Ascent Report

Team of the Republic of Buryatia to the summit of Ak-su 5217 m via the Moshnikov route on the North Face couloir, 6B, 1984.

Climbing Passport

Pamir-Alai, Turkestan Range, Laylyak gorge, section number according to the classification table 5.4.2.
Summit "Ak-su (C)" 5217 m. Route via the couloir of the North wall, A. Moshnikov 1984.
Proposed complexity: 6B.
Nature of the route — mixed.
Height difference: 1407 m (as described) Route length: 2053 m (as described) Length of sections: V difficulty category — 1115 m VI difficulty category — 273 m Average steepness: main part of the route — 70 °. Entire route — 61 °.
"Hooks" left on the route: 5 anchor, 27 ice screws. Used on the route: anchor hooks 49, nuts 67, ice screws 156.
Team's climbing hours: 74 h 00 min, 6 days.
Leader: Ayusheev Dashi Valerievich CMS (Buryatia) Participants: Ladyzhensky Vladimir Alexandrovich CMS (Buryatia) Glazunov Evgeny Vladimirovich CMS (Kirov)
Coach: Kolesov P.O. MS
Departure to the route — 06:00 February 6, 2013. Summit — 21:30 February 11, 2013. Return to Base Camp — 20:00 February 13, 2013.
Alpinism Federation of the Republic of Buryatia.

General photo of the summit

Tactical Actions of the Team

We chose the route of A. Moshnikov 1984 for the ascent of Ak-su, as, in our opinion, it is "an ideal route for a winter ascent." According to the team's calculations, our winter ascent on the Ak-su wall was the fifth. The route is mixed, requiring constant transitions from one type of terrain to another, as well as confident possession of both rock and ice techniques in winter conditions. Our main task was:

safe passage of this route in autonomous mode by three (the team was alone in the gorge, without assistance or rescue teams),
in the shortest possible time,
without processing and using bolt climbing techniques.

The tactical plan was:

5 days for the ascent and 2 days for the descent,
food and fuel supply for 10 days,
the team had 4 ropes and a platform for organizing overnight stays,
working in any weather.

We started the route at 06:00 on February 6, after a three-day snowfall. On the first day, we covered 11 ropes with a starting load and organized an overnight stay at the end of the ice couloir on the border of rocks and ice. We also fixed 2 ropes above the overnight stay location, thus covering 13 ropes.

On the second day, we fixed 4 ropes on mixed terrain and moved the camp another 5 ropes higher.

On the third day, we passed the rocky part in the middle of the wall, as well as a traverse under "Moshnikov's chip"+, and moved the camp under the chip to the level of the "Cross".

On the fourth and fifth days, in snowfall conditions, the team fixed 4 ropes up the chip, passing the key section. The snowfall greatly complicated the work on the wall with constant powder snow avalanches, so the work took a day longer than planned.

At 05:00 on February 11, on the 6th day of the ascent, the team left the entire bivouac at the "Cross" level, took 3 ropes, and started moving to the summit in "Non-stop" mode. At 13:00, having passed 7 ropes above the 4 fixed from the platform, we reached the Ak-su ridge. The ridge is about 10–12 ropes of 4–5 category climbing, with traverses and rappels, which, combined with strong wind and an altitude over 5000 m, in winter conditions, is a problematic task. We needed 8.5 hours of continuous work to pass it. It should be noted that the Ak-su ridge was passed for the first time in winter. At 21:30 on February 11, 2013, the team reached the summit! We did not find a note on the summit, and we were unable to write one due to very strong winds; as proof of our presence on the summit, we left a rock hook in the cairn.

The descent on ready-made stations took the whole night, and by 11:00 on February 12, 2013, we descended to the platform at the "Cross" level. It took about 30 hours of continuous work to reach the summit and descend!

On February 13, 2013, having descended 20 ropes, the team returned to the base camp. There were no injuries, frostbite, or serious emergencies during the ascent.

Route profile

Ascent schedule

Technical photo of the route

UIAA Scheme

№	Section	Hooks, nuts	Number of ropes	Length, steepness, and complexity of the section
1	7		R0–R1	45 м 60 V
2	8		R1–R2	48 м 70 V
3	8		R2–R3	48 м 70 V
4	5		R3–R4	40 м 60 V
5	7		R4–R5	45 м 85 V
6		35	R5–R11	200 м 60 V
7		7	R11–R12	48 м 75 V+
8		7	R12–R13	48 м 70 V+
9		6	R13–R14	40 м 70 V+
10		6	R14–R15	45 м 65 V
11	2	7	R13–R16	48 м 75 V+
12	3.1	4	R16–R17	35 м 79 V+
13	7.8		R17–R18	50 м 82 V A2
14	8.7		R13–R19	48 м 85 V A2
15	2.1	4	R19–R20	50 м 68 V
16	9.6	3	R22–R23	45 м 85 V A2
17	8.5	2	R21–R22	45 м 82 V
18	5.4	8	R20–R21	45 м 70 V+
10	8.10		R23–R24	50 м 90 V+

Photo #1 Glazunov on section R5–R6

Photo #2 platform on R11

Related to

Contents

Ascent Report

Climbing Passport

Tactical Actions of the Team

UIAA Scheme

Attached files

Sources

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