Document #64783373 - Route Description

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

Approach to the "Tower" — ONLY via the large Altus couloir! From the "1860" fork — along the northern slopes of Altus into the couloir; from the "Green Hill 2300" — cross over to the left northern ridge of Altus (1 hour to the wide saddle) into the couloir.

R0–R1: diagonal ascent 110 m II up to 40° left across the rocks to the ridge, followed by a 15 m descent into the saddle.

R1–R2: from the saddle (with belay from the ridge) along the wall 21 m III 60° (2 pitons) and traverse along the ledges left-upward behind the spall 10 m II 45° (1 cam) ("2" — station).

R2–R3: to the ledge under the cornice (hanging control cairn), 6 m II 45°, bypass the cornice from the left along the crack and slab 8 m IV avg. 60° (2 pitons) and into a shallow inner corner up to the ridge 10 m III 50° (2 pitons, 2 cams) (pull up the second for belay from "3" — station).

R3–R4: to the right of the ridge traverse right-upward 20 m II+ up to 60° (4 pitons, 2 cams) to a sloping ledge under the wall ("4" — station).

R4–R5: no bypass to the left! traverse down-right and up along the steep inner corner back to the ridge (up to the end of the 45 m rope) 10 m II 30°, 10 m IV 70° (2 pitons, 1 cam), 20 m II+ up to 50° (outcrops).

R5–R6: diagonal traverse of rocky outcrops rightward through the "Shovel" to the right side of the northern ridge and along it (leftward are drop-offs!) to the summit 450 m I–II up to 40°.

NOTE:

descent in spring to the north, along the snow of the large couloir, height loss 1000 m.
in summer, descend southeastward into the saddle to the right of v. Sofia and rightward to a shallow scree, along it lose 800 m height down to a pleasant trail in the Kopdzhaylyau gorge.

Thanks to the pioneering ascent by V. N. Shataev in 1974, climbers-tourists-rock climbers (or, according to another version, speleologists) gained a COMMON mountain — ALTUS — above the Sayram-su and Kergely fork.

Interestingly, Altus has three peaks:

western forepeak — 2932 m
bifurcated summit — 3200 m, with the "light" summit being 12 m lower than the "dark" southeastern one.

From the forepeak, ridges stretch to the west¹), north²), and southeast to the summit, as well as a powerful rib with walls to the northeast³) and a less distinct one to the south⁴).

From the summit dome to the north descends a ridge ⁵ with a drop-off — the "Tower", and to the southeast from the saddle rises a jagged ridge ⁶ to the rounded striped summit 3800 m, the so-called "I-st tower of Arsen". From the first tower of Arsen (for brevity: Bars-1) to a distinct elevation ⁷ at the junction of Altus spur with the Ugam ridge, which we will call "Bars-2" by analogy, a wide and long scree ridge ⁸ leads gently.

To the north of the junction is Arsen 4100 m, and to the south — Ayutor pass 3850 m and Ayutor peak⁹. We didn't mention the beautiful Sofia 3100 m in the spur to the north of the saddle behind the "dark Altus"; now we refer to the NOTES:

no information about passage was available; see Passport No. 5.
the route of the first ascent-74 1B cat. sl. should be called "right N. ridge", and the couloir to the east of it — "small" as opposed to "large".
Sh. Rafikov ascended it in 1977 and classified it as 3B cat. sl.
the southern rib with steep western walls, a "barrier", was ascended and described in 1996 by S. Askarov, but the Classification Commission of the FAR did NOT APPROVE it as 1B cat. sl.???; we resubmit it — see Passport No. 6.
this left N. ridge was repeatedly ascended by Togliatti climbers (led by P. Sokolov), but they did not submit it for classification; see Passport No. 4. The couloir to the west of it will be called "large".
part of this ridge was undoubtedly ascended and described by M. Skrekhin after the ascent in 1977 along the counterfort from the north. There is no information about the complete traverse Altus – Bars-1.
Sh. Rafikov passed through it in 1984 during the traverse Sayram–Ayutor (4B); before him, in 1977, Alma-Ata climber A. Denisenko ascended the right part of the northern wall of Arsen directly under Bars-2 and then traversed to p. Arsen (4A).
it is known that several tourist groups, having ascended to the Ayutor pass from the east, then descended not into the deep western canyon but traversed Bars-2–Bars-1 and only then went down along the couloir to the south.
there is no information about ascents to p. Ayutor "not via traverse".

Photo #1: view from the northeast (April 1998) at the "Tower" of the left N. ridge of Altus

The large couloir is closed by the left N. ridge. The summit of Altus is closed by the "Tower". Shown:

with an arrow — turn towards p. Chimkent;
with a dotted line — the described route 2B cat. sl.;
route 3B — 1977. In the foreground on the left — the "Green Hill" above the confluence "2300" (comfortable bivouac).

PHOTO # 18: view to the southeast from the campsite (VIII-97) The Solidarity Massif is OUTLINED:

LSGA — left north ridge of Altus
PSGA — right — P/B 1B, 1974
.... — the described route along the western ridge of Altus
"— — along the left north.

Photo # 15: view from the lake "2320" to the north. The described routes on Altus:

ASCENT PASSPORT Nos. 5, 6 Class: ROCK CLIMBING Region: TIAN-SHAN, Ugam ridge (7.II) Summit: ALTUS

Routes and proposed categories of difficulty:

Altus 3200 1B via SW "barrier" S. Askarov, 1996
"— 2A along the ridge 3 A. Bakin, 1998

Via the southwestern "barrier" 1B cat. sl. Height difference — 960 m (by altimeter) Length — 1600 m Steepness — avg. 40° (individual walls — 60°) Pitons — 6 (training ascent) Cams — 7 (training ascent) Climbing hours — six (from the "1860" fork) Leader: instr. ASKAROV Samat Nurmukh. (CMS)

Andrienko Alexey Mikh. (zn.)
Velichkov Alexander Ivan. (zn.)
Kungurova Olga Ivan. (zn.)
Lifanov Vladimir Yur. (zn.) Date: August 18, 1996 Senior coach:

Along the western ridge 2A cat. sl. Height difference — total 1300 m (or.), including along the western ridge — 500 m. Length — 2900 m, including along the western ridge — 1700 m. Steepness — up to 60°. Pitons — 8 (training ascent) Cams — 7 (training ascent) Climbing hours — seven (from the "1860" fork) Leader: instr. BAKIN Alexey Vladimirovich (1st sports rank)