North Tien Shan, Zailiyskiy Alatau

Peak Yoshkar-Ola via the centre of the West Face

5A cat.

Ascent Log

Region, valley, section number according to the classification table of 20__ year — North Tien Shan, Zailiyskiy Alatau, Maloe Almatinskoe valley.
Name of the peak, its height, name of the route: Peak Yoshkar-Ola 3950 m, via the large angle of the West Face
Proposed: 5A cat.
Characteristics of the route: rock
Height difference of the route: 400 m

Route length: 700 m. Length of sections:

V cat. — 200 m
VI cat. — 10 m Average steepness:
Main part of the route — 80°
Total route — 55°

"Streams" left on the route:

Total 6; including bolted — 3

Team's walking hours: 13 h
Leader: Gennadiy Durov, CMS

Participants:

Denis Urubko
Denis Grinevich, MCMS
Boris Dedeshko, 1st sports category
Alexander Chechullin, CMS
1st sports category

Coach: Denis Urubko
Departure to the route from Base Camp: hour, date, month, year

Route started: August 10, 2008, 10:00. Reached the summit: August 10, 2008, 23:00. Returned to Base Camp: August 11, 2008, 01:00. Descent from the summit: via the route 1B cat.;

Organization: CSKA MO RK
Responsible for the report K. Belotserkovskiy

Email and phone k.belotserkovskiy@gmail.com, +7 701 736 18 87

General photo of the wall

Centre of the West Face, 5A, G. Durov, 2008
Via the large angle of the 3rd wall, 5A, K. Belotserkovskiy, 2009
Via the right part of the South Face, 4B G. Durov, 2010

Area map

Route scheme

Description

R0–R1

The first two ropes pass through the "trunk" — the gentle part of the wall. From the cairn under the wall to the left, upwards along the wall-shelves. After about 35 meters — a station on a ledge.

R1–R2

To the right into the inner corner, leading to the junction of the "trunk" with the main part of the wall. Before exiting onto the shelf — a short but pleasant wall (6A). Station on two hooks, blocked with a ledge.

R2–R3

From the shelf to the left, in the direction of a wall about 15–20 meters long. Be careful — everything is crumbling. The wall is about 75° steep, with:

cracks
holds

Station on a ledge in the right part of a large shelf.

R3–R4

From the shelf, up along the outer corner, after about 10 meters, you need to go to the right into the base of the inner corner. The corner has a crack. At the top, it becomes quite wide and a large friend is desirable, but you can manage without it. At the base of the crack, a bolt is hammered.

Station on a comfortable ledge on a bolt and a ledge.

R4–R5

From the inner corner, to the left of the station, go beyond the bend, and then along a diagonal crack to the left-up. For the first climber, this section is not difficult, while for the second, it may be quite uncomfortable. Station on a comfortable ledge on a protrusion.

R5–R6

From the ledge, go slightly to the right, then up along the inner corner, after which traverse along the ledge to the left. The hook is like this. Probably, you can climb straight, but there are monolithic slabs — I didn't want to.

From the ledge, up along the inner corner
Along the way, you need to cross a small cornice
Further up the corner

Not a very comfortable ledge for a station.

R6–R7

From the station, to the left in the direction of the inner corner. Miss the corner and under the overhanging wall, go along the ledge to the left, where this wall tapers off. There is a stream flowing there, which is not very pleasant, but the climbing is quite easy. To the right, up along the wall-shelves. The last difficult piece on this section was a steep inner corner with a good crack. You can exit the corner:

to the left — put your heel on a ledge, holding onto it with your hands, and roll onto it;
to the right — a bit easier, no foothold, but good handholds. I exited to the right. Further exit to the right-up along the inner corners. The rope ends on a large scree shelf at the top of the wall.

Further to the right-up along the shelf to the base of a scree couloir, from which you need to go to the right onto a ridge, from which you can transfer to a wall about 25–30 meters high, and then along the ridge. Many sections are done with simultaneous belay, but in several places, you need to organize belay. The ridge is worth a normal 2B.

Descent via the 1B route to the pass, and further along the couloirs either to the road or to Alpinist's camp.

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