DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST ASCENT OF THE NORTH FACE OF THE EASTERN SUMMIT OF Karagem-bash (July 18-20, 1962) 5B cat. diff.

The Karagem-bash peak (3972 m) is located in the central ridge of the North-Chuya mountain range of the Altai Mountains. The massif of this peak, stretching in the latitudinal direction, limits one of the largest glaciers of the Altai - the Maashai Glacier (length 10 km, area 15 km²) from the south. To the west of Karagem-bash in the same ridge stands the massif of the Maashai peak (4250 m), which is the highest point of all the North-Chuya Alps. To the east, the ridge from the Karagem-bash peak goes to the Tammas peak, from where it turns north to the Maashai pass. Numerous extensive glaciers descend from the peak to the south, giving rise to the Karagem River. To the north (to the Maashai Glacier), the Karagem-bash peak breaks off with a one-and-a-half-kilometer wall. Icefalls hang from the icy cap of the peak to the north, separated by steep rocky buttresses. The collapses of these icefalls occur along the lower sections of these buttresses, where they are less steep.

The wall has a northern exposure and is illuminated by the sun for only a few hours a day (during the ascent - from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.). The wall leading to the western peak was climbed in 1956 by a group led by V.S. Andreev. The route was classified as 5B cat. diff.

The object of this ascent was the wall leading to the eastern peak of Karagem-bash and separated in the upper part from the route of V.S. Andreev's group by a cap of icefalls hanging from the peak. The entire Karagem-bash wall is clearly visible from the Maashai valley, which this peak closes.

The reconnaissance of the route and its study were carried out by the group in 1961 and 1962. The planned path almost entirely coincided with the one that was passed. The group believed that the route should be of 5A cat. diff. in terms of difficulty, but it turned out to be more difficult due to the middle part of the wall, which is poorly visible from below.

The ascent was conducted from the Ak-tru tourist base. The group left the camp on July 16 and, having walked along the trail for 3 hours, settled for the night at a moraine lake on the Big Aktru Glacier. On July 17, the group crossed the Maashai pass (2A cat. diff.) and, having passed along the Right Maashai Glacier, set up a bivouac directly under the wall of the Karagem-bash peak. This transition takes 6-8 hours, depending on the condition of the snow and the glacier.

On July 18 at 5:55, the group left the bivouac and at 7:30 approached the foot of the wall. Having crossed the avalanche cone and the bergschrund, they began to ascend the wall, which can be divided into three major parts.

I. The first part of the route

At the beginning, the path lay along a snow-ice couloir with a steepness of 40-50°. The group stuck to the right side of the couloir to reduce the danger of being hit by rockfall and icefall. Due to the poor condition of the shallow and unfrozen snow lying on the ice and the increasing steepness of the couloir, the group was forced to go to the right slope and move along the rocks.

At the beginning, the movement took place along a groove filled with flow ice with a steepness of about 60° and a length of about 65 m. 6 pitons were hammered in when passing it. Further, the movement goes along steep and heavily destroyed rocks on the right side of the couloir. The rocks are interspersed with sections of ice. Insurance is only piton. 8 pitons were hammered in on this section. Here, one of the two rock hammers broke, which greatly complicated the organization of piton insurance. When exiting to the saddle in the neighboring couloir, an avalanche passed, caused by an icefall. At the same time, the entire group (the first was already on the saddle, and the rest were on the rocks in the couloir) was covered with a cloud of avalanche snow dust. In the upper part of this section, the rocks are heavily destroyed, and the movement requires great caution.

At 2:00 p.m., the group reached the saddle, where they organized a half-hour rest, during which they managed to fix the rock hammer somehow. On the saddle, the group built a control cairn. It was very unpleasant to linger here, for it was only here that the group realized that it was directly under the icefall and that the entire path from the foot of the wall was continuously under the threat of icefall and avalanche. To escape this danger, it was necessary to overcome the first wall "A" with a length of about 60 m and an overall steepness of 70-75°. Wall "A" turned out to be much more difficult than one might assume at first. It was possible to pass it only in 2.5 hours of intense work using ladders and hammering in 7 pitons, including one ice piton into the rocks. The first climber, after several attempts, managed to pass the key point of wall "A" - smooth steep slabs with an overhanging cornice - without a backpack and using an ice axe for pulling up and support. At this point, a piton was found, obviously left by Andreev's group.

Having reached the upper part of wall "A" at 5:00 p.m., the group made sure that the wall ended with gentle "ram's foreheads" smoothed by icefalls, avalanches, and rockfalls, and hastened to move left to a safe place. During the overcoming of wall "A", several stones whizzed past the group, going "in transit" from the upper part of the route.

II. The second part of the route (wall)

From under the overhanging ice, we move left along the slabs. Difficult sections of slabs are bypassed. After that, there is the only piece of the route where you can move along heavily destroyed rocks at the same time.

These rocks lead to the foot of wall "B", short (20 m), not very steep (55°), but heavily destroyed.

Wall "B" is overcome with alternate insurance through ledges and one piton.

A short section of destroyed rocks of medium difficulty, and on our way stood wall "C" - a section of steep (up to 70°) destroyed rocks, 50 m long. On this wall, we outlined an inner corner and moved along it. Each climber, with all caution, brought down several stones in the form of feathers sticking out of the wall. Fortunately, it was possible to take cover from the stones under an overhang, having moved just a few meters along the wall. Insurance when passing wall "C" is difficult, because there is nowhere to hammer in a piton, and all the ledges are live. In the upper part, wall "C" unexpectedly becomes solid and composed of another gray rock. This wall led us to a prospective buttress, where we managed to level out and lay out a platform for a tent in an hour. The platform allowed everyone to lie down, although it was a bit short; it was already impossible to exit the tent.

The group set up a bivouac at 8:15 p.m., i.e., on the first day of the assault, the group had 12 hours and 45 minutes of working time. It should be noted that it was not possible to stop for a bivouac earlier, first due to the danger of icefall, and then due to the lack of space for setting up a tent. Therefore, the first day of work requires a lot of effort.

July 19. They left the bivouac only at 8:00 a.m., as they considered it necessary to rest better after the first day's work and to overcome the most difficult section of the path. The weather was good, as it was the day before.

From the bivouac, they first passed a short section of uncomplicated rocks and approached wall "D" - a steep section of destroyed rocks 20 m high. The wall is dangerous; it is impossible to organize piton insurance; the ledges are live. After that, a short (3 m) section of difficult solid rocks with flow ice is passed. Two pitons were hammered in on this short section. It is replaced by a monolithic wall "E", but filled with ice. It is even steeper; its steepness reaches 75°. Wall "E" is passed along a prospective inner corner filled with ice, with insurance through rock pitons (5) and one ice piton (into the ice). In the upper part, when traversing to the right, one has to cut several steps and handholds.

On this and the next section, we were caught in bad weather - wet snow began to fall, visibility was lost, and it became cold.

The next section - wall "F" - was perhaps the most technically difficult on the entire route. Almost sheer, quite solid wall with no footholds and with a small number of cracks. The steepness of the wall is about 80°, with some overhangs. Height - 40 m. Below this section is a sheer drop 300 m deep, i.e., the overcoming of the most difficult section occurs over an abyss. Wall "F" was passed by the first climber without a backpack and with great effort. Ladders were used, without which the passage of this section is impossible. Here, nine rock pitons and one ice piton (into the rocks) were hammered in.

After passing wall "F", the group traversed the wall to the right along large mixed narrow slabs vertically leaning against the wall. The place is dangerous. You can't organize insurance; all the slabs are barely holding on due to the steepness. Traverse is about ten meters. It leads to the foot of the iced wall "G" with small snow-covered (fresh snow) ledges. This wall is an alternation of sections of rocks of medium difficulty with difficult rocks. Its length is about 50 m, steepness in some places up to 70-75°. The first one came out here on the entire 60-meter rope we had, having hammered in 8 pitons.

Further, the ascent path goes along an inner corner 15 m long, where two pitons were hammered in, and leads to a sharp change in steepness. Along gentle and fairly simple rocks with alternate insurance through ledges, the group reached a snowy ridge, to the beginning of the third part of the route, and stopped for the night at 7:15 p.m. The bivouac is organized here on a snowy area of the ridge. It is very convenient.

Thus, on the second day, the group, without stopping once for rest or food, covered the second part of the route in 10 hours and 15 minutes of walking time. This part is an alternation of difficult rock walls, sometimes destroyed, sometimes monolithic, and is the most difficult part of the entire wall. It is impossible to stop for a bivouac and set up a tent along its entire length due to the lack of a suitable place.

III. The third part of the route

July 20. In the morning, the weather was bad: there was no visibility, it was snowing. Therefore, they left the bivouac only at 9:45 a.m., when the weather improved. Having walked 100 m along the snowy ridge, they came under an ice wall about 20 m high.

It was possible to continue moving along the ridge at the border of rocks and snow, but this path turned out to be very dangerous, since:

• snow lies in a thin layer on steep ice;
• rocks due to their destructiveness do not allow for reliable insurance.

A very steep but short section of ice was overcome with great difficulty on the front peaks of crampons, having hammered in two ice pitons and cutting several steps and handholds in the lower part. Then they reached a gentle snowy slope of the subpeak and, bypassing wide gaps and crevices, climbed up the snow until the snow lying on the ice held. Then they had to move to the right to the ridge and move along the border of snow and ice, and then along the snow.

At 4:15 p.m., they reached the peak along a simple snowy ridge. The peak is snow-ice, and a cairn was built 100 m below it, at the first rocks along the descent path. On this day, we had 6 hours and 30 minutes of working time.

Thus, the calculation of the time taken to pass the entire Karagem-bash wall (without descent) by days and hours was as follows:

• 1 day - 12 hours 45 minutes of working time
• 2 day - 10 hours 15 minutes of working time
• 3 day - 6 hours 30 minutes of working time

Total: 29 hours 30 minutes. A total of three days were required for the ascent, and six days for the approaches and return to camp - (from July 16 to July 21). A total of 52 pitons were hammered in, 3 of them into ice.

The group was accompanied by good weather during the movement along the route (except for 2 hours on July 19). All members of the group were in good athletic form.

Group composition:

• Kuznetsov A.A. - leader, 1st sports category, Moscow
• Kondratenko M.B. - participant, 1st sports category, Barnaul
• Kochkin K.V. - participant, 1st sports category, Barnaul
• Semenyuk K.B. - participant, 2nd sports category, Barnaul

The group evaluates the route taken as 5B cat. diff. The group is approaching walls "A". The beginning of the ascent along wall "E".