St. Petersburg Federation of Alpinism, Rock Climbing, and Ice Climbing

2015 Russian Championship

Ice and Snow Class, Correspondence Entry

Report

St. Petersburg National Team Peak Svobodnoy Korei, 4777 m, via North Face Semiletkin Route, 1988, Category 6A Winter Ascent St. Petersburg 2015

Ascent Passport

1. Region — Tian Shan, Kyrgyzsky Ridge, 7.4;
2. Peak — Svobodnoy Korei, 4777 m, via North Face, S. Semiletkin, 1988;
3. Complexity Category — 6A;
4. Route Type — Combined;
5. Route Characteristics: Wall section height difference — 600 m, total route height difference — 720 m; Route length — 1000 m; Length of sections with category 6 difficulty — 250 m, category 5 — 450 m; Average steepness of the wall section — 72°, main wall section — 86°;
6. Left on the route: pitons — 0, including bolted pitons — 0; " закладок" — 0. Pitons used on the route: stationary bolted pitons — 0 (old bolted pitons are present on the route); total ITC used — approximately 200;
7. Total climbing hours — 53 hours, days — 6;
8. Team Leader — Aleksey Sergeyevich Lonchinsky, Master of Sports Team Members: Aleksandr Borisovich Gukov, Candidate for Master of Sports Aleksey Yuryevich Artyukhin, Candidate for Master of Sports Viktor Aleksandrovich Koval, Candidate for Master of Sports
9. Team Coaches: Tatyana Ivanovna Timoshenko, Master of Sports Aleksandr Borisovich Gukov, Candidate for Master of Sports
10. Departure dates: On the route — February 23, 2015, at 7:00, On the summit — February 28, 2015, at 7:30, Return to Base Camp (Ratsek) — February 28, 2015, at 19:00.
11. Organization: FASIL

Team Tactics

The Semiletkin route on the north face of Peak Svobodnoy Korei is considered the most challenging in the area. The route has been climbed multiple times and is well-trodden. The team opted for an alpine-style ascent without prior processing. Starting the ascent at 7:00 on February 23 and reaching the bergschrund, they spent 2 hours and 30 minutes overcoming it (the bergschrund was heavily crevassed with an overhanging firn wall). Throughout the day, small powder avalanches slid down the wall (due to heavy snowfalls beforehand). By 19:00, the team had covered the lower part of the route (300 meters of ice and mixed terrain) and reached the planned bivouac site, which they had to clear of a massive snowdrift. They finished setting up the bivouac at 1:00 AM. The weather on February 23 was overcast with light snowfall. On the next day, February 24, the pair Lonchinsky — Artyukhin fixed ropes above a large cornice, while the pair Gukov — Koval leveled and improved the bivouac ledge. The main challenge of this and subsequent days was the need to clear rocks of snow, which significantly slowed their progress. On February 25, the pair Gukov — Artyukhin processed part of the wall up to section R10. On this day, gusts of wind with snow periodically blew, reducing the pace of movement. On the following day, February 26, the pair Lonchinsky — Koval processed the route up to section R12. The pair Artyukhin — Gukov moved the bivouac to a ledge left of the exit from the chimney R9 (a sitting bivouac on sacks filled with snow). On February 27, the team overcame the key section of the wall, with Artyukhin leading. After exiting into the ice couloir, Gukov took the lead. The team reached the ridge via the ice couloir and then found a convenient bivouac on the ridge below the summit. On the next day, after packing up the bivouac, the team reached the summit in full formation at 7:30. They found a note from the Ukrainian team Babenchuk — Bandrivsky dated January 27, 2015 (Barber's route). The descent was made via Barber's route, category 5B. By 19:00, the team had descended to Ratsek Hut, and by 22:00, they were at Ala-Archa Alpine Camp.

The approach from Koronskaya Hut through Ak-Sai Glacier took 1.5 hours.

Route Description by Sections

R0–R1. Snow slope, 60 m, 45° to the bergschrund. The bergschrund is heavily crevassed with an overhanging firn wall. R1–R2. Rock, covered in ice, 60 m. R2–R3. Ice slope, 60 m, moving up and right. R3–R4. Internal corners filled with ice, 60 m, up and right. R4–R5. Ice slope ("Sole"), moving up and left, 60 m. R5–R6. Internal corner with snow and ice, moving up and right, 60 m. Exit onto a ledge. Traverse right along the ledge. Under the cornice, a bivouac site. R6–R7. Wall with cracks, 40 m, approach to the "Big Cornice". R7–R8. Big Cornice, 2 meters out. After the cornice — a rock slab, then to inclined cracks. Total 30 m. R8–R9. Wall with cracks, then an internal corner, moving left up, 30 m. Exit left around the corner onto an inclined shoulder. R9–R10. Wall with cracks, loose rocks, moving up left, 30 m. R10–R11. Rock wall, up left, 30 m, exit onto a sloping ledge. R11–R12. Up a monolithic vertical internal corner, 30 m. Exit past the bend. R12–R13. Along an internal corner turning into a chimney, 30 m. R13–R14. Through a chimney with a cork, 30 m, then along the wall, exit onto an ice slope. R14–R15. Ice slope, 200 m, average steepness 65°. Exit onto the ridge. R15–R16. Along the ridge to the summit, 200 m.

1. 5B Balezin 2000
2. 6A Semiletkin 1988
3. 6A Ruchkin 1997
4. 5A Lowe 1976 Technical photo of the route

UIAA Scheme

Ascent Graph

Photos from the Route Section R1–R2 Section R2–R3 Bivouac site under the big cornice, Gukov preparing to clear the snowdrift Section R6–R7 View of the bivouac after reorganization (photo taken from above by Artyukhin) Section R7–R8, passing the "Big Cornice" Section R9–R10 Section R12–R13 Section R13–R14 Section R14–R15 February 28, 2015. Team on the summit. Left to right:

• Aleksey Artyukhin
• Viktor Koval
• Aleksey Lonchinsky
• Aleksandr Gukov Koval's camera — self-timer. Note from the summit A team of climbers from Stryi, Ukraine, consisting of: Igor Babenchuk Ivan Bandrivsky completed an ascent to the summit Svobodnaya Kornya via the center of the north face on Barber's route, category 5B. January 27, 2015.

Route Profile