ASCENT. Ascent of Peak Shota Rustaveli via the Southeastern Wall Dedicated to the jubilee days of the great poet Shota Rustaveli

Brief Geographic Overview and Climbing History of the Ascent Area

Peak Shota Rustaveli (4960 m) is located on the Main Ridge of the Central Caucasus. To the north, Peak Rustaveli drops with huge icefalls onto the Bezengi Glacier. To the south, it towers with a rocky-icy wall over the Khalde Glacier. Nearby on the ridge are the peaks of Eastern Jangi (5047 m) to the west and Western Shkhara to the east. The extensive length of the walls and the significant steepness of the southern slopes make this area exceptionally interesting for challenging sport ascents. This area is relatively undeveloped. Its exploration effectively began in 1965 with the opening of the "Ailama" camp. In 1937, a group led by Master of Sports (MS) Sandro Gvalia conquered an unnamed peak on the ridge between Jangi and Shkhara and named it Peak Shota Rustaveli. Twenty years later, Georgian climbers under the guidance of MS G. Gulbani ascended Eastern Jangi via the southern wall (5047 m). In 1960, Western Jangi was conquered by an expedition of the Grusalpklub led by MS O. Kharadze. In 1965, an ascent of Central Jangi from the south was made by a team from the Central Council of the "Gantiadi" Sports Society.

89 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16

Ascent Logbook

1. Type of ascent: ice and snow climb.
2. Ascent area: Central Caucasus, Bezengi.
3. Peak Shota Rustaveli, 4960 m, via the north face.
4. Estimated difficulty category: 5B.
5. Route characteristics: Total height difference of the route 1340 m, height difference of the wall section 1180 m, average steepness of the wall section 48°, route length 2400 m, wall section length 1660 m, length of sections with 5–6 difficulty category 1355 m.
6. Pitons used: Ice pitons for belay 257, ITO 6, rock pitons for belay 12.
7. Total climbing hours: 24.

Moscow City Council

VSS "TRUD" TRAVERSING THE BEZENGI WALL WITH ASCENT TO SHKHAra VIA THE NORTHERN RIDGE 1960 Leader: Gavrilov B. A. Participants:

• Moiseev Yu. A.
• Mosunov A. A.
• Chereshkin D. S. In July-August 1960, a gathering of qualified climbers from the Moscow City Council of VSS "Trud" was held at the "Bezengi" alpine camp. The plan included participating in the Moscow championship in the traverse class. The Bezengi Wall was chosen as the object, whose traverse with ascent to Shkhara via the northern ridge had only been done once before in 1948 by a group from VSS "Spartak" led by Honored Master of Sports Abalakov V. M.

www.alp-federation.ru

2. Group Composition and Support

The mountaineering group that completed the traverse consisted of athletes with the 1st sports category from the MGS DSO "Trud" gathering, held at the "Bezengi" alpine camp:

1. Saratov Yu.S. — group leader,
2. Beda A.G.,
3. Golubkov B.S.,
4. Daruga V.K. Three of the group members had experience climbing in the Bezengi region in previous seasons. All participants underwent joint training during the pre-camp period and completed training ascents:

• 3B — Ullu-Auz-Bashi
• 4B — Main Jangitaus via the northern edge, category of complexity in the 1964 season.

Ascent Passport

I. Class of ice and snow ascents 2. Ascent area: Central Caucasus, Bezengi 3. Peak Shota Rustaveli - 4960 m via North face (route by A. V. Laletin) 4. 5B category, fourth ascent 5. Total height difference of the route is 1360 m. Height difference of the wall section is 1200 m. Average steepness of the wall section is 48°. Route length is 2565 m. Length of the wall section is 1755 m. Length of sections with 5-6 category difficulty is 1445 m. 6. Pitons hammered: Ice pitons for belay - 250, ITO - 9. Rock pitons for belay - 13.

Physical Culture and Sports Committee under the USSR Council of Ministers

XXXVI USSR Alpine Championship 1985

Snow and Ice Ascent Category

Report

On the ascent of Shota Rustaveli peak, 4960 m, via the north face, category 5B difficulty, made by the team RSFSR – II.

Team's Tactical Actions

A day before departure, an observation of the route and a study of the lower part of the route were conducted. The tactic was built to safely and quickly pass the extended snow and ice route.