securing it to a solid rock on the предвеrшинный (pre-summit?) ridge.