Traverse of Peak Karniz (2B category)

From the camp located in the middle of a flat gravel area of the upper modern erosion base of the Researchers and Chon-Turasu glaciers (altimeter reading 3500 m), we head towards the sheer wall of Peak Skala, to the place where these glaciers almost connect with each other. On the site, we easily jump over several small streams (they may not be there early in the morning and at low temperatures) and begin to ascend along the last stream before the moraines - this stream flows in the right direction for a long time.

On both sides remain:

• chaotic accumulations of moraines (up to 30-40 m high);
• closed ponds of various shapes, sizes, and colors;
• huge blocks of dead ice, exposing their icy sides from under the moraines.

In some places, the dead ice is exposed, and the ascent on it is inconvenient and often impossible: crampons slide along with the fine gravel, and cutting steps is difficult - the ice axe hits the pebbles, and large stones slide down from above. During the reconnaissance, a small mudflow occurred 15 m behind us; the diameter of the stones in the stream reached 1 m.

To the right remains a 50-meter tongue of the Chon-Turasu glacier. We follow the stream until it disappears into the stones, then turn right, ascend to the ridge, and move along it for about 200 m. Then we go around the glacial lake on the left (it appears to be enclosed between the glacier tongue and the dead ice). The lake is surrounded by ice on all sides, and falling into it would make it impossible to get out without outside help. There are many such lakes near the tongue.

Having reached directly under the wall of Peak Skala (20-30 m to the wall), we begin to ascend along it: we move between the moraines of the glacier and a small snow-ice slope at the wall, formed from snow avalanches. At the very beginning, we walk more than 50 m along the icy slope - here we cut several steps, then move along the traces of their fall, which were not observed. Gradually, the surface moraine disappears, and we come out onto clean, gentle, and even ice.

To the right, in the middle of the glacier, stretches an icy hump. We cross over to it (from here Peak Karniz is visible), and then, when it becomes gentler, we start to move to the right to the place where the small glaciers of the first and second small glacial cirques merge with the Chon-Turasu glacier. This place is noticeable by a steep wavy bend of the ice (along the glacier) 15-20 m high in its lower part. The bend gradually becomes steeper, and on both sides of it, frequent wide crevasses appear. Having reached the point from which the second small cirque becomes visible, we turn 90° to the right, pass 100 m between two two-meter crevasses to the stones of the surface moraine. In the middle of the moraine, we turn left 90° and again move upwards until the steep wall of the first small cirque and the entire glacier of the second small cirque become visible. We clear the stones from fresh snow and set up our first halt on them. The transition, made at a fast pace, took 2 hours 30 minutes. Altimeter reading - 4070 m.

From the halt, the entire Chon-Turasu glacier and the surrounding peaks are visible. Right in front of us are the walls of peaks Big Ridge and Noldov. The sun has risen, and rockfalls rumble down their sheer thousand-meter walls. The air is so clear that the peaks seem 2-3 times closer than they actually are. Peak White Trapezoid is particularly beautiful.

The second small cirque is covered with fresh snow. In the middle of it, a bend is visible - the end of the glacier's hollow. The slopes of the cirque:

• The left and rear (southern and western) - covered with steep compressed snow and ice;
• The right (northern) - scree, with separate rock outcrops in the upper part.

The entire peak is covered with snow 20-50 cm thick. The ridge of the cirque:

• From the south and west (where the pass to the Djurek and Kichiny-Turasu valleys is located) - with huge cornices;
• From the north - rocky.

The summit of Peak Karniz is not visible from here - it is blocked by Peak Propeller.

We decide to move to the bend without tying ourselves together, as the glacier is gentle and even.

We do not pass more than 100 m when Vergilesov, who is leading, suddenly sinks deep into the snow. Feeling the snow around him with his ice axe, he becomes convinced that the ice axe sinks into the snow up to the head everywhere. Is this a huge snow-covered crevasse?

The final confusion: Chasov, taking a step forward, finds himself in the same situation.

Without moving from the spot, we tie ourselves together and only after making a few steps forward come to the conclusion - this is just a thick layer of fresh, but already heavily compacted snow.

The ascent becomes moderately steep, the ice axe usually does not reach the ice - it is impossible to lean on it, crevasses are not felt at all; the front person sinks into the snow up to 70-80 cm. The second person walks with a backpack and sinks just as deep. During the ascent to the bend, the second person sinks into narrow (up to 0.5 m) crevasses filled with snow three times. At the bend, we set up our second halt.

Despite the low temperature, we suffer from the heat - we are now in the focus of the cirque, and we feel glacier fatigue. The sun has already warmed the northern slope of the cirque: small snowballs start to roll down from above - the first signs of snow avalanches. After discussing the situation, we come to the conclusion that, despite this, the slope is completely passable.

• Stones pierce through the settled snow every 1-2 m;
• Therefore, avalanches can form only in the invisible part of the slope above the rock outcrops.

Without resting much, we begin to ascend vertically upwards to a large and heavily destroyed rocky outcrop. The slope steepness is 40°. The last part of the ascent along simple, heavily snow-covered slopes is done with variable insurance.

Having reached the ridge, we decide to rest - the ascent from the glacier to the ridge took 2 hours 30 minutes without a break; the altimeter shows 4550 m. The pass in the western wall of the cirque has the same height. We pass about 100 m along the ridge of the cirque and then turn towards the summit of Peak Karniz - it is no more than 150 m away.

The summit is a huge snow dome, from which the right (eastern) part is practically cut off in the middle. Not reaching the top of the dome by 5-6 m, we decide to determine the size of the cornice (determining the size of the cornice was part of the scientific observation program).

Chasov organizes insurance through an ice axe driven into the dense firn up to the head, and Vergilesov:

• first walks;
• then crawls to the edge.

His ice axe sinks into the firn by 20-30 cm. There is 1 m to the edge. With light blows, a "groove" is made in the cornice. A glance down - and Vergilesov quickly crawls back with an incomprehensible exclamation: there is a 30-40 m "void" below!

Based on this, it can be assumed that:

• the cornice overhang is equal to 30-35 m;
• with a length of 200 m.

The view from the summit is magnificent - almost the entire Kok-Shaan-Tau ridge is visible. Above the peak (nearby) are six peaks:

• Peak 5816;
• Peak B. Trapezoid;
• Peak Chon-Tura;
• Peak Noldov;
• Big Ridge;
• a previously invisible black peak from the Chon-Turasu valley, in the form of a steep truncated pyramid - Peak Dankov.

We stayed on the summit for more than an hour - good visibility allowed us to make circular intersections of the peaks and sketches of the most characteristic ones. The height of the peak according to the altimeter is 4620 m. We set up a cairn 150 m from the summit at the ridge of the cirque.

The descent is made into the old glacial cirque between the peaks of Propeller, Karniz, Uzlovaya, and Sharona.

We come out onto the NNE ridge and start moving towards Uzlovaya peak, to the left the ridge is initially gentle (up to 25°), to the right - hundred-meter rocky cliffs. We go around a huge black pillar-remnant: with a height of ten meters, its thickness is no more than 1.5 m. Having passed another as much, we find a suitable place for descent, apparently the only one - further begins the sharp ridge of Uzlovaya peak. We descend two ropes down, then move left along a narrow ledge and after another two ropes find ourselves on a heavily iced, covered with shallow snow scree. This rocky section, with an average steepness of about 60°, was climbed with careful insurance through ledges. We quickly descend along the scree to the rocky fault. Very steep cliffs of the fault are split into thin small plates and easily destroyed by hands, so we go around the fault to the right and begin to descend between the rocks and a completely iced slope covered with a thick layer of snow. The total height of the fault is no more than 40-50 m, but due to the difficulty of organizing reliable insurance, we have to descend in small sections (5-8 m) from ledge to ledge. Insurance was mainly carried out through the shoulder and lower back.

The further descent occurs along small (in some places medium) scree. The cirque gradually narrows to 100 m. In its middle, a black shale moraine stretches in a hump, to the left - a turbulent stream.

Here, after 1 hour 40 minutes of descent, we set up a halt and sketch the descent route. From here, the cornice of the peak and the entire ridge with a black pillar-remnant are visible. The ridge breaks off to the cirque with steep (sometimes sheer) cliffs, below the cliffs down to the very bottom - scree slightly covered with snow.

At half the height, the slope is cut by four rocky outcrops; we descended from the southern side of the fourth (counting from south to north). The moraine on which we stopped abruptly breaks off on the line of the cirque walls of the Chon-Turasu glacier, so that having descended from it, we immediately find ourselves in the hollow between the Chon-Turasu glacier and the walls of the spurs surrounding the cirque from the west of the peaks. We continue our path down along the stream.

However, the descent from this side is less convenient:

• we have to cross the stream over stones from time to time;
• climb onto moraines;
• go around sinkholes and lakes.

It would be more correct to cross the glacier immediately and descend along the ascent route. When the stream disappears into the moraines, we turn to the right towards the camp. Having gone around two large ice lakes, we come out onto a high tongue of the glacier. It is covered with a thin layer of gravel - we quickly slide down it, then cross several moraine arcs and again find ourselves on the flat area of the camp.

The entire ascent took 11 hours, of which:

• the ascent took 6 hours;
• the descent - 4 hours.

The height of the summit is 4620 m, the height of the camp is 3500 m.