Ascent Passport

Pamir-Alay, Turkestan Range, Kara-Su gorge, 5.4.3.
Peak "4810", 4810 m, via the center of the northwest wall.
Category of difficulty: 6B.
Route type: rock.
Route height difference: 1210 m (3600–4810).

Distance: 1546 m

Section distances:

V–VI difficulty category: 1140 m

Average steepness of the wall section: 78°, entire route: 70°

Pitons left on the route:

total: 20, including bolted: 16

Pitons used on the route:

stationary bolted: 47 (including artificial aids: 22)
removable bolted: 6 (including artificial aids: 0)

Total artificial points of rest (APR) used: 243

Team's climbing hours (to the summit): 79 h, 8 days.
Team leader: Kochetkov Grigory Sergeevich — Master of Sports.

Team members:

Kozlov Georgy Sergeevich — 1st sports category
Soshnikov Alexander Igorevich — Candidate Master of Sports
Adamov Alexey Sergeevich — 1st sports category

Coach: Kuznetsova Elena Valentinovna — Candidate Master of Sports.
Approach to the route: 9:00, August 6, 2007.

Summit ascent: 22:00, August 14, 2007. Return to Base Camp: 19:00, August 16, 2007. Technical photo of the Northwest wall of Peak "4810" with the ascent route marked.

1 — M. Sitnik 86; 2 — V. Igolkin 90; 3 — A. Kritsuk 88 (route taken by the team); 4 — A. Rusyaev 88; 5 — A. Voronov 88; 6 — Kopeiko 88; 7 — S. Ovcharenko 88

Taken on July 29, 2007, shooting location — descent ridge of Peak Asan. UIAA symbol route diagram. Sheet 4. Peak 4810 UIAA symbol route diagram. Sheet 3

R24, VI A2 50 m

R23, VI A2 50 m, VI A3 10 m

R22, VI A2 45 m

R21, V–IV 20 m

R20, VI A2 50 m

R19, V 60 m

R18, V+ 60 m

R17, VI A1 60 m UIAA symbol route diagram. Sheet 2

R16, VI A2 30 m, 4 20 m

R15, VI A1 50 m

R14, VI, A1–A2 50 m

R13, VI A2 50 m

R12, VI A2 50 m

R11, VI A1 50 m

R10, VI 50 m

R9, VI 50 m

R9, VI 50 m UIAA symbol route diagram. Sheet 1

R8, V+ 60 m
R7, V+ 50 m
R4, VI A2 50 m

R3, VI A2 60 m

R2, VI A2 50 m, VI A3 10 m

R1, VI A2 45 m. Technical photograph of the route.

Route Description by Sections

R0. Along the smooth wall under the beginning of the overhanging inner corner towards the old bolt, there are holes for 6 mm skyhooks, then up to the base of the inner corner and move along it upwards to the right. Station. 45 m. On the section, 1 8-mm hilti bolt was hammered without an eye. APR A2.

R1. Along the inner corner through gaps formed by sounding and destroyed slap-ons and slabs with the main wall, move upwards on APR. Insurance on anchors, camalots, and stoppers. Section length 50 m. 6+. APR A2–40 m, A3–10 m.

R2. To the right of the inner corner, move upwards along non-monolithic slabs and slap-ons, through small cornices, to a niche formed by a giant delamination and the wall. Section length 60 m. 6+, APR A2.

R3. Along the inner corner upwards through overhanging delaminations:

to the right,
then 3 m to the left to a small shelf where an overnight stay can be arranged.

There is a local hook of the "box" type at the station. Overnight stay on a platform.

55 m. 6+. APR A2.

R4. From the overnight stay — straight up the wall with small slap-ons under the cornice. Then through the cornice on APR to the left. Station behind the cornice. 60 m. At the station, there is an 8 mm bolt. 5+, 6. APR A2.

R5. Further up along monolithic rocks with micro-footholds towards a bolt located slightly to the left. There are 6 mm holes for skyhooks. From the first bolt, one should move to the right towards a small corner with a gap. Do not be guided by the bolts visible above to the left — they lead to a "mirror". Up the gap under small cornices, station to the left. 1 8-mm bolt was hammered.

60 m. 6+. APR A2.

R6. Through cornices by free climbing along a quartz vein through monolithic slabs with smoothed footholds. Insurance is limited. There are small gaps for anchor hooks and "banana" hooks. APR section — 5 m.

Holes for 6 mm skyhooks.
Station on a small shelf with a good gap to the right.
At the station, there is 1 8-mm bolt.

50 m. 5+. APR A2.

R7. Free climbing along the quartz vein. Insurance in gaps on stoppers, camalots, and anchors.

60 m. 5+. APR A1–5 m.

R8. Further by free climbing along the quartz vein to the right, towards the spall. 60 m. 5+; 6.

R9. Upwards to the right, then a 20 m pendulum to the right, exit to a shelf along heavily destroyed rocks. The shelf is called "Mitten". Overnight stay without a platform. 70 m. 6, last 10 m climbing 4+–5.

R10. From the shelf, upwards to the left along the direction of a wide quartz vein, then towards the left edge of the cornice system crossing the wall. Many pendulums. Tensioned APR. 60 m. 6+. APR A2.

R11. From under the cornices upwards to the left. Free climbing alternates with pendulums and APR movement. Along spalls. There are 6–8 mm holes for skyhooks. 60 m. 6+. APR A2.

R12. Movement to the right upwards along gaps, towards the base of a cleft leading to a shelf where an overnight stay is located. 65 m. 6+. APR A2.

R13. Along destroyed rocks — exit to a shelf. On the shelf, a sitting overnight stay is possible. There is snow with ice. 20 m. 4+.

R15. From the shelf, descend a bit downwards to a local bolt. From here upwards, complex climbing, partly on APR, towards a spall, veering left. 60 m. 6+. APR A2.

R16. Pendulum to the left under the base of a chimney. Balancing climbing, APR on skyhooks. Further movement along the chimney filled with flowstone ice. Very tense climbing, partly on APR. 60 m. APR A2.

R17. Further along the chimney turning into an inner corner and ceasing to overhang. From the inner corner — exit to a small shelf to the left. Station. 60 m. 5+.

R18. Further up along a system of gaps turning into a cleft located to the left and leading to an angle between the wall and a red slap-on with characteristic weathering footholds.

From above, a cornice is visible, under it — a smooth wall. Exit to the left onto a shelf to the left of the cornice, on top of the red slap-on. Control tour. Intersection with Igolkin's route. 60 m. 6+. APR A2.

R19. From the shelf to the right towards the cornice. The cornice is passed along the angle in the left part, on APR. Further up to a small shelf and along it to the right along spalls turning into micro-cracks. Gaps end. Up the smooth wall along 6 mm holes for skyhooks to a bolt. Here, a station on 2 bolts.

55 m. 6+. APR A2.

R20. From the station — a long pendulum to the right to a gap. Along the gap, APR on camalots and stoppers. The gap leads under a chimney filled with ice. At the base of the chimney, a station on camalots.

60 m. 6+. APR A2.

R21. To the right of the chimney, along the angle upwards, to a wide inner corner. Here, the route joins Rusyaev's route.

40 m. 5+.

R22. From the station to the left onto a system of gaps and upwards along the right side of the corner. After 25 m, a pendulum to the left on a stopper. Further by tense climbing to a spall under a small cornice. On it, a station.

60 m. 6+. APR A2.

R23. Through the cornice upwards along the corner — exit to a shelf with a possible comfortable overnight stay. Further up through vertical and overhanging sections — exit to the ridge. Station on a spall.

Next section:

60 m. 6+. APR A1.

Further 400 m along the ridge, along which M. Sitnik's 5B category route passes. Exit to the summit. Rocks 3+; 4+ category.

Descent from the summit towards Peak LOMO along a 5B category route.

When approaching the route, earplugs for 8 mm bolts and 13 mm nuts are necessary. As only hilti bolt pins are left on the route.

Team's Tactical Actions

When studying the ascent route and the nature of the wall for maximum safety, it was decided not to skimp on equipment, water, and food. Food and gas were taken for 12 days. The group had a large four-person platform, which, of course, increased the already considerable load by 16 kg but provided reliability and comfort in case of bad weather.

August 6, 2007. The first two days were spent processing the route and lifting the load, which turned out to be considerable — 7 haul bags for four people. The first four ropes represent a vertical slab going to the right of a wide inner corner and consisting of sounding, overhanging slap-ons with wet streaks and unreliable insurance. In the gaps between the slabs and the feathers protruding downwards, camalots of all sizes are widely used. Climbing is constantly alternated with APR. On the first day, Kozlov G. worked; on the second, Soshnikov A.

August 8, 2007. Day of "lifting off the ground". Above the processed ropes — a "mirror", slabs with practically no relief. Kochetkov G. worked first, passed 2 ropes. Overnight stay on a platform near a small shelf under the fourth rope. First overnight stay on a large platform. It turned out to be more comfortable for four people than in two two-person platforms, especially with cooking and eating.

August 9, 2007. Kozlov G. worked first, passed four ropes of complex climbing with small APR sections along a wide quartz vein crossing the wall diagonally. Climbing is specific, with many passive footholds of bizarre shapes formed by weathering, and very little relief for insurance — quartz disintegrates quite differently from granite, and there are almost no gaps. On the wide "Glove" shelf, at an altitude of 4000 m, we set up a bivouac, from which we processed another 50 m. Soshnikov A. with Adamov A. worked on the belay,

August 10, 2007, pulled up loads and water, and reached the shelf already in the dark. We did not set up a platform, only stretching a tent over the shelf and sleeping semi-reclined — the only overnight stay without a platform. There is no snow on this shelf yet; we drink water brought from below. Third day on the wall, Soshnikov A. worked first. The wall becomes vertical again, and the amount of APR increases. We overcome several small cornices, having to make several traverses per rope. A lot of diverse APR:

holes,
anchors,
small stoppers,
pendulums from one slap-on to another in search of relief.

At 4200 m, we exit onto a shelf "Breasts" a meter wide, find ice, albeit very dirty, have to boil and settle. Traversing 30 m to the right along the shelf, we find a note from A. Maximenko from Rusyaev's 2005 route. Above this shelf, we hang a platform, which becomes our home for the next 3 nights. The next morning on the wall was greeted with strong gusts of wind with snow, shaking our platform. Climbing in such weather was out of the question. We dedicated the day to rest and preparing water from ice.

August 12, 2007. In the morning, the weather improved, and Kochetkov G. set out towards a huge chimney. The second rope from the overnight stay begins with a pendulum to the left and a traverse along passive relief on balance. Further — a chimney, partly passable by climbing, but the chimney's walls are covered with a thin layer of ice after yesterday's snowfall. Then an inner corner and a pendulum to the left into a wide angle leading to a sloping shelf with snow, not mentioned in the description. On the shelf — a control tour with a note from 1990 by the Magнитogorsk team led by Igolkin. That night, we stayed again at 4200, although there was a possibility to move the platform to the shelf with the tour.

August 13, 2007. After ascending the belay, Kozlov G. moves upwards to the right from the wide shelf, along a system of spalls, partly on APR, to a bolt on a slab. Further, a 10–12 m pendulum to the right to a thin gap, along which, on APR and climbing, upwards under an inner corner. Here, Kritsuk's route joins Rusyaev's route; further movement is by free climbing along a system of inner corners and gaps. Due to the large number of options, it is complex to associate the description with the real relief. 5 ropes were passed that day. As it turned out later, we did not reach a comfortable shelf under the ridge by 15 m. Overnight stay on a platform two ropes below, on a narrow shelf, under a cornice.

August 14, 2007. Sixth day on the wall, very cold in the morning, the height is felt, many frozen icy streams in the rocks. Soshnikov A. goes up and passes a rope to the ridge. Along the ridge, movement becomes simpler for the first person and more complex for the rest, as all the load must be carried on the back. We hung 2 ropes, and a blizzard began, hitting with static electricity, rocks covered with a layer of wet snow. Adamov A. worked first in crampons and with fifi hooks. Already in the dark, we reached the summit. Stretching a rope between two huge boulders, we hang a tent from the platform over a flat area right on the summit. Adamov A., working first, slightly frostbit his fingers; the temperature outside is minus 7 °C.

August 15, 2007. After a brief clearing, the weather deteriorates again. Descent along the SE ridge, in fog, along Nazarov's 5B route:

500 m along the southern ridge on foot
10 rappels.

At 20:00, we descend to a saddle with Peak LOMO. There is no water; after another 4 hours, in the dark, along scree and "ram's foreheads", the group descended to the Ak-Su River.

August 16, 2007. At 14:00, the group returned to the base camp in the Kara-Su gorge.